THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE RECENT DEMONSTRATIONS and violence in Spanish Town over the killing of alleged 'don' and leader of the 'One Order' gang Andrew 'Bun Man' Hope, has once again brought into strong focus the role of dons in inner-city communities. Some of the people in these areas as well as some commentators say that these 'dons' provide security and order as well as other social functions that the State apparently is unable to do. This may be so, but the same can be said for Germany and Italy under the rule of Hitler and Mussolini.
Frankly, what we see in these communities is fascism which does provide order and security, but at the expense of personal liberty and this is what happens in these inner-city communities under the control of 'dons'. There is order yes but one is not free to voice one's own opinions if those opinions are contrary to the 'don's'.
The people of these areas (some of them at least) demonstrate so much loyalty and love for these 'dons', but these 'dons' are loyal to themselves and their egos and are really only interested in making money, whether it is through drug dealing, gunrunning, extortion or other illegal means. They will give a little here and there to the community and control the turf, buying the support and loyalty of the community.
The solution to this is leadership, visionary leadership, that is not going to take advantage of the backward ways of the Jamaican people and exploit it for personal political gain, but is going to make a serious effort to change the society. Let us hope that this leadership is seen sooner than later.
I am, etc.,
AL GRANT
alister_grant@yahoo.com
Kingston 8
Via Go-Jamaica
