Emancipation Park
published: Thursday | July 17, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
A CONTEMPORARY example of a pseudo-event is the construction of Emancipation Park in New Kingston, Jamaica. The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Percival James Patterson, planned the construction. The park was an expensive project and the government spent $100 million.
Like all pseudo-events, the construction was widely publicised by the media months before its opening to the citizens of the country. This was done in the form of advertisements, interviews, articles in the newspapers and footage from the actual site of construction. Therefore it was made well known to all. For a long time the park was the 'talk of the town', as everyone was eagerly anticipating its completion.
The Prime Minister officially opened the park on August 1, 2002, Emancipation Day. Hundreds of Jamaicans, including government officials, members of the Jamaican Labour Party (the opposition party) and notable scholars were present at the occasion. The proceedings included cultural pieces and patriotic speeches. Of course, the media were there to capture the event. The new park has more features and is better developed than all the other parks in the country. It is situated on two hectares of land and has three water fountains, a huge stage for performances, a 500-metre jogging track, many areas for relaxation and a reflecting pool. It is therefore obvious that the Prime Minister made the project an extravagant one.
This event has a certain degree of ambiguity to it, as many pseudo-events often have. It makes one wonder if the actual intention of the park was simply just a beautification project or an act by the Prime Minister to gain public approval and hence gain additional support in the general election which was just approximately two months after the park's completion. Therefore it may have been intended to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
