Civil War In Jamaica - Jim Brown

From The Observer - histories of the civil war period in Jamaica, 1975-1982. I am always curious about comments such as the ones at the end of the article from Jamaicans who say they knew nothing of the things talked about in the article. I traveled in western Kingston numerous times from 1979 into the early 1980s and saw Jim Brown's name in graffiti all over the place. It was hard to not be aware of him.

Jim Brown honed his skills during the politically turbulent 1970s

BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, January 27, 2008

This series of articles is not intended to lionise or glorify the acts of criminals but to put a historical perspective on criminality in Jamaica, with the hope of shedding light on why the country is now teetering on the edge of lawlessness. Of significant note, as well, is the fact that the subjects of these stories die violently and very young.

AFTER the demise of Tivoli Gardens enforcer Claudius Massop, who died in a hail of police bullets, and his chief honcho, Carl 'Byah' Mitchell, who succumbed to a drug overdose, an opening was created for Lester Lloyd Coke, popularly known as 'Jim Brown'. He stepped in to fill the breach left by the two men just before the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) landslide victory at the polls in 1980.

Although he was known by the name 'Jim Brown', Coke's original moniker was 'Ba Bye', and those who knew him say he was a tough, no-nonsense type of man, who fought tooth and nail for his party's honour.

Like Massop, Coke was nabbed by agents of the state, thrown behind bars and slapped with a murder charge. After a few months in jail, Coke was freed after the main witness to the murder was slain.

It was after his release from jail that Coke shed the moniker 'Ba Bye' and took upon himself the nickname 'Jim Brown', after the hall of fame American football player.

It is said that Coke honed his skills as a steel-nerved and feared enforcer during the politically turbulent 1970s, when the rules of engagement in politically volatile areas like the neighbouring constituencies of Western Kingston and South St Andrew demanded that the enemy be pushed back.

This scenario provided the perfect breeding ground for Coke and others of his ilk to evolve. Coke was responsible for keeping his political rivals, who would wish to attack his community and inflict violence upon its citizens, on the back foot.

Coke, like many before him, was the product of a divisive political system charted by early politicians.

But unlike Massop and Mitchell, Coke was wily enough to wean himself off political largesse and, perhaps, can be described as the first political enforcer to free himself from the economic shackles foisted on him and others of the same ilk by political power brokers.

After the JLP victory in 1980, Jamaica, which was one of the major suppliers of marijuana to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, evolved into a major transshipment port for the deadly drug, cocaine. The JLP had chosen to join the US side in the Cold War, and at that government's behest, embarked upon a major ganja eradication campaign.

The anti-marijuana initiative caused an economic fallout among the growers and traders of the illegal crop and forced drug traffickers to seek alternative means to make their money.

Cocaine commands a much higher market price than ganja and proved the perfect foil for drug traders who diverted their skills to satisfying an overwhelming demand for the drug, especially in the United States.

It was during this time that Coke, along with his confidante, Vivian Blake, developed a massive drug-running empire, with bases in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago and other parts of the US.

United States federal authorities would be jolted by the brutal dispensation and modus operandi of the Jamaican gangsters, among them the Spanglers Posse - bitter enemies of the Shower Posse - whose original members hailed from Matthews Lane and other nearby areas affiliated to the People's National Party.

The Shower Posse, so called because of their penchant for spraying their enemies with bullets, were so feared by their rivals abroad that the US Government was forced to launch a massive counter offensive aimed at destabilising the gang.

The Spanglers Posse were no less brutal, and the political violence which had been bred since the 1940s played itself out in the streets of North America. That gang was also a target of police investigations.

While Blake was the brain behind the empire, Coke provided the brawn and, in the process, gained enough wealth to ignore the feed in the political trough which was dispensed in too little amounts by political representatives.

But his wealth did not mean that he would lapse in his political duties.

In 1984, Coke reportedly led a team of men from his stronghold of Tivoli Gardens into Wilton Gardens, also known as Rema, then a JLP-aligned community run by orders from the bosses in 'Garden' (another name for Tivoli).

