Voice From The Street: Vigilante Justice
Too many criminal kids - Gregory
ST ANN’S BAY, St Ann – Newly –elected Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Reverend Howard Gregory says the involvement of children and young people in gang and other criminal activities in Jamaica should be of great concern to all.
Addressing the opening service of the 142nd Annual Synod of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands at the parish church in St Ann’s Bay yesterday evening, Gregory said the alarming increase in gang activity in communities and schools has thrown a damper on the positive indicator on the country’s crime statistics over the past year.
“During the past year, and concurrent with the electioneering, there was a lowering of the level of murder over previous years. Whether this is a direct consequent of the casualties of the Western Kingston incursion and the consequent demise of certain criminal elements, or the outcome of more effective policing is yet to be seen,” he said.
“However, as if to throw a damper on what could be a positive indicator in the movement of the crime statistics, there has been an alarming increase in gang activity in communities and in schools,” he added.
He said while gangs have been a part of the social landscape for quite some time, and has been characteristic of some inner-city communities and the operation of the extortion racket, it must be a matter of deep concern to all, that our children and young people are finding involvement in gangs more appealing than the pursuit of their academic programmes and the forward movement in taking their place in the world of work and in contributing to the social good.
Over 300 clergy and lay magistrates from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are attending the Synod at Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort here in Ocho Rios, St Ann which started yesterday.
The Synod ends on Friday.
VIDEO: Racism gives Jamaican man a heart attack
A black Jamaican man, who is married to a white Danish woman and lives in Orlando, Florida says his experience with racism in America gave him a heart attack.
André Brown, who is the son of veteran sports broadcaster and boxing official Keith Brown, spoke candidly with the Jamaica Observer about the ordeal he faced and still faces because of his marriage to a white woman
Area One police ready for election
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Assistant Commissioner of Police Carl Williams says officers in the Area One Police Division are prepared to maintain law and order during the campaign for the upcoming general elections, expected to be held by yearend.
He said that since Andrew Holness became prime minister last month, the police — like most Jamaicans — have been anticipating an early election.
  WILLIAMS… the police are committed to professional conduct (Photo: Alan Lewin 1/1  |
"Since then, we have been having a series of meetings at police headquarters within the divisions to ensure that we prepare ourselves for the impending elections," said ACP Willimas, who is in charge of the parishes of Hanover, Trelawny, Westmoreland and St James.
He added that in preparation for the polls an Operation Order has been rolled out in each division.
"That (Operation Order) is a plan that will govern the operations of the police throughout the election activities, in an effort to have smooth operations," he explained.
He said further that training of 'one day policemen' has already commenced, as well as the training of 'protection officers' for the candidates. These officers, he said, will be assigned once the election is called, or in specific cases where the need arises. ACP Williams was speaking at the Grandiosa hotel in Montego Bay on Thursday at a code of conduct ceremony for political representatives in St James who will be contesting the upcoming general election.
The function was organised by the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) of St James and presided over by its chairman, Rev Everton Jackson.
ACP Williams told the gathering that the sole interest of the police in attending the ceremony was to stress the need for peaceful conduct during the campaign.
"We are not, as police officers, vested in any outcome. What we are vested in is the peaceful conduct of the election campaign within our divisions," said the assistant police commissioner.
He said that the police are committed to professional conduct, emphasising that "you will get nothing less". At the same time, he urged the politicians to be mindful of the law of the land during campaigning and on election day.
Rev Jackson, in his remarks, urged the candidates to ensure that no life is lost in the parish during the campaign as a result of political violence.
"Let the campaign be fun. It should not be just about winning at all cost. You have your product to sell and of course you want to convince people, but please be guided by the code of conduct that have been signed by the two major political parties," he urged.
Ten representatives from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) signed the document on Thursday.
Child abuse high - More than 5,000 cases reported this year
Clarke urges more people to report child abuse
BY NADINE WILSON
SINCE the start of this year, the Office of the Children's Registry (OCR) has received more than 5,700 reports of child abuse and over 800 cases of child sexual abuse, but Jamaica's first children's advocate, Mary Clarke, fears these statistics are not reflective of the actual number of children being ill-treated across the island.
"There is a disconnect between the number of cases reported and the number of actual cases and actual incidence of child abuse," Clarke said during Thursday's launch of a Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Project (CSAAP) by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands Young Adults Action Movement (UCYAAM) at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.
