Head of the Centre for Leadership and Governance at the University of the West Indies, Professor Trevor Munroe, has prodded the State and civic society to seize the moment and eradicate rampant criminality and corruption.
Munroe, a respected professor of government at the Mona campus, stressed that a formidable alliance must be forged to entrench law and order.
He told a Gleaner Editors’ Forum that every effort must be made to exploit the momentum garnered from the ongoing police-military operation in Tivoli Gardens and other west Kingston communities to wrest control from gangs once and for all.
Munroe said the State must move with dispatch over the next three months to, among other things, confiscate the wealth garnered by Jamaica’s number one fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
“The security forces know a lot about Coke’s palaces and houses, every one of them should be padlocked,” declared Munroe.
“The criminals should know that the ‘President’ of all dons and his associates are not able to retain access to the houses in Kirkland Heights, Oakridge and other areas.”
Munroe argued that a strong signal must be sent to dons that the wealth of their criminal enterprises is under threat.
Suspend contracts
The professor wants all subcontracts and contracts granted to Coke’s firm, Incomparable Enterprise, as well as other companies operated by questionable characters, suspended with immediate effect.
“The civic will must set a three-month deadline that all parties must follow.
“If it means that the Parliament will meet the entire week to deal with the anti-gang legislation that has to be carefully customised to match Ja-maica’s circumstances, so be it,” he said.
Munroe suggested that this be complemented by fast-tracking the proposed anti-gang legislation and regulations to govern campaign financing.
“These moments are not going to last,” warned Munroe. “We had a similar momentum in October 2006 in the aftermath of (the) Trafigura (scandal).”
He was referring to the then People’s National Party government’s acceptance of funds from oil trader Trafigura Beheer in 2006, a contravention of Dutch law.
Munroe said Jamaica squandered that opportunity to address the sore issue of campaign funding.
“Every media and civic association called for legislation to deal with campaign financing to address the issue of political party funding. We are in 2010 and that has not happened.
“We have never had the civic will, we always talked about the political will. We now need to introduce into the discussion the civic will to take action to deal with organised crime and its links with political parties to move forward on the anti-garrison agenda,” stressed Munroe.
He echoed the sentiment of Police Commissioner Owen Ellington that the State had never been exposed to the intense attacks as it was last week when well-armed allies of Coke overran western Kingston before being repelled by the police and military.
Munroe said that in 1965 when a state of public emergency was declared for western Kingston, the record showed gangs of 100 people attacking the police force in that area.
“So we are not talking about street gangs, we are talking about paramilitary such as we have been exposed to in the mother of all garrisons,” he said. “We need to have that anti-gang legislation.”
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