For years Rema was regarded as a sort of bastard cousin of the more developed and powerful Tivoli Gardens. But Rema had itself spawned fierce street warriors who were hardened in the art of criminal warfare by their daily experiences living in an area which was the first line of defence against PNP thugs who launched repeated attacks from Arnett Gardens.

A disagreement between persons from Tivoli Gardens and Rema prompted Coke and his gang's foray into Rema. When the gang left, seven men lay dead.

Soon after, police arrested Coke and charged him with seven counts of murder. But Coke was again freed after no one came forward to testify against him.

On the day of his release, heavily-armed men celebrated by firing a barrage of gunshots in the air directly in front of the Supreme Court, sending police officers, court staff and members of the bar scampering for cover and cowering in fear.

Coke was held high by the crowd and carried back to his fortress in Tivoli Gardens.

Soon after, then prime minister and member of parliament for West Kingston Edward Seaga, along with other JLP officials, visited Rema and appealed to the residents to 'let bygones be bygones'.

With his legal troubles in Jamaica behind him and his political connections rock solid, Coke now had time to continue his illegal quest at wealth creation.

In 1986, federal authorities in the United States reported that the Shower Posse had spread their wings to over a dozen US cities and were raking in a substantial portion of the 25 per cent of the billion dollar illegal drug trade that Jamaican gangs earned.

But as the Shower Posse grew in stature, so did the federal investigation into their activities, and in November 1988, 53 Shower Posse members were arrested in New Jersey on drug distribution charges.

A month before, a federal grand jury indicted 34 members of the Shower Posse, including, Coke, Blake and Blake's two half-brothers, Errol Hussing and Tony Bruce.

Coke managed to remain a free man until the beginning of the 1990s when international police investigations began closing in on the Shower Posse.

Richard 'Storitella' Morrison, a leading posse member, was 'captured' in Jamaica by US authorities and illegally whisked abroad to stand trial.

In February 1991, Coke was arrested by local police and locked up at the General Penitentiary, now called the Tower Street Adult Correctional Facility, after the US Government requested that he be extradited to that country to answer to murder and drug trafficking charges.

Coke's bid to acquire a special leave to appeal was rejected by the United Kingdom Privy Council and after a year of legal wrangling the writing was on the wall.

While Coke languished in prison, his son, Mark Coke, also known as 'Jah T', was shot dead as he rode a motorcycle along Maxfield Avenue on February 2, 1992.

Jah T was in the process of preparing for a memorial dance in honour of Claudius Massop when he was killed.

The killing of Coke's son sparked a new round of political bloodletting and, in the weeks that followed, shootings occurred in Hannah Town, Arnett Gardens, Denham Town, Rose Lane and Matthews Lane, prompting then prime minister Michael Manley to call for a meeting with Seaga. The violence also sparked a march by a group of churches through the affected communities.

But the violence would also spread abroad.

The Florida-based website, www.emergency.com, posted this report in August, 1992.

Miami, FL - A drug gang war that started in Kingston, Jamaica, early in 1992 may have recently spilled over into the streets and bars of Miami. Reportedly, an early Saturday morning nightclub shooting of twenty-two (22) people involved members of the Jamaican "Shower Posse". Gang Crimes officers of the Broward County Sheriff's Office say that the nightclub killings may have been retribution for the February killing of Mark Coke, a leader of the Jamaican "Shower Posse" drug gang. The "Shower Posse" supposedly gets its name from the "shower" of lead it shoots at rival gangs.

An agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms says that Saturday's shootings "had all the earmarks" of a Jamaican "Posse" hit. Special Agent Joe Vince was quoted by the United Press International as saying, "the posses are the most vicious organised crime group in the United States today". Capt Al Lambeti of the Broward County Sheriff's Office said that the shooting was a "...perfect textbook example of how the posse does business".