 Moderator of the United Church of Jamaica and Cayman Island J Oliver Daley and former children’s advocate Mary Clarke unveil a poster during the launch of the church’s Young Adults Action Movement Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Project at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on Thursday. (Photo: Jermaine Barnaby) 1/1 |
There have been 20,000 reports of child abuse and 5,743 incidence of sexual abuse reported to the OCR since it was established in 2007 to receive reports of all cases of abuse against children.
But Clarke, even while commending the police and other agencies for the work they have done in curtailing incidence of child abuse, believes more needs to be done to encourage people to report cases.
"I want to challenge the Office of the Children's Advocate — as I have done before — to tell us more about the reports that have come in to them. How many of them that have been investigated have been valid? How many arrests have been made? How many perpetrators have been removed from the homes as the law makes provision for, and in trying, how many convictions have been made? This will encourage more and more persons to report," said Clarke who demitted the office earlier this year.
The CSAAP was launched in an effort to heighten awareness of sexual abuse and reduce fear associated with the reporting of child abuse. The project is part of the church's response to the social and economic needs as well as to social issues affecting the most vulnerable within the society.
Clarke said overcoming fear continues to be one of the major challenges in the fight to end the sexual exploitation of the nation's children. Added to this, she said, is the fact that children are at times disbelieved by parents and others in authority.
"The fear of reprisal and the 'informer fi dead' culture; the fear of embarrassment and the guilt of the victim; the children's fear that nobody will believe them," said Clarke, are some of the reasons for children not reporting sexual and physical abuse.
"Family members are telling children, 'you get what you are looking for'; 'You pretending like you're a big man or woman so you get big man or woman something'; 'you invite it on yourself'," Clarke said.
In pointing out that most incidences of sexual abuse of children occurred in the afternoons after school and before parents get home from work, she called on guardians to provide safer after-school care for children.
In light of the increasing reports of child abuse, Greg Smith from the OCR said the church-affiliated project was timely.
"The fight against child abuse cannot be the job of any one individual or agency, it has to be a collaborative effort by all relevant stakeholders," he said.
VIDEO: Woman burnt to death, seven left homeless
A 40-year-old woman was yesterday burnt to death and seven people, including a six-year-old child, left homeless when fire gutted a five-bedroom house in Swallowfield, St Andrew
The dead woman was identified as Terry Ann Baker.
"A sleep me a sleep when me little granddaughter wake me up and say she feel hot and when me jump up to go check me see sections of the house under smoke," said Charles Tibbie, cousin of the fire victim. The distraught man said occupants rushed out of the burning concrete structure about 2:30 in the morning.
Baker was not so lucky as her charred remains were found in a section of the building after fire fighters were able to bring the raging flames under control.
"When me hear fire and rush to the room where my cousin was and kicked off the door a pure fire," said Tibbie.
Family members wept openly after Baker's body was removed from the rubble.
"Nothing was saved in the blaze, all me money... over $200,000 burn up," Tibbie said.
Police up to late yesterday had still not determined the cause of the blaze.
Damage is estimated at over $5 million but it was not clear if the house was insured.
THE prosecution in the murder case of entertainer Vybz Kartel and his three co-accused revealed for the first time in court yesterday that it has video and telephone evidence tying the accused men to the killing of a man in August of this year.
According to the Crown, the evidence, when disclosed in full to the defence, will cause the lawyers to advise their clients to plead guilty to the charges against them.
It was not specified which of the accused men were on the video but the Court was told the it showed Clive 'Lizard' Williams being mobbed and beaten to death.
The revelation was made when the men appeared before Senior Corporate Area Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey.
Included in the case file, the court was told, are statements implicating the men.
Kartel — whose real name is Adidja Palmer — fellow artiste Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell; fashion designer Calvin Haye; and Cayro Jones are charged with Williams' murder on August 16.
Williams, according to the police, was stabbed and shot to death over a missing illegal firearm. His body has not been found.
Notwithstanding the purported evidence, Haye, through his lawyer Chris Tavares-Finson, was adamant that he had nothing to do with the killing, which is believed to have occurred in Havendale, St Andrew.
The men were remanded into custody until December 2 when bail applications are expected to be made in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court. Jones was not brought to court yesterday.
Meanwhile, Kartel will return to the Gun Court Division of the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on November 30 in relation to the murder of Barrington 'Bossie' Bryan earlier this year. He was shot as he stood among a group of people in Gregory Park, St Catherine.
Kartel is being represented by Tom Tavares-Finson, while Campbell is being represented by Michael Deans. It was not clear yesterday who is representing Jones.
Portia says no garrison walk until...
