Corrupt KSAMC, Jamaica

Every time I see a headline like the one below, I seethe at how corrupt that organization once known as KSAC, but now called KSAMC, is.

The headline in the Gleaner of April 24, 2022, said; "KSAMC clamps down on popular gym, restaurant," and the report began; "A gym and restaurant at 7 Hillcrest Avenue in St Andrew are to be closed by July 31 in a case of illegal development brought by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) against the operators and property owner. "

While one would love to think the KSAMC is finally acting in the interest of residents, an appreciation of the address, is a good reminder of what motivates that corrupt organization. 

Money.

You see, Hillcrest Avenue is considered an up-town area and better yet, it is very close to Jamaica House.

Have you ever seen the KSAC acceding to the requests of residents in non-uptown areas to close down commercial operators that are destroying their residential areas? 

Never.

And it's not that people living in less affluent areas who strived to buy a home had/have not been appealing to that local authority to enforce the laws dealing with illegal operators in their residential communities.

Nor have they been making reports out of malice but because commercial activity destroys residential roads and leads to an increase in crime.

The fact is, there have always been different standards of construction for commercial and residential roads in the city. For whereas roads in commercial areas are built sturdier to handle a higher level of traffic activity including heavily laden vehicles, roads in residential areas aren't.

So, when a residential area becomes commercialized, the first thing to go is the roads, which the Local Authority does not maintain under the best circumstances anyway.

Then there is the increase in the level of crime.

 For when an area is residential, people tend to know each other and are more vigilant when they see strangers around. However, when the community becomes commercialized, the ability to monitor who is coming in and going out, quickly disappears.

Travel into places like Richmond Park, Bedford Park and Eastwood Park and see how the neighborhoods have deteriorated under the KSAC's (KSAMC's) watch!

So, what has happened to the homeowners who have for decades had to watch their property values decrease and standard of living degraded, because of the commercial activity, you may very well ask.

After decades of bringing the illegal activity which is destroying their environment to the attention of KSAC Councilors, the relevant Members of Parliaments and at times even the Ombudsman, (whose office is described by the Jamaica Information Service as "An Institution Protecting the Rights of Citizens), those who can afford to move, do, while others have to live with the destruction.

The fact is, in a corrupt society like Jamaica, the only thing that can determine the rights of a citizen is money.

For you must have lots of money to bribe the politicians and heads of institutions in Jamaica, to have the laws enforced or to look the other way.

How can I ever forget the illegal operator in our community who flatly declared many decades ago that; "Money talk and bullshit walk."

He still operates in the community and has even expanded his operations, although the intrusion has been reported to every councilor, Member of Parliament, Mayor and even Ombudsman over several decades. While he prospered, many other illegal commercial operators have also joined him.

 So, metaphorically, the residents have indeed been reduced to walking as the road surfaces disappeared right under their feet and crime overwhelms the community!

So yes, the residents at Hillcrest Avenue will get protection for that is a wealthy area and as they say, "Money talks.........."

Kidnapped!

 I don't think in ancient times, one could have had more privileges than those granted by the Roman Empire to its citizens. That is why the story in Acts of the Apostles about how the Centurian became afraid when he heard that St. Paul was a born Roman citizen, was significant.

Being an American citizen may not cause such fear and trembling, but it sure carries a few privileges internationally, not the least being that one does not need to have a visa to travel to numerous foreign countries. And when their citizens are abroad and encounter legal or other challenges, the American passport guarantees outstanding protection and representation from the embassies. 

So yes, I waited patiently to get a coveted American citizenship.

Problem is the creaking bureaucracy can detract from the benefits!

When I planned my trip to Southern Africa, the plan was to use my Jamaican passport since most countries in Africa do not require visas from us. Anyway, I had not yet become a citizen of that powerful country so I had no idea that my plans would be stymied by bureaucrats.

 What was I forced to learn was that the moment you become a US citizen, you must immediately get a US passport if you wish to travel outside of the country, for instantly the Green Card which you were initially issued is taken back. And since your visitors' visa to the USA which had been stamped in your native passport was cancelled when you got the Green Card, without the new passport you are stuck in the county.

So, how long does it take to get a US passport? Five to seven weeks IF YOU PAY TO HAVE IT EXPIDITED!

Unfortunately for me, I got my citizenship three weeks before I was due to take off to the motherland, so now I feel I have been kidnapped and detained by the system, as I can't leave the country until that cherished passport arrives some two weeks after I am due to depart.

Damn.

Did you know that in a ****hole country like Jamaica, you can get an expedited passport in a week?

Oh well, fortunately for me, my philosophy of life is that; Everything happens for the greater good.

So 2023, Southern Africa here I come as I wait to see what the greater good will be !

Obeah

 Have I been living under a rock?

I had been under the impression that the more educated and enlightened people become, the less they are influenced by things such as obeah, guard rings and even some conspiracy theories. 

Clearly however I have been totally wrong.

For belatedly, as I follow American News, it is obvious that belief in dimwitted conspiracy theories are on the rise. 

In Jamaica, there are far more stories now about obeah related matters. 

You know, I have never gotten the impression that Obeah men/women were particularly wealthy, but I guess they must be very smart at hiding their fortunes. 

Or is it they are waiting patiently for their time to come?

I smile as I recall how many decades ago, as I was taking a taxi from the airport into Port of Prince, the capital city of Haiti, when during the journey, the driver enquired if I wished to visit a voodoo priest. I asked him why I should, and his immediate reply was. " So you can get rich."  When I asked him how come he wasn't rich, he explained patiently that his time hadn't yet come. 😂

Anyway, this resurgence of Obeah in Jamaica is no laughing matter and in fact it is really concerning.