The younger Coke's murder was rumoured to stem from a dispute between Shower Posse members and members of the Black Roses Crew, which was then led by William 'Willie Haggart' Moore, who would eventually be killed, at a weekly dance called 'Beachline' held at the Hellshire Beach in St Catherine.

Popular dancer, Gerald 'Bogle' Levy, was reportedly doused with alcohol during the dispute which was diffused by police officers who were on the scene.

Three weeks later, the very day his son was buried, Coke was burnt to death in a mysterious fire inside his cell.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the notorious gangster committed suicide because he realised that he would be handed over to the US authorities, but this claim has been refuted by others who say his death was as a result of a botched escape attempt. Still others say Coke was murdered to keep him from spilling the beans to the Americans.

Responses

Just wanted to say carry on the good work of informing Jamaicans of our past and how it shapes our present and future.... I missed a few of your articles and the archive on the Observer website does not allow access to same.

By any chance do you have a link to a blog with all the articles... if not.. consider doing one.

Thanks

Courtney Bowen

ridim1027@yahoo.com

Mr Walker,

I myself left Jamaica in 1974, and before I left I would hear mention of some of these names. I knew they were thugs but that was the extent of it. Some of the names I never heard of until I came to the United States and met people from some of those communities and the media. They never got into details like you did in your articles. As a matter of fact, I was at a house party in the 70s and there was a woman there with one of these notorious men's name tattooed on her arm.

These articles that you write are very informative, especially to those of us like myself who were ignorant to what was really going on in Jamaica in that time period. It's a kind of history that people from Jamaica and their offspring should know about, as strange as it might sound. I think you should compile these article in a book and publish it. I just wish that there were pictures to go with these names. I wanted to see what they looked like. What about their relatives, I wonder what was their reaction? These young thugs should learn from those that preceded them. When you live by the gun you also die by the gun.

I have learned a lot from your articles. all I have to say is, my brother, please continue publishing these articles. I look forward to reading the Observer on line on a Sunday. Thanks for the information.

PReid1@nyc.rr.com

Hi,

I am a Jamaican living in Toronto and I wanted you to know that I am impressed with your series. I think you are doing a great work by researching the roots of our garrisons in Jamaica. You are not afraid of exposing the faults of both political parties for being involved in the gang development and you do a great job of acknowledging the place these gangsters in our society, both as enforcers and protectors.

However, if there is one aspect of your article that I would like to critique would be the structure and flow of the story. In reading your article it seemed a hodge podge of facts were put together, but I did not see a chronological order nor flow of events from paragraph to paragraph. To me it seemed you ran with an idea, finished it and realised there was another idea to input so you just threw it in the next paragraph. For your next article I would hope you put together a better flow, but thanks for the education. It is an important topic to discuss.

Regards,

Interested Torontonian

waynekash@gmail.com

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/pfversion/131835_Jim-Brown-honed-his-skills-during-the-politically-turbulent-1970s#ixzz2NoKT3mcM

Civil War In Jamaica - 1975 - 1981 - Claudy Massop

From The Observer - histories of the 1970s civil war in Jamaica -

Claudius Massop: Feared political enforcer

BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, October 28, 2007

In the 1970s when political turbulence threatened to shake the core of the nation, a number of political enforcers and henchmen came to the fore. It was an era when political representatives armed their constituents and used the strong arms and ruthlessness of the political enforcers to bring out voters and ensure that constituents toed the line.

One of the most infamous and feared of the political enforcers of that decade was the Tivoli Gardens don, Claudius Massop.

Massop had risen through the ranks of the criminal underworld to become one of the most feared names in western Kingston.

In 1976, a state of emergency was called by the then prime minister, Michael Manley, in the face of rising political tension.

Supporters of then Opposition Leader Edward Seaga's Jamaica Labour Party and Manley's People's National Party engaged in a bloody political struggle which began before the 1976 election and ended after the JLP won the 1980 election.

While the violent political atmosphere had its genesis in conflicts between the parties from as early as the beginning of the two-party system in the 1940s, political violence spiralled out of control in the 1970s.

