Jamaica’s ruling People’s National Party issued a statement over the signature of Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill . The release harshly criticized the Opposition Jamaica Labor Party for suggesting that the Tivoli inquiry be aborted. In the release the Party said.
Recent statements by the Opposition Leader (Andrew Holness), Member of Parliament for Western Kingston (Desmond McKenzie), and Opposition Senator Ruel Reid, among others, continue the pattern of denial and obfuscation practised by the Jamaica Labour Party with respect to their initial handling of a legitimate extradition request for now confessed felon Christopher “Dudus” Coke,”
The release went on to say “Jamaicans will never forget the events leading up to the promulgation on May 24, 2010 of a State of Public Emergency”. “The record confirms that there was significant loss of lives, at least 70 Jamaicans are believed to have died. It is a dark and horrific chapter in Jamaica’s history, which, should never be repeated” Pickersgill reported in the release.
“As we see it, their argument to end the enquiry because of cost is a ‘red herring’ of naked and vulgar political convenience”.“They cannot sincerely or possibly be suggesting that a dollar cost can be placed against the value of the lives which have been lost, and others which have been permanently impaired, by the awful events of May 2010 which ensued under their watch and for which they must accept full responsibility to the Jamaican people,” he continued.
Of course God forbid that someone say ‚“You know this is cost prohibitive at this time ” . Like everything else for the PNP, their people haffi eat a food su dis like every ting else nah stap.
What interest does the PNP have in the lives of residents of Tivoli Gardens ?
None !!!
Why then are they vehehement about conducting this inquiry ? To damage the JLP of course, they all but said so , quote:“They cannot sincerely or possibly be suggesting that a dollar cost can be placed against the value of the lives which have been lost, and others which have been permanently impaired, by the awful events of May 2010 which ensued under their watch and for which they must accept full responsibility to the Jamaican people,”
Talk about Red-herring ? Here is the Red-herring. The PNP is a tribal party which does everything for partisan tribal reasons. It is
therefore a stretch that the very party which unanimously voted not to give law enforcement more time to arrest criminals running back to their garrisons, suddenly care about 70 dead laborites. Whether or not the inquiry should be stopped is certainly debatable. The PNP’s moral justification for it’s continuance is insulting and hypocritical.
The PNP has no moral authority to speak about loss of life. Why did the party vote unanimously not to allow the security forces more time to consolidate gains made after the Tivoli incursion? Everyone familiar with Jamaican politics know that PNP Garrisons would have been overturned as Tivoli was. When you have 11 garrisons to the other guy’s 1 , of course you want to keep those zones of exclusions which deliver elections to you time and again . This was an almost treasonous and seditious act on the part of the PNP when they sided with Jamaica’s criminals . That is where a true inquiry should be directed.
You cannot morally justify something if you are immoral yourself. The deep corruption pervasive in that administration makes it unfit to make statements on moral justifications. The moral thing for this Administration to do is resign and present the Jamaican people with a genuine mea-culpa, for the deception, decay and decadence it has unleashed on the nation over the last 40 years. Their stewardship has decimated our manufacturing , agricultural , education, health and every other sector. Our people are refugees in many places where they are viewed as outcasts. The damage they wrought is equal to that done by sub-Saharan warlords and their clans. For a country with so many who claim to be intellectuals it is hard to ignore the blatant ignorance and stupidity of the voters.