Street people saga... Still unresolved 2 years later By Nagra Plunkett, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU: JULY 15 will mark two years since the city of Montego Bay and by extension, Jamaica, experienced one of the worst scandals to have ever rocked this country it became known as "the street people saga." On July 15, 1999 over 32 indigent persons were whisked off the streets of the second city in the wee hours of the morning and allegedly dumped beside a mud lake in St. Elizabeth. In March 2000, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, following a huge public outcry, ordered a commission of enquiry to investigate the matter. After months of deliberations, the commission came back with findings that implicated only Inspector Ainsworth Giddens of the Montego Bay police department. It also ruled that the government should provide a $20,000 per month stipend for the victims. Later the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) brought charges against Parish Council truck driver, Roger Leslie, garbage collector, Egbert Campbell and woman police constable Maxine Pindling. However, charges against all three were dropped recently, raising again questions as to who were the people responsible for what some are calling one of the worst cases of human rights abuses to have ever been carried out in this country. Jamaica Labour Party spokesperson on Tourism, Mr. Ed Bartlett, told The Gleaner in an interview that he thinks the record of human rights record in Jamaica has gotten to an all time high. "The street people event in my mind is the lowest state it could go, as sick and demented people were being prevented their right to life," Mr. Bartlett said. "The response of the government in the end is to offer monetary compensation of $20,000 per month, which they have not been able to fulfil on a consistent basis," he added. Mayor of Montego Bay, Hugh Solomon who, in the past, has been criticised for never having adequately address the incident, several weeks ago said that the Parish Council has been vindicated by virtue of the charges against their truck driver being dropped. Chairman for the Montego Bay Chapter of the Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) Elizabeth Hall emphasised that three persons did not come back from the group of people who were trucked to St. Elizabeth. She noted that this information came out in the enquiry but was not highlighted by the commissioners. Miss Hall pointed out that a lawyer from the JFJ went through the transcripts of the enquiry and made the revelation. "It is up to us if we are willing to accept that duppy came and took these people away," she commented. The JFJ will be hosting a memorial service at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay. The service that will commence at 6 p.m. is for three men who were trucked from the second city and have not been seen since the incident.
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