Five hundred persons, including Massop and other prominent members of the JLP - among them present government ministers Pearnel Charles and Olivia 'Babsy' Grange - were accused of trying to overthrow the Government and were detained, without charges, in the specially created Gun Court detention centre at the Up Park Camp military headquarters.

Massop was released when the state of emergency was lifted in January 1977. At the time he was 29 years old, and immediately became the top henchman in his home base of Tivoli Gardens.

Police records show that Massop had a long history of run-ins with the law.

He was arrested on several counts of murder, illegal possession of firearm, shooting with intent, driving without a driver's license and perjury.

However, Massop was only incarcerated once for illegal possession of a firearm.

In Tivoli Gardens, Massop was known to be a tough enforcer who was not afraid to discipline anyone who fell out of line, and is remembered for his strict, no-nonsense attitude.

One elderly woman who claimed to have lived in Tivoli at the time of his reign in the criminal underworld described Massop as an easy-going individual who never went out of his way to harm anyone.

"He was a nice person who anyone could approach, but he did not take kindly to rapists and petty thieves and dealt with them rough," the woman told the Sunday Observer. "He was the one who set the real order and discipline in Tivoli Gardens. 'Claudie' Massop was also our protector and he defended the community from attack from our enemies in Matthews Lane and other PNP areas."

However, one former cop described Massop as a heartless killer whose political connections sometimes rendered police officers powerless to apprehend him.

"That man was no saint," said the ex-cop who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There are many who have felt his heavy hand and have suffered terrible human losses as a result. I was a constable at the time and was part of a patrol that came under heavy gunfire in the section of West Kingston where he reigned. In those days, rifles and submachine guns were just getting into the wrong hands and we did not have bulletproof vests or such big guns. We did not see who was actually firing at us, we got intelligence afterward that it was Massop and his cronies. One of the cops in the patrol wet his pants."

But as time passed and Massop matured, he made moves to organise a peace initiative between Tivoli Gardens and the hotbed of Matthews Lane, which was then ruled by PNP enforcer, Aston 'Bucky Marshall' Thompson.

As leaders of their respective communities, both men organised meetings and negotiated a peace which became official on January 9, 1978 when Massop and Marshall met at the intersection of Oxford and Beeston streets, the official line of demarcation between both communities, and signed a peace treaty according to a report in the Daily Gleaner in February 1979.

"Mr Massop, a JLP supporter, and Mr Aston 'Buckie' Thompson, a PNP supporter, made history at Beeston and Oxford streets in West Kingston on January 10, 1978 when they renounced political violence and called on their supporters to "put away your guns and channel your energies into building your communities," the Gleaner report stated.

After the signing of the peace treaty, street dances, which were often the targets of vicious gun attacks, were held without incident in sections of the volatile constituency.

Both enforcers were also responsible for organising the famous One Love Peace Concert which featured Bob Marley and the Wailers and a host of other reggae acts at the National Stadium in April 1978. It was Marley's first performance in Jamaica since he embarked on a self-imposed exile after narrowly escaping with his life following a gun attack at his Hope Road base.

During the concert, Massop and Marshall were called up on stage by the late Jacob Miller in a symbolic peace gesture.

Marley also brought the house down when he invited Manley and Seaga on stage in a historic move to call for peace between warring political factions.

Eight months later, Massop's life would be snuffed out by policemen's bullets at the age of 31.

Massop, 21-year-old racehorse trainer Lloyd Fraser, also called 'Nolan' of a Tivoli Gardens address, and Trevor 'Hindu' Tinson, a Jamaican who lived in Canada, were killed by a large contingent of heavily armed policemen on the evening of February 4, 1979, at the corner of Industrial Terrace and Marcus Garvey Drive.

The men were returning from a football match in Spanish Town in a blue and white Morris Oxford motorcar, bearing licence plates NE4800.

