Questionable Conduct: The Jamaican Political Reality

"The full extent of U.S. involvement in the operation remains unclear."                           Mattathias Schwartz, The New Yorker , August 3, 2012 That statement comes from the leading researcher on the role of the USA in the May 2010 military operation in Tivoli Gardens, Jamaica. The Tivoli Commission of Enquiry (COE)  cannot fulfill its mandate if it fails to clarify further the role the USA played in the operation. Clarification can come from a number of sources. Then Prime Minister & Minister of Defence, Bruce Golding, has given Schwartz a most interesting interview. However, there are certain assertions that the COE may wish to seek clarification. For example: Golding requested the US authorities  to provide "aerial surveillance"that would assist the security forces in managing the operation.Golding claims that he had in mind "satellite images." Clarify : The exact nature of the aerial surveillance requested and provided; The da

It is an indisputable fact that agencies of the US government payed a role in the the May 2010 incursion into Tivoli Gardens. It is likely that such foreign agencies were  involved prior to the operation and subsequently in the capturing of Christopher "Dudus "Coke. Any serious investigation into the May 2010 incursion must seek to discern the nature of the role played by foreign security agencies in the Tivoli incursion/siege. There has been documentation to suggest that then Prime Minister and Minister of Defence sought the assistance of the US Embassy to ascertain the reliability of reports of the extent of the  unfolding carnage. Furthermore, then Minister of National Security was forced to publicly acknowledge the operation of a USA "spy plane" in Jamaica's airspace prior to and during the incursion. Generally the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has demonstrated an unseemly recalcitrance in disclosing the nature and extent of the role played by foreign se

                     Decolonization is a process by which nation-states reduce their dependency on institutions, structures and processes imposed, copied or inherited from the colonial experience. The ultimate aim is to fashion such to reflect the local realities. The process is a complex exercise varying in length, character and prone to a number of challenges, distractions, resistance and set-backs. Sometimes initiatives have to be undertaken by visionary leadership moving ahead of the general edification of the populace. A failure to satisfy expectations invariably gives rise to calls for the return to the “good ole days”. The Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition has described the current debate on replacing the Privy Council (PC) with the Caribbean Court Of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica’s final appellate court as a “ distraction”. The general reason given is that it shifts the national attention from dealing with the dire economic realities that are prese

On the publication of the Public Defenders Interim Report that the recommended a public commission of enquiry, we have argued that its focus should be  state-centric . As such it should not seek to replicate the work undertaken by the Office of the Public Defender ( mainly compensation) ; neither should it be concerned with the criminal aspect ( primarily because the unavailability of the forensics and that matters dealing with criminal culpability is the remit of the Director of Public Prosecutions ).  In a Gleaner interview published Tuesday, May 14, 2013  : "Attorney say yes to Tivoli enquiry" (carried on the front page) I was "strongly recommending" that the proposed commission "should consider the granting of immunity to persons summoned to testify in order to get to the truth" Not to do so would run the distinct possibility that the principal decision-makers and state operatives  being instructed by their attorneys to guard against self-incriminat

The Minister of Justice, Senator Mark Golding has sought to justify the multi- million dollar budget provided for the Tivoli Commission of Enquiry. We renew our call for the Ministry of Finance and/or the Ministry of Justice to publish the full details of the budget for this enquiry, We intend to summarise some of the arguments advanced and to question the rationale informing those considerations: The GOJ was intent on getting Commissioners and legal counsel of the highest integrity, professional competence and experience.  That  came at considerable costs, even after some amount of negotiation. This presumes that they are no Jamaicans being held in such high regard with the requisite professional competence and experience to chair the Commission. Consequently the GOJ had to look elsewhere to find a chairman who, apart from being suitably equipped, would not be perceived as being "tainted" by local partisan politics. We disagree fundamentally with that approach.  I

Is there a budget for the Tivoli Commission of Enquiry ?  If there is one somewhere could the Ministry of Justice and/or the Ministry of Finance  seek to get it published ? From the public utterances from the Minister of Justice there have been a number of "drafts" ranging from $250 M--$300M. Those drafts are presumably based on the Enquiry lasting a total of 3 months-- more accurately 64 days. Note, it is not successive months or weeks. The Chairman at the very start made it clear that given the amount of witnesses to be called it is very likely that the specified time period will be exceeded. This reasoning has been uttered by the Minister, Hence it is very likely that the $300 million  budgetary allocation will have to be increased, if the COE proceeds, unchecked, along the path taken. Being faithful to its Terms of Reference, the COE has embarked on a path that results in the calling of victims of the May Tivoli incursion to tell their stories , indicate thei

Desmond McKenzie, MP Western Kingston has provided documentary support for his claim that the GOJ spent $100 million  in settlement of compensation claims by residents of Tivoli Gardens consequent on the military on May 23, 2010 incursion . Mckenzie had disagreed vehemently with Minster of Justice, Mark Golding's assertion that the amount was approximately $1billion. It is a Statement to the Houses of Parliament by the Honourable Derrick Kellier, Minister of Labour and Social Security. Tuesday, September 17,2013 entitled "Assistance To Residents Of West Kingston Consequent On Military Incursion on May 23, 2013(sic) Major Points: The investigations were carried out by the staff of the Ministry, Social Development Commission and Poor Relief Department. Some 2520 families were assisted with grants ranging from $15,000-$250,000 based on the degree of damages/losses sustained. This amounted to $71.89M . Some 181 registered vendors of sections of Coronation Market which

 The recent outpouring of consternation about the financial  costs being incurred by the Tivoli Commission Of Enquiry is understandable in the context of competing national priorities. These  are being neglected, in part, due to financial constraints imposed upon and by the Ministry of Finance in conjunction with the International monetary Fund (IMF). The Minister Of Justice, Senator Mark Golding, has stated on radio ( "This Morning" on Nationwide ) that "close to a $1 billion" has already been spent, primarily by the Ministry Of Labour & Social Security, in the aftermath of the Tivoli incursion/siege. Member of Parliament, Desmond McKenzie, has refuted that amount ; countering that the "sum of $100 million" was the amount tabled in a report to the Parliament by the Minister of Labour & Social Security. Now there is a world of difference between the amounts being stated as having been spent on Tivoli Gardens residents by the JLP Administrat