Stealing land

The big news in Jamaica concerning the destruction of illegal homes erected by squatters in Coopers Pen, Trelawny,  reminded me vividly of one of the main reasons why I  became disenchanted with the People's National Party (PNP) and joined the struggle to get them out of power in the 1970's.

It's a long saga, and I outlined it fully in my book, "Looking Back...the struggle to preserve our freedoms."

 Link:LOOKING BACK......... by Joan Williams - Audiobook - Audible.com

The recent Coopers Pen development is a sad story about what happens when poor, struggling people are fooled by corrupt politicians who use them as pawns to gain power.

The destruction of the homes and assets of the residents is heartrending and everything should be done to assist them in their plight.

I indicated at the top that it was squatting (land stealing) which mainly drove me from the PNP, for I was first made aware of this initiative pushed by the late DK.Duncan, former General Secretary of the PNP, shortly after we had paid down on farm land in St. Catherine and were struggling to pay the mortgage before one grain of rice was reaped. Just about then Duncan and his fellow political criminals started to target medium and large sized land owners with "capturing." (They claimed they had the right to take some of our land as they had none and we had too much, hence they were going to capture some!)

Had the PNP succededed in this socialist thrust, we would have had far more gullible poor people losing their hard earned assets through legal bulldozing, as in many instances, that is the only option left to legitimate land owners who were targeted by these socialists.

For once free loaders move on to your land, it is a long and extremely expensive and tedious process to get them off.

In the case of Coopers Pen, the owners have been going to court from 2012 (14 years!) to gain access to their land. And in every case, the courts had ruled that they must get the use of their land for their own use as the squatters have no rights to it.

But look how it has ended!

About fifty families, some with babies just days old, were thrown out of their houses and their assets destroyed by bulldozers in the early hours of the morning. 

The JLP which has been consistently in power since 2016 does not have clean hands in this matter either. For our constitution does not recognize parties but governments and it is the Ministry of Housing that has consistently represented (misrepresented?) the interest of the  residents in Coopers Pen. 

This incident once again not only demonstrates how terrible it is for people to be exploited by politicians, but also, the fact is that these politicians, whether PNP or JLP, don't really give a hoot about the poor.

Father Richard Holung

 Father Richard Holung is an amazing person. Not only because of his musical talents and humor but also because of how he has dedicated his life to helping people who many of us can't even look at, much less touch!

He performed in a humorous skit last night🤣.

I have been following his career for almost half century and though he is now 86 years old, he keeps going like the energizer bunny.

I had heard of his establishment of the Order, "Brothers of the Poor," decades ago in Jamaica, learning that they dedicated their lives to living with and helping the poor, unfortunate, indigent, physically and mentally challenged people, who mainly live on the streets.

However, it never took real meaning to me until I actually saw them in action.

This was when I was freelancing at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) about four decades ago. Right beside our front gate at Half Way Tree, was a man living on the street without shelter and clearly, barely able to move. We called various agencies to try and get help for him, without success and one day I noticed that he had a cut on his forehead which had attracted maggots.

In desperation we contacted Brothers of the Poor and the very same day, two volunteers arrived, started to dress his wound then took him away.♥️

I have been an admirer of that organization from that day and had never missed their annual fund raising concerts until I migrated.

So when I heard they were performing nearby in Florida, I had to go.

The show was awesome, with singers and dancers as good as any you see on Broadway.

 And when you realize that these are all  volunteers who perform, most of their music is original, most are created by father Holung himself (who admits that he has never had musical training) and it's their main source of funding for the wonderful work they do, the amazing nature of the production sinks in.

(Father Holung is said to have written some 800 songs for the productions over the years!)

What is equally amazing too is not only has this dedicated religious Order established 8 homes in Jamaica for the poor, homeless, sick and indigent but unbelievably, they now have similar homes in 14 countries, from Haiti to the Philippines!

(My only disappointment was that flash photography was not allowed, for this story needs to be told in the clearest possible way!)

I learned last night that lead singer Wynton Williams has been with the group from 1983!

There was also another powerful singer with the group in the early years. His name was John Jones and he was the brother of famous singer/actress Grace Jones. I remember my shock and horror at hearing of his sudden death at a very young age. 

He was no doubt quite a loss to that troupe of very talented Jamaican performers!

Mary and Joseph 

I am by no means a religious person, but among the few persons who I know of and who I have nothing but admiration for are, the late Mother Theresa, Father Richard Holung/ Brother's of the Poor, and members of the Salvation Army, for they are there for the humans that the rest of us would prefer to ignore.