Police reported that they signalled the vehicle to stop and Massop disembarked from the vehicle and fired two shots at them.

The police said they returned the fire and Massop, Tinson and Fraser were cut down while the other two men made good their escape.

A Police Information Centre report published in the Daily Gleaner stated, "The man wearing the white hat jumped from the vehicle with gun in hand and fired at the police. Several members of the party returned the fire, hitting the man in the white straw hat and two other occupants of the car. The fourth man escaped.

The police also alleged that after the shooting had stopped a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver with two expended rounds and three live rounds were taken from the man wearing the straw hat who was later identified as Massop.

The police reported that the gun was stolen from a security guard at a meat mart in downtown Kingston and that a search of the area turned up a book containing the names of the entire staff of the Denham Town Police Station.

Massop was shot 40 times, Tinson 20 times while Fraser received 10 gunshot wounds. Pictures of his lifeless body showed multiple gunshot wounds, suggesting that Massop was shot while his hands were in the air.

But while the cops reported that they had killed the infamous Tivoli Gardens enforcer and his cronies in a shoot-out, eyewitnesses and the fourth occupant of the car, taxi driver, Samuel Evans, painted a different picture and accused the cops of extra-judicial killings.

Days after the incident, Evans told the Gleaner that the car he was driving was trailed from the causeway in St Catherine all the way to the fateful intersection by three cops on motorcycles.

He said the cops signalled the vehicle to stop and he complied before the cops ordered them to alight from the vehicle with their hands in the air. The men also complied with the policemen's demand, Evans said at the time.

The policemen, Evans said, then searched the men and the vehicle before an officer gave the order to 'kill'.

Evans said a hail of bullets then flew from the cops' guns and he managed to escape by scampering across an open land at Marcus Garvey Drive and diving into the sea.

Massop's wife, a fashion designer, also complained bitterly that her husband was killed in cold blood and made a stink over the fact that police had refused to allow an independent pathologist to be present when an autopsy was being conducted on Massop's remains.

Almost a year after the fatal shootings of Massop, Tinson and Fraser, a warrant was issued for the arrest of four policemen involved in the incident.

The policemen, who were charged with three counts of murder, were acquitted after a three-week trial in the St Thomas Circuit Court in December 1982.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/pfversion/128764_Claudius-Massop--Feared-political-enforcer#ixzz2NoJfb98G

Who Have The Electricity? Kelly Tomblin With Realistic Talk

     The head of the Jamaica Power Service (JPS), Kelly Tomblin, talking about electricity theft in Jamaica. Local solar production changes the paradigm - makes the electricity valuable to the community. Watch it be defended then.

New Day At The Electric Company?

Customer is king, says JPS

New CEO says JPS must address customer service deficiencies

BY CONRAD HAMILTON Observer senior reporter hamiltonc@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

PRESIDENT and CEO of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Kelly Tomblin says that the company cannot go forward unless it addresses severe customer service deficiencies that have resulted in a breakdown in the relationship between the light and power company and its consumers.

Tomblin, who became the head of the electricity provider on April 2, said yesterday that poor customer relations have also affected members of the JPS staff — some of whom she said were no longer proud of wearing the company's logo on their clothing.

Jamaica Public Service’s (JPS’) new president and CEO Kelly Tomblin addressing yesterday’s Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper’s head office in Kingston. Seated are JPS officials Winsome Callum, head of corporate communications, and Val Fagan, vice president generation expansion. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Winsome Callum, head of corporate communications at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), speaking at yesterday’s Observer Monday Exchange. Also photographed are other JPS officials (from 2nd left) Val Fagan, vice president generation expansion; Kelly Tomblin, president and CEO; and Garth McKenzie, director Loss Control Division. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Speaking at the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange, the new JPS boss said that she would be focusing on the need to improve the company's bottom line, as well as changing the way Jamaicans view the electricity provider.

"One of the challenges I have is returning this company to economic health in the midst of a public relations storm, in the midst of a very real need to lower electricity prices. There are significant challenges on all ends of the spectrum for JPS," said Tomblin.

