EDITORIAL: Don't be afraid to call for security help

In the days since he asked Jamaicans for their forgiveness and promised atonement, including a new approach to governance, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has failed to live up to his side of the bargain.

More to the point, Mr Golding has demonstrated little leadership in west Kingston, his parliamentary constituency, where, in the enclave of Tivoli Gardens, residents have barricaded themselves to prevent any attempt by the security forces to capture and arrest Mr Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. Indeed, except for an effete statement on Friday night calling for calm, Mr Golding, the prime minister, has been strangely silent on the events in Tivoli Gardens - and everything in Jamaica.

Mr Coke is the reputed leader of the infamous Shower Posse gang, who the United States (US) wants to extradite for allegedly exporting narcotics into, and guns out of, their country. He is an acknowledged supporter of Mr Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and his Tivoli Gardens power base, the prototype for Jamaica's 'garrison' communities, is widely considered to be the street command and control centre of the ruling party.

It is, in part, for these reasons that so many Jamaicans hold as spurious arguments advanced by the Golding administration for its nine-month resistance of the US attempt to extradite Mr Coke for allegedly exporting narcotics into, and guns out of, their country.

Moreover, Mr Golding sanctioned - he says in his role as JLP leader and not as head of government - the hiring of a US law firm to lobby US officials on the Coke extradition matter. Then he misled Jamaica about his involvement. The discovery of Mr Golding's action pushed his government to the brink of collapse.

political capital

No one could ever claim that Mr Golding did not expend vast political capital to protect the 'rights' of his key constituent, Mr Coke. But last week, his reputation in tatters and his government on the brink, Mr Golding instructed that the order be signed so that the extradition proceedings against Mr Coke could begin.

The response of Tivoli Gardens residents and their 'generals' was to set up booby-trapped barricades and, in effect, pose a direct challenge to the Jamaican state and its right to impose law and order in every part of the national territory. It is not the first time this has happened.

What is different now is the raw exposure of the nexus between politics and organised crime which, in his speech of atonement, Mr Golding promised to break. If the current situation in Tivoli Gardens is allowed to stand, the logical next step is the Balkanisation of Jamaica - sharing the country among community warlords, with nominal national oversight by 'organised' government to maintain a veneer of constitutional legitimacy.

Here is where we are surprised at Mr Golding's silence. His statement of appeasement on Friday did not go far enough. It failed to recognise and address the risks posed to the Jamaican state when these dangers should have been anticipated early. As prime minister and MP, Mr Golding should have been communicating with constituents fully about the sanctity of the state.

The Jamaican security forces, with sensitivity and within the law, must enforce the law and maintain order of the Jamaican territory. If they feel overpowered in the current circumstances, our government must not be shy about asking foreign partners and friends for help.

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