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Jamaica's ambassador defends government's actions

Posted by CaribShout on June 11, 2010 at 9:31pm

Audrey Marks, Jamaica’s new ambassador to the United States, has hit the ground running – literally. Within days after tendering her diplomatic documents to the U.S. government, she was on the road attending the meeting of the 40th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Lima, Peru. Speaking on behalf of the Jamaican government at the meeting on Monday, Ambassador Marks stoutly defended the state of emergency imposed in parts of Kingston and the combined police-army security forces’ assault on Tivoli Gardens to quell attacks on the state by entrenched criminals. The security forces were attempting to seize Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who is wanted for extradition to the U.S. Marks told the Assembly that the criminals who had barricaded themselves in Tivoli posed an “existential threat to government control of Kingston,” the island’s capital city. She also said Jamaica was at a turning point, with the government and civil society deciding that it was time to eradicate crime and “establish the rule of law and the authority of the state.” She said the government was committed to stunting the growth of criminal gangs, and conducting an intense drive to bring in illegal guns, of which over 5,000 have been discovered since the start of this year. However, the ambassador admitted that efforts to eradicate crime and establish security in Jamaica could not be achieved only by seizing illegal arms. She told