At the same time, she highlighted the need for the company to improve its financial performance. "Our banks loaned us money; they expect us to make a certain amount of money related to that debt, at a certain ratio. We are not maintaining that ratio. We are meeting with all our banks this week. So at the same time that I have an angry public, I have a situation where my banks are going to ask some questions, as well, about how much we are earning, how much debt we have, so that's a big challenge for us.

"There are a lot of things you can't control; often you can't control how fuel prices go, but you can control how transparent, how intimate and how open and receptive you are to your customers, and I think that should continue, no matter what challenge we face, and that's a real focus right now. I have found that you cannot do anything with your customers, you cannot do anything with the public, or any of your stakeholders, until you have cleaned your own house," said Tomblin.

The JPS boss, who was accompanied by other senior company officials, said the intense discussions that have taken place at some recent stakeholder consultations have resulted in her not being able to complete her prepared presentations, and have convinced her of the need to address the problem as a matter of urgency. She said over the short term the JPS will be spending time listening to both consumers and staff, some of whom, she declared, are emotionally affected by the treatment meted out to them by irate consumers.

Tomblin disclosed that as a result of recent interactions with JPS customers, she has already effected a change to the company's disconnection policy. "We hear stories of people standing with their cheques telling the persons that I have paid, and the response is, 'I am sorry, I have got a cut-off notice'. There is the whole idea that we may have to cut somebody off, but let's look at their credit history. We just recently changed our policy, because I have heard from some of the most esteemed members of our community, and a lot of people who paid their bills every month had their service cut off because they were two days late," said Tomblin.

She noted that the problem of rapid disconnection was being influenced by the presence of independent contractors paid on the basis of the number of disconnections they effect.

Director of the JPS' Loss Control Division Garth McKenzie, who was among the JPS officials at the Exchange, acknowledged that the previous disconnection policy was not good for business. "We pay out exactly what we take in reconnection fees to the contractor, so it is not like a bank fee, it really is a pass-through; so there is really no way to increase disconnections and become more profitable. Disconnections make the customer more annoyed with the JPS," he said.

"In the US, which is where I compare it to, if you pay late we charge interest, so you have another tool. When others charge interest, we have one tool... disconnect, so I think that's challenging," added Tomblin, as she disclosed that JPS employees, particularly customer service representatives, were being empowered to make on-the-spot decisions on customer-related issues that previously had to go through the chain of command.

"When you sit there talking to the customer, I have to emphasise... that's the president right there. When you're talking to the customer and you have to make that decision, do I disconnect, do I treat him nicely," said Tomblin.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/VIDEO--Customer-is-king--says-JPS_11417243

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice - http://www.restorativejustice.org/

Revised Victims' Charter coming

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com

Saturday, February 04, 2012

JUSTICE Minister Mark Golding says plans are under way to launch a revised Victims' Charter.

According to Golding, Cabinet submissions are being finalised to seek approval for the adoption of the amended document.

The revised charter, he said, will provide a more balanced framework to guide the development and implementation of policies to safeguard the rights of victims, accused persons and convicted offenders. The current Victims' Charter was developed in 2006, after islandwide public consultation.

He was speaking at a press conference Thursday to launch Restorative Justice Week at his ministry in Kingston.

He said, as it stands, "our justice system defines and treats crime as an offence against the State and its laws". This definition, the minister pointed out, was geared at attributing blame and punishing the offender, not solving problems and restoring broken relationships.

He also said that it was not sufficient for Jamaica to build a safe and just society blessed with social cohesion.

According to Golding, for the justice system to meet the aspirations of the people, the people must be placed at the centre.

He said that as Jamaica celebrates Restorative Justice Week a number of activities would be unfolding which would be geared towards heightening public awareness and understanding the roles and functions of the justice ministry.

"Restorative justice seeks to bring the needs of the people to the centre of the justice system so that, ultimately, the justice system will be perceived as responding to the all-too-common cry of "we want justice," said Golding.