Look at this news carried by Radio Jamaica on the 26th April 2022, under the banner headline;.

Medical staff at CRH halt work after being threatened by armed thugs

The story began; "Doctors and nurses at Cornwall Regional Hospital in St. James have stopped working after armed thugs this morning entered the institution and threatened them while trying to secure the release of a male patient who is said to be a don. Radio Jamaica News was informed that the gunmen demanded that the man be released into their custody but the medical staff resisted after stating that the patient was too ill and needed treatment. The men reportedly drew guns and threatened the hospital staff."

The report further stated; "Assistant Commissioner Clifford Chambers, head of the Area One Police, confirmed that there was a confrontation between doctors and persons who took the sick man for medical treatment. The information so far, which we're trying to confirm - let me make it clear - is that the persons who took that male there to be treated are of the view that is condition was not medical in the main but that he needs to go to a "obeah man" who can better help him," the policeman revealed. 

 

He said reports indicate that the doctors insisted the man needed proper medical treatment and this led to the confrontation. "

This incident follows closely on a report that a young school boy was killed over a "guard ring" last month and the exposure of the church run by Kevin Smith, where human sacrifices and obeah practices were taking place. 

Clearly therefore, instead of many young people realizing that obeah cannot affect them negatively or positively, they seem to be going in the opposite direction.

I wonder what they would have done if they got an anonymous letter in the post, containing a single brand-new razor blade with a long strand of hair wrapped around it, as I did some years ago? (Incidentally, as the razor blade was brand new, I put it into my own razor and shaved my legs😁)

Seriously though, I really don't know what next to expect in my beleaguered country.

 Obeah - YouTube

A Welcome Apology

Easter 2022 bought what I consider a most welcome announcement in Jamaica, one which will improve on how we discuss one very important aspect of our history and heritage from now on.

No, I am not referring to the numerous headlines saying; “he is risen,” as that is stale news and not at all factual!

What I am citing is the revolutionary story which the majority of the media fraternity in Jamaica ignored, except those at the Jamaica Observer.

They carried it under the banner headline “Maroons finally say sorry.”

The earth-shattering word in that story in my book is, ‘finally,’ as for centuries, the Maroons in Jamaica have sought to either deny the treacherous act of their ancestors or ignore it.

Oh yes, the Maroons have an outstanding history and this is so highly respected by us that Queen Nanny was elevated to the position of National History.

Incidentally, they are not however the indigenous Jamaicans as some have belatedly claimed, for the only people who can fill that bill are the Tainos.

The fact is, the original Maroons were enslaved Africans who  were brought to the island by the Spaniards. Cherishing their freedom though, they escaped to the hills after the British defeated their Spanish enslavers in 1655.

From strategic points, they conducted guerilla wars for some seventy years.

Because they couldn’t be defeated, the British offered them a treaty which included; their own lands and limited autonomy. Also included in the agreement though, was a commitment that they would help the British forces defeat other slave uprisings and return escaped slaves to the plantations.

The Observer story reported; It took almost three centuries, but on Good Friday 2022 the Maroons of Jamaica apologized for their sordid role in crushing popular anti-slavery uprisings and forcibly returning runaway slaves to hellish conditions on British-owned sugar plantations, sullying their storied history.

Two of the more well-known black rebellions put down by the British colonial forces with the solid support of the Maroons were that led by West African slave Chief Takyi of St Mary in 1760 and Baptist Deacon Paul Bogle of Stony Gut, St Thomas, in 1865. Bogle and his key ally George William Gordon were hanged but later named national heroes of Jamaica, and just two Fridays ago, April 8 was officially declared Chief Takyi Day, henceforth to celebrate the freedom fighter credited with the first slave uprising in the Caribbean.

“We regret the hurt and sufferings caused from such actions. We take total responsibility on behalf of our ancestors,” said paramount chieftainess and Queen of the Maroons Gaamang Gloria “Mama G” Simms, the woman now occupying the seat once held by Queen Nanny of the Maroons, the only female among the seven national heroes. “…We realise that we cannot undo the past, but we can remedy the situations through reconciliatory actions that will repair the damage and rebuild trust so that these behaviours will not be repeated,” continued the Maroon spiritual leader in a press statement, according to the Observer.

Mama G

It is the refusal by previous Maroon leaders to admit that treachery and apologize, which has caused numerous other Jamaicans of African ancestry, to remain bitter against them.

Maybe if they had been honest in celebrating their history, more of us would have been more understanding and forgiving, for indeed Africa has never been a unified black continent, as it has always been tribal loyalties not color that remained supreme.

However, while forever boasting about their courageous feats, previous leaders have rubbed salt into the wounds by denying the ‘treachery’ of their ancestors.

Until now.

This long-awaited apology therefore makes Mama G a very special Maroon leader indeed.

Hopefully her courage and honesty will temper the attitude of the pretenders like Chief Currie of the Accompong Maroons, (a little village in St. Elizabeth) who has belatedly been trying to rewrite history to the point of declaring that they were given sovereignty by the infamous treaty!

Yes, the Maroons have a proud legacy to celebrate and now that Mama G has finally admitted that they also had feet of clay, maybe we can all now proudly embrace our motto ‘out of many one people’ as we continue the journey to make Jamaica one of the greatest nations on earth.