Peter Espeut
Peter Espeut
NOW WE have 'Operation King-fish'! Is anyone holding their breath? Not that a special squad is not needed to investigate how such a large number of illegal guns have come to be on Jamaican streets, and the connection between illegal guns and illegal drug dealing; but the connections between illegal guns and politics in Jamaica will always frustrate the success of such an investigative squad.
My regular readers will be aware that I am not a fan of the sort of politics we have inherited in Jamaica, bequeathed to us by National Heroes Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley. Instead of eschewing thuggery and strong-arm tactics, successive leaders of the PNP and JLP have encouraged that sort of behaviour, such that it has become 'normal'. The situation has escalated into armed gangs led by political dons, and the development of single-party 'garrison' areas forming safe 'garrison' seats for one party or the other; this now is also considered to be 'normal'.
I say it is 'normal' because, despite long-standing public exposure of this system in great detail, no political party has ever sought to distance itself from a connection with it. It is normal for politicians to employ these dons to provide 'security' at construction sites, normal for garrison constituencies to return the incumbent with 100+ percent of the vote, normal for politicians to publicly thank the dons for their political support, and normal for politicians to attend the funerals of their slain minions.
Normally these political gangs are tied to their political party through the provision to them of scarce benefits and political spoils, and the allegiances and control are strong. Except for minor skirmishes, normally these political gangs do not wage protracted wars with daily multiple murders. What is not 'normal' is that dealers in hard drugs have entered the fray and have co-opted political gangs to their own purposes. Control by the politicos has waned, and these still political gangs are now loose cannon, waging daily gun battles, sometimes with posses of the same party.
DRUG KINGPINS MUST BE REMOVED
As the bodies pile up, Jamaica rises in the world rankings in terms of the murder rate, achieving statistics greater than nations at war or involved in local or international terrorism. This is definitely not normal, and what we want is to return to normal. And so the drug kingpins must be removed from the equation. I also want the drug kingpins removed from the equation, but also I want a dismantling of the garrisons and the demotion of the dons to ordinary citizens. I want the rule of law under the Jamaican Constitution to replace the rule of the gun and the rule of political expediency. I want a change in what is considered to be 'normal', but I don't hear that coming from the political parties, so I know not to hold my breath.
None of the contenders for leadership of either the PNP or JLP have stated openly that one of their policy goals is to bring an end to the corrupt political system we have inherited. There is no new beginning on the horizon. It cannot be that we expect substantial reductions in murders and other violent crimes with garrison communities still in place. How can it be that in a free country, free citizens cannot buy or rent a house in some parts of their own country of birth without proving their political bona fides? Worse, that they cannot physically cross the imaginary line from, say, Matthew's Lane into Tivoli Gardens? For how long can this continue to be 'normal'?
STRATEGY NEEDED
I suppose we will have to count the few blessings we are about to receive. Police investigators from foreign countries will help in 'Operation Kingfish'. Does that mean that if a politician becomes implicated in drug dealing that the investigation will proceed? Does it mean that if campaign contributions from questionable characters are uncovered that the investigation will proceed? Does it mean that if the trail of the guns leads to political hands that the investigation will proceed? It will be a start, but the monolithic garrisons will remain, to the benefit of the old politics. We need a strategy to dismantle the garrisons as well. Jamaica is one of the most overfished countries in the world, but not for 'Kingfish'. I hope one day we will be.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