The minister said Restorative Justice Week, which will be observed February 5-11, represents a fundamental and progressive shift in how the Government responds to criminal violence.

Victims are provided with the opportunity to obtain validation of their experiences, while offenders are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions.

Golding said by focusing on redress and healing broken relationships, tensions are defused, communities are strengthened, and incidents of retribution leading to a destructive chain of crimes, reduced. He said this will also result in a reduction in the backlog of court cases.

Restorative Justice Week will be celebrated under the theme 'One people, One Spirit, One Justice'.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/pfversion/Revised-Victims--Charter-coming_10689549#ixzz1lVXjPZjt

Downtown Kingston On The Move

‘D Brown’ fest for this Sunday

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

DOWNTOWN Kingston comes alive on Sunday for third annual Dennis Brown Day celebration.

The event will take the form of a free concert and street lyme at the intersection of North Parade and Orange Street, from midday until 12 midnight.

Performances start at 6 pm and will feature reggae's top acts including Beres Hammond, Stephen Marley, Damian Marley, Freddie McGregor, Ken Boothe, Tarrus Riley, Cocoa Tea, Big Youth, Half Pint, and Jimmy Riley, backed by Lloyd Parks and the We the People Band.

The focus of the event will be at Orange Street — where Dennis Brown was born and spent his formative years.

The organisers intend to establish Orange Street as a musical heritage destination that will attract thousands of visitors from around the world.

In addition to the stage show, there will also be food and craft vendors primarily from the downtown Kingston area. There will also be informational booths from various service organisations, along with a host of recreational activities for the children.

The event was made possible through the Dennis Emanuel Brown Trust in association with JaRIA, Leggo Records and Sound and Pressure.

Dennis Brown was born on February 1, 1957 and began his career in the late 1960s at the age 11. From those humble beginnings, he went on to become one of reggae’s biggest stars. He died on July 1, 1999.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/-D-Brown--fest-for-this-Sunday

Downtown Kingston’s rebirth

Sunday, January 22, 2012

LAST Sunday, I made my way from Rebel Salute in St Elizabeth to the Kingston Waterfront. I was responding to an invitation from Dr Dennis Howard for what was described as Rhythm and Brunch.

It was a wake-up call and enchanting experience.

The East Car Park at Victoria Pier was transformed by the team of Jackie Tyson and Dennis Howard through their From Thought to Finish — Jahmento, creating an environment which saw some of the leading figures of our national life chatting and mingling. Dennis and Jackie promised it will be a monthly event. My hope is it will be held with even greater levels of frequency.

If residents of uptown were looking for an excuse to venture downtown on a Sunday afternoon, they have certainly found one.

What Howard and Tyson have demonstrated through this venture, which is supported by the Urban Development Corporation, is that the vision of having our waterfront and its environs becoming an area bustling with commercial and entertainment activities is indeed a viable option.

My hope is that the sterling efforts of Tyson and Howard will now be the catalyst for the staging of more culture-based activities in the area.

The timing is auspicious for such ventures as downtown Kingston is now enjoying a boom in real-estate activities, thanks in no small measure to the citing of the Digicel corporate headquarters in a region which had suffered much by way of urban decay.

I was happy to see newly installed Minister of Culture Lisa Hanna, who seemed so at home on the waterfront, as hers will be a critical role in realising the economic possibilities of this area so vital to our national development.

Based on her public utterances, my opinion is that she is sufficiently seized of the opportunities and will make the appropriate interventions, fully cognisant of the role which culture must play in the new economic thrust being espoused by the new administration.

Watching the many individuals drawn from different parts of the adjacent communities engaged in the disassembling of the props and equipment last Sunday, I could not help but remark to Howard about the possibilities for employment which culture and entertainment present. Here were a number of persons not formally employed to Howard or Tyson simply walking up after the event and getting a job. As I have often said, many of those who reside in those areas we pejoratively refer to as garrisons and who seem averse to standard modes of employment, are only excited at the prospect of being engaged in cultural ventures. If the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) is to create a significant dent in the levels of unemployment currently plaguing our nation it will definitely have to navigate the contours of our cultural landscape.

