Heather Robinson
THERE IS hardly any Member of Parliament who is able to predict exactly what level of success or failure they will have during their first term in office. Perhaps after the first term, experience puts the MP in a better position to predict and plan for greater levels of success, and to accept the failures as part of the normal life of a parliamentarian. In my own case I have to admit that none of my previous political experience properly prepared me for all of the pain and terror that I would have to endure from March 28, 1993 to June 11, 1996.
During 1993 a member of the Protective Services Division was assigned to protect me. By mid-year a second officer was assigned and I was given strict instructions on where I could drive, where not to go at all, and all of these instructions were in reference to Spanish Town. On some occasions I would go to the Spanish Town Police Station to wait on a police escort home to Hellshire. There were times when this wait lasted upwards of three and four hours. Whenever I decided not to wait, I instituted my own security system which included speaking on my Cable and Wireless cellular phone to one of my friends for the entire journey. This was a very expensive security system.
THREATS
At one point I was instructed to stay away from the community of De La Vega City for an entire month. And when going home to Hellshire I was told not to drive on the Tamarind Farm/Dunbeholden Road, but rather to go through Central Village and Gregory Park. On another occasion I was told that that the threats against my life had peaked and I could no longer live in Hellshire; and on another I was told that my life was in such mortal danger that I could not be protected here. I refused to leave either Hellshire or Jamaica, and continued to utilise the protection of the JCF and the prayers of friends, family and myself.
During the 381/2 months I contemplated if this was what the life of an MP was supposed to be about. I had good memories of my father being a Member of the House of Representatives (MHR) from 1959-1962. He was always able to go wherever he wanted, and being at home with my sisters, we never knew what it was to fear a constituent. Having worked in St. Ann, Clarendon and in the PNP Youth Organisation for many years, I was not prepared for any of this.
This was a constituency that was being held hostage by a group of persons with a leader whose sole purpose was to become "the number one don" in St. Catherine. From a handful of members, the gang grew into the 'Clans' and has been able to stretch its tentacles outside of St. Catherine. After over 50 murders (up to June 1996) this gang now has an economic base that includes proceeds from criminal activity such as extortion and murder, and of course the 'legitimate' activities that it has been successful in establishing with the help of corrupt police, private citizens and political support.
ENDURABLE PAIN
There were also moments of joy, and it is these moments that made the pain endurable. The support from my Life of Jamaica family, my own mother, brothers, sister, nieces and nephews was always able to provide me with a sense of security that only family can provide. But with their limited knowledge of what was really happening they, too, were under pressure.
By June of 1996 Central Village Labourites and Comrades were working together (50:50) on the new Registrar General's office, the Jose Marti extension and the Regional Drug Training Centre at the Jamaica Police Academy. Central Village itself had one of the lowest crime rates in the parish and had shed its history of political antagonism. There was no more massive blocking of the main gateway into Kingston
But the best thing that happened to me while being an MP was to see the children of St. Jago High School march through Spanish Town to celebrate their victory at champs. It is memories such as this that made it all worthwhile. But the fact that Spanish Town remains protective of criminals is a concern that all Jamaicans should have. What can you do?
Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former Member of Parliament.
