By Howard Campbell, Gleaner WriterTHE CHOICE between shelling out thousands of dollars and risking harassment by thugs is one many entrepreneurs have been forced to make in this country.
There have been many reports of area dons taking 'contributions' from businessmen in downtown Kingston. There have been reports of extortion spreading to other locations in the Jamaican capital such as Red Hills Road and to a lesser extent Barbican.
During the last five years stories have also emerged of extortion's tentacles spreading outside the Corporate Area, making the job of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Extortion Unit even tougher.
Superintendent Norman Gordon, a 31-year veteran of the JCF, has headed the 15-year-old Extortion Unit since 2002. He told The Gleaner that although this unit is 'big enough' to monitor extortion islandwide, its strike rate in terms of nabbing offenders is not high.
"Prosecution is not where we would like mainly because people are not coming forward and reporting the incidents. We get calls from time to time but they lead to little prosecution," said Superintendent Gordon. He said taxi operators, store-owners and persons involved in the construction industry are the extortionists' main targets.
REMOTE AREAS
With commercial activity increasing in the smaller urban areas, he observed that even the most remote areas across Jamaica had become attractive to the purveyors of enforced protection payments.
"In every township in Jamaica there is an attempt at extortion," he said. "But every time it rears its head we move to crush it by encouraging the persons (affected) to work with the local police."
He pointed to Spanish Town, May Pen and Montego Bay as some of the main trouble spots outside of Kingston.
Jamaicans usually associate extortion with store owners in downtown Kingston and Spanish Town, but building contractors have long suffered from thugs who demand to be 'placed' on their payroll, without doing any work.
To help reduce the problem of thugs at construction sites, Gordon says, the Incorporated Master-Builders' Association of Jamaica (IMBAJ) and his organisation have held several meetings to discuss ways of doing this. He did not elaborate on the dialogue at these meetings, but said: "We have seen results from them."
The IMBAJ is not the only organisation that has collaborated with the Extortion Unit. Gordon says the unit has also established ties with the Ministry of Works and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ). Gordon says the latter has helped his team make persons more aware of the implications of dealing with these criminals.
BETTER UNDERSTANDING
"They have sponsored ads for television and in the newspapers that have sensitised Jamaicans to the dangers of extortion," he said. "I think because of this, there's a better understanding among people of the extortion racket."
Beverley Lopez, president of the PSOJ, stressed the importance of that organisation's work with the police. "I gather that things (extortion) have abated somewhat because downtown (Kingston) is no longer consumed by vendors... that made it difficult to know who was who," Mrs. Lopez told The Gleaner: "But it's critical that members are involved with the police to get rid of extortion or it will continue."