I am one who certainly believes in the role of government in stimulating the economy through employment creation measures. However, I think it is important to caution those who view government as an ATM (to use the words of Trinidad PM Kamla Bisasor) to think instead of the types of collaboration which involves investments from both the private and the public sectors in economically viable culturally related ventures. I believe that as a condition for investing in festivals and other commercially driven cultural and entertainment projects that the government should ensure a financial return on its funds. This is the only way the government will be able to provide sustainable support for the cultural sector. We will be severely challenged to do otherwise in the tight fiscal space in which we operate.

I am one who strongly believes that the government can be instrumental in encouraging the financial sector to become more engaged in the funding of cultural production. We need to see the traditional holders of capital come to the realisation that the cultural industries will provide us with significant economic growth providing we make the requisite investment.

I was reminded by my friend Fae Ellington that one has to be careful in the conclusions one reaches in the prediction of cultural and commercial outcomes. Many of us will recall that it was thought that the motion picture business would have been upended by the advent of television. True television did bring about some changes in the industry, the Cineplex is just one of the many responses to this development. However, television is now one of the major income streams for the motion picture industry.

Fae informed me that Stages Production, which is renowned for what has been called roots play, has now acquired a theatre which will be putting on not just the Shebada and Delcita-type forms of dramatic entertainment but some of the traditional fare which we thought had been displaced by the more grass-roots offering.

The success of the roots play, it seems, will now save traditional theatre which it was thought to be displacing. Think on these things.

cpamckenzie@gmail.com

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Downtown-Kingston-s-rebirth

Solar On The Move

This is very encouraging -

Largest solar plant to be built in #Jamaica

Published: Wednesday January 25, 2012 | 9:22 am

TORONTO, Canada, CMC – The Toronto-based Solamon Energy Corporation says it plans to build the largest solar power plant in the Caribbean.

The solar company said that the programme, to be built in Jamaica, will cost in the region of CAN$450 million or US$444.2 million.

When completed, the farm will “enhance and improve the nation’s energy infrastructure, as well as serve as a beacon to attract additional investment in the ICT (Information Communications Technology) and greentech sectors.”

Solamon’s senior vice president, Ainsley Brown, said the farm would represent one of the region’s first strategic private-public partnerships.

“In order to implement a solution of this magnitude sites, several parishes are being considered as future homes of one of three 50-acre plots that when conjoined will provide the Jamaican people with 60MW of clean electricity,” he said.

“This programme represents a comprehensive approach to renewable energy development, energy diversification, job creation and training for the 21st century,” Brown said.

“Its success will necessitate a level-headed and like-minded approach at the table, as we are offering to tackle and deal with all elements of risk cooperatively and openly examine the implications of carbon credits, fuel or foreign exchange savings, in order to share the greater benefits of solar with our partners, and the communities they serve over the lifetime of this deal.”

Brown said the mega-project would create many new jobs for Jamaicans, and with the completion of a requisite light manufacturing plant, will establish the island as a “bona-fide greentech hub.”

In addition to generating solar electricity and, thereby, reducing for future generations of Jamaicans an “imposing reliance” on fossil fuels, he said the new revenue from the sale of carbon credits will be directed toward establishing employee training and certification programmes, “required to build this and many other similar facilities across the Caribbean.”

“I believe the utility should not be the only one to benefit from the nation going green,” Brown said.

“JPS, as it currently stands, benefits from green initiatives, from not having to produce that energy, as well as the fuel-saving and foreign exchange saving, without passing anything onto the green investor or the customer at large,” he said.

The company said it is “excited” to deliver turnkey power plants using renewable solar energy as a resource to Caribbean and Central American countries, and develop mutually beneficial and long-term relationships around the world.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=34798