Opposition JLP Member of Parliament Darrel Vaz summed up Barbadian David Simmons succinctly.
Vaz stated that David Simmons, a Barbadian, does not understand the Jamaican society, noting that once the information came out there would be some people who would always hold the unsubstantiated information to be true.
David Simmons is a former Chief Justice from the Island of Barbados . He is one of a three member panel assembled to hear evidence in the actions of the security forces in May of 2010 as they entered to seize Christopher Coke, who was wanted by the United States Government.
Coke is presently serving a lengthy sentence in a Federal facility in the US.
Vaz recently demanded an apology from Simmons for revealing unsubstantiated allegations in open sitting of the Tivoli Inquiry that Coke was sighted at his house prior to being arrested. The information was allegedly gleaned from a police station diary. Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake testified that bit of intelligence was never substantiated.
Vaz was Minister with responsibility for Information at the time, in the Bruce Golding led Administration.
Despite Vaz’s legitimate demand for a public apology from Simmons, which under the circumstances are clearly warranted , Simmons maintained rather arrogantly that there is nothing to apologize for.
“I find it ironic, to put it at its lowest, and certainly not in congruence with common sense, that I should be pilloried by Mr Vaz and asked to apologize to him for having his name and reputation cleared and vindicated,”. Simmons said.
Simmons was not done. “In the circumstances, of course, I do not apologise to Mr Vaz; there’s nothing to apologise for. His name and reputation had been cleared by that evidence yesterday. He should be grateful it came in,”.
In other words, though he erred egregiously by impugning Vaz’s character with what must have been clear to him at the time, was purely unsubstantiated allegations or hearsay, he wants Vaz to be grateful that information surfaced later which cleared his name.
This is pure unmitigated arrogance and ignorance.
What would it have taken for Simmons to say he was sorry which was clearly appropriate under the circumstances?
In response Vaz fired back at Simmons.
“In essence, I want to thank Sir David for hitting me in my head with a sledgehammer and putting a Band-Aid on my wound and then claim that he has healed me,” Vaz said.“This is what has happened to me and my family. He’s being disingenuous,”.
Simmons throughout the Inquiry has not done a particularly good job of concealing what appears to be disdain, not just for the Jamaican people but for the processes of our country.
Even as he walks a fine line pretending to be emphatic with residents of Tivoli Gardens.
I have previously voiced those concerns in this very forum, arguing that based on those observations I would have no respect for the findings of this inquiry.
It is inconceivable for anyone watching these proceedings to come away feeling otherwise.
It would not be far-fetched to imply that Simmons is merely mirroring the sentiments of many of his country-men, some of whom have confessed they were taught to hate Jamaicans in school.
This may be a very good time for Jamaicans to step back and re-evaluate the lure of a Caribbean Court Of Justice and it’s implications for our Nation.
We should now seek to extricate ourselves from the British Privy Council, which by the way is not particularly thrilled at having to deal with our issues. We must first develop our own system of Justice free and unattached from the rest of the Caribbean.
That prospect is on the distant Horizon. We are a long way from getting to that stage, but we should begin that process now.
It should also be noted that at a time when the Administration is crying broke, unable to pay public sector workers a livable wage it has so far spent well over $350 million on the Tivoli Commission.
This is a most reckless stewardship of public resources when Jamaicans of all stripes are fully aware that the PNP monolithic as a part did not give the security forces the extension it needed to consolidate gains made after the Tivoli event.
The Party’s statements then was, “we did not want the security forces to abuse citizens”.
With that statement the PNP cast its lot with Jamaica’s criminals against the Jamaican state and the security forces.
They did so to deny the nation’s security forces access to it’s network of Garrisons .
That was an act of Treason in my estimation.
The People’s National Party should have been disbanded at that time, nevertheless a few months later the people of Jamaica returned them to power.
This Inquiry like Simmons is a farce , it should be seen for what it is, an attempt to curry favor and hold state power at the expense of the people’s intelligence.