Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Political cleansing in Jamaica

It is easy to become so accustomed to violence that no matter haw dastardly the act, you simply accept it.

That is if you live in Jamaica though. For over the past decade, we have more or less become accustomed to hearing that between four or five persons were killed in a day. Even when you yourself have lost close relatives to the murderers that roam freely, eventually you become so inured, that no new bloody act elicits outrage.

Despite this reality, I could not help being totally outraged at the cold blooded murder of 8 persons at Tredegar Park, Spanish Town on Friday the 13th August.

Maybe it is because one victim was only 11 years old and another 14 why I am so outraged or maybe it is because I know it could have been avoided.

For it is well known that political cleansing is behind it all. This is similar to ethnic cleansing that has horrified the world when it was recently carried out in places like Serbia and Rwanda. In Jamaica however, the massacre are not done in the name of tribal et or ethnic but rather political loyalty to one of the entrenched parties which are really criminal organisations in disguise.This has been taking place since the 70's and specifically at a moderate rate (two or three murdered at a time!) in Tredegar Park for some 4 or 5 years. The authorities know fully well what is behind it for after each assault, the aggressors immediately brazenly paint graffiti on the Sligoville Road main road telling all who do not support their party on leave. (ie. PNP territory)

This programme of political cleansing started in Tredegar Park, a predominantly JLP area, since K.D. Knight gave up the constituency . This seemed to have been a cue for the Clansman gang which is the enforcer for the PNP, to try and make the constituency a garrison for their party.

Readers will recall that from 1995, the then Member of Parliament for Central St. Catherine Heather Robinson, had warned that the leader of the Clansman, Bulbie was trying to take over her constituency. She had pleaded in parliament for support but neither her leader P.J. Patterson nor her colleagues offered any support and she walked away from politics.So the thugs took over and have been the political force to be reckoned with since then.

When the thugs in the JLP saw how successful, rich and powerful Bulbie had become because of his political success and backing of his party, they formed the One Order gang, giving their muscle freely to the the JLP and taking a chunk of the millions in extortion which is obviously available from the business community, firstly in Spanish town and later May Pen. And now both gangs are responsible for Spanish town becoming the murder capital of Jamaica which is among the top five murder capitals of the world!

Bublie was subsequently killed but his institution keeps growing in influence.

I find it curious that despite it being widely known what is behind the frequent assaults against the residendts of Tredegar park, the police, even during the state of emergency, have never had a curfew at the headquarters of the Clansman, de La Vega City. It was also very significant that since this most vicious and bloody assault on Tredegar park, the MP for the area is no where to be found!

If anyone had any doubts about why the PNP fought so strongly against the state of Emergency, it is now perfectly clear that wewhereas they were happy to see the demise of JLP's garrison of garrisons, West Kingston, they have no interntion of having any such thing happening to their garrisons or indeed their thrust to increase the already alarming number.



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