Thursday, November 03, 2011
OPPOSITION Leader Portia Simpson Miller has called on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to sign off on a programme of social transformation for inner-city areas ahead of her participation in any walk through garrison communities with him.
Responding to the prime minister's invitation for her to join him on a walk through what he called garrison communities, Simpson Miller noted that it will take much more than symbolic walks to address the problems of politically-polarised communities.
 Portia Simpson Miller 1/1 |
She said she was ready to meet with Holness to discuss the matter and also wants the prime minister to reassure the country that the upcoming elections will be held, at least, at the same standard as the last polls in 2007.
Simpson Miller wrote to the prime minister in response to a letter he sent her last week inviting her to join him in walking through politically-polarised communities known as garrisons.
Holness' West Central St Andrew and Simpson Miller's South West St Andrew are both considered garrison constituencies.
Simpson Miller, while giving her "commitment and that of the People's National Party to the elimination of zones of political exclusivity which are bolstered by political violence", insisted that while symbolic actions such as walks may play a role in addressing the substantive issue of politically-exclusive zones, it would take much more than walking in them.
Holness vowed to put an end to "garrison politics" during his hour-long speech after taking the oath of allegiance on October 23.
The Opposition leader has since rejected Holness' use of the term garrison to describe communities, stating that the term "not only negatively affects the psyche of the honest, decent residents of these communities, but also elevates and emboldens criminal elements that live there
Meadows: OUR findings leave JPS suspect
Monday, October 24, 2011
THE Office of Utilities Regulation's (OUR's) pronouncement Friday that the new meters being installed by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are accurate and not the culprit behind the high light bills being experienced by customers, has given Government senator Dennis Meadows reason to believe that the company itself is suspect.
Meadows made his feelings known after former OUR Director General J Paul Morgan revealed the results of a probe commissioned by the OUR into the billing practices of the JPS after increasing complaints of exorbitant electricity charges from consumers.
  MEADOWS… I believe the Jamaica Public Service Company was less than honest in dealing with its customers in terms of its billing practices 1/1  |
"I am not surprised at the findings," Meadows told the Observer on Friday. "I had my own reservations in terms of using a former head of the OUR to investigate the billing practices of JPS. It is my humble view from day one that the meters were not the sore point. My position is that I believe the Jamaica Public Service Company was less than honest in dealing with its customers in terms of its billing practices."
He said the probe should have concentrated on the JPS's practice of back-billing customers which, he insisted was unjust.
"You accuse them of tampering with your meter, despite the fact that your seal is still intact. You assess them six years behind and you are unable to establish the date on which that tampering occurred; so without any basis at all, you assess them. It is a practice that defies natural justice and I think this is where the investigation should have concentrated," Meadows argued.
"That practice suggests to me that the JPS, as the dominant player, is exploiting its customers," he said. "I believe there is an unspoken, unwritten policy in the JPS in terms of price-gouging. The meter, from my view, was not the problem. The problem is JPS's questionable billing practices, how it collects revenue, almost predatory in nature and exploitative."
Meadows was at the forefront of the 'Black Friday' protest against the JPS, which called on Jamaicans to wear black on Friday, August 19 to demonstrate their frustration with high electricity bills.
The protest call gained traction on BlackBerry messenger and Facebook as the Government mulled setting up a commission of enquiry into the matter.
The probe was subsequently commissioned by the OUR and led by Morgan.
Noting that he had placed a Motion in the Upper House regarding the breaking of the JPS's monopoly, Meadows said it was now time for the energy minister to exercise his powers in that area.
"The minister, by virtue of the legislation, can sit down with the JPS to revisit some of the terms of the licence in terms of how it treats with its customers in revenue collection," Meadows said.
Meanwhile, Phillip Paulwell — a former minister of mining and energy under the previous administration which signed the controversial contract with the utility company — said the probe should not end with the OUR.
"While I didn't have a difficulty with Mr Morgan being in charge of the investigation, I really thought that what would have been more appropriate was for a committee of the Parliament to undertake a general investigation into the operation of JPS, including a look at the issue of the monopoly on distribution," Paulwell said on Friday.
"I believe that is still necessary in light of the fact that we are not going to see any changes in the system until we have genuine competition introduced at the distribution end. In relation to the Electricity Act, which it is proposed to update, I left a draft Bill as minister in 2006... so that should really by now have been enacted and the Government has sat down on it for these four years, so I agree we need to modernise the legislation," he pointed out.
Morgan, speaking at a press conference Friday, said as far as the investigation was concerned, the "public can have every confidence" that the new meters are not the source of their problems.
MISS LOU
