{"id":2393,"date":"2019-06-07T17:59:17","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2393"},"modified":"2019-06-07T17:59:28","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:59:28","slug":"of-paradise-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2393","title":{"rendered":"Of Paradise Lost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

O. Dave Allen<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\nneed a new picture,\u201d asserts the soft-spoken Chinese Ambassador Tian Qi, in the\npresence of a photograph of Ruel Reid, the embattled former education minister,\nhanging in the boardroom of the Montego Bay Community College (MBCC). That was\nnot the remark of a careless diplomatic. \nIt was a command made by a self-confident, powerful and secure diplomat\nwho came to Montego Bay with a diplomatic pouch containing a demand of the\nJamaican state to \u2018protect the interest of our Chinese nationals\u2019. This message\nmarks the beginning of a new diplomatic relationship between Jamaica and the\nnew imperialist on the block. The Chinese have arrived! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nassertiveness of the Chinese interest in Jamaica is bolstered by the powerful\nAssociation of Chinese Enterprises in Jamaica (ACEJ), a non-profit organization\nthat was officially launched recently. This mega conglomerate is akin to the\nDutch East India Company with all its implication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACEJ\nconglomerate includes China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), Huawei\nTechnologies Jamaica Company Limited and JISCO Alpart Jamaica, all  among the group of companies and enterprises\nengaged in manufacturing, agriculture, mining, telecommunication, construction,\nhealthcare, commerce, import and export trade, among other business activities\nacross the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since\nthe contraction of the lotto scam, there has been an increase in the number of\nbarefaced robberies in Western Jamaica, with Chinese nationals as the prime target,\nthe pitfall of unintended consequences.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long\nbefore the meeting of the Fujian Association of Jamaica held in Montego Bay\nwith Ambassador Tian Qi, on the first of April, the Chinese business community\nthreatened to lock down business activities in Jamaica to protest the increased\nlevel of robberies upon the Chinese business community. I was reliably informed\nthat the local Chinese network recorded no less than five robberies of Chinese businesses\nper week since August of 2018.  However,\nit was the brazen daylight robbery by M-16 toting gunmen who shot and killed\nthe 61-year-old security guard, Canute Earle of Norwood, and 41-year-old driver\nFloyd Wilson of Rosemount Gardens in the 20 million-dollar heist, that was the\ntipping point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

APOLOGETIC\nPOLICE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was at\nthe Fujian Association meeting that a compliant and apologetic Superintendent\nVernon Ellis, head of the St James Police Division, assured the local Chinese\nbusiness community: \u201cI want to give to you, as businesspeople, the reassurance\nto carry out your business. Remain calm and continue to support the police as\nwe make the environment safer for you to do business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the government\nwith a Commissioner of Police, who is a soldier, the only instrument he knows,\ninstructed the Prime Minster to call a State of Emergency. This SOE is not\nabout the increased level of murders. It was called to placate the Chinese in\nresponse to their demand to secure the interest of their nationals.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not\nsurprising to hear the strange duet of \u201cSykie and Trim\u201d, the Montego Bay\nChamber of Commerce (MBCC) and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA)\nin their joint statement in support of the recently declared State of\nEmergency  when up to April 7, Mr. Robin\nRussell said that despite the new spike in serious crimes, he is not in favour\nof the re-imposition of a State of \nEmergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr.\nRussell, chairman of the Montego Bay chapter of the JHTA, in his April 7\nstatement, went on to say that the industry would not want to repeat “the\nshock in the market” that the announcement of the State of Emergency\ncreated last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GREEKS\nBEARING GIFTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let us\nnot fool ourselves about this State of Emergency and the Mayor\u2019s hastily\nhatched Operation Restore Paradise, laudable as they may sound. I  don\u2019t trust the Greeks bearing gifts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the\nsurface, there were no cataclysmic events, nothing extraordinary  that would have caused the government to call\na SOE, this time round,  unlike that\nwhich obtained on January 16, 2018 when the firewall that was built to protect\nthe fragile tourist industry was breached, when a man was brutally  shot and killed in a brazen daylight shooting\nin the heart of the tourist mecca during high season. Three other persons were\nshot and injured, including an infant boy, near the Donald  Sangster International Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was\nthe tipping point, the catalysis for the 2018 State of Emergency. On top of\nthat there was also the fear and the hysteria among the citizenry caused by the\nrising murder rate over the Christmas period which continued into the New Year.\nAnd the embarrassment to the hapless Holness regime after the leader promised\nthe electorate that they would be able to \u201csleep with their doors and windows\nopen\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time,\nwhile the murder rate has inched up, we are not at that place that we were last\nyear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police\npromised the Chinese business community that they would have obtained\nquick-response technologies through cellular-phone systems. But there are some\nobstacles in the way of the police implementing this technological application\nin the sea of informality that obtains along the chaotic thoroughfare of St.\nJames Street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPERATION\nRESTORE PARADISE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us be\nclear, the Mayor\u2019s much-lauded initiative, Operation Restore Paradise is\ncommendable on the face of it. But let us not be fooled ourselves, it is part\nand parcel of the security strategy, designed to meet the demands of the\nChinese ambassador  to create an atmosphere\nfor the   safety and security of his\nChinese  nationals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmunicipal corporation has a clear mandate to create an atmosphere that is\nconducive for business, but it cannot be at the exclusion of the micro sector.\nIf we continue this path, Montego Bay will be the first China Town in\nJamaica.  Please be reminded, your\nworship, there will be \u201cno peace without justice\u201d, according to Peter\nTosh.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The St.\nJames Municipal Corporation also has the obligation to integrate the\nmarginalized sectors into the mainstream of Montego Bay\u2019s formal economy. We\ncould start with restoring the People\u2019s Arcade to accommodate the 400 displaced\nvendors who are pushed aside to facilitate surveillance of the formal business\noperations on St. James Street.  Let us\nsit down and reason together on how we can build a Montego Bay for all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mayor\nshould insist that the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) allow the shop owners\nto make connection to the JPSCo grid – shop owners and tenants whose buildings\nhave been inspected and passed by a licensed electrical contractor.  These people are being frustrated by the\nJamaica Railway Corporation, which has refused to provide the vendors with a\nletter showing tenancy so that they can enter in a contractual agreement with\nthe JPSCO to access electricity. The JRC continued to pinprick the occupants at\nthe Arcade with the hope that they will abandon their holdings without\ncompensation.  The Mayor could reconnect\nthe water supply that has been disconnected since December of last year and for\nwhich there is an NWC-registered metre in the name of the Corporation. The\nMayor could insist that the JRC provides the promised sanitary conveniences to\navert a public health crisis.  If these\narrangements were made, then the displaced vendors from the streets could\ncomfortably operate their businesses in the designated arcade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndisgraceful state of the Charles Gordon Market makes mockery of the grandiose\ndesire of the Mayor to \u201cRestore Paradise\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou need a new picture,\u201d asserts the soft-spoken Chinese Ambassador Tian Qi, in the presence of a photograph of Ruel Reid, the embattled former education minister, hanging in the boardroom of the Montego Bay Community College (MBCC). That was not the remark of a careless diplomatic. It was a command made by a self-confident, powerful and secure diplomat who came to Montego Bay with a diplomatic pouch containing a demand of the Jamaican state to \u2018protect the interest of our Chinese nationals\u2019. This message marks the beginning of a new diplomatic relationship between Jamaica and the new imperialist on the block. The Chinese have arrived! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-2393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-editorial","category-letters","tag-montego-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2394,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393\/revisions\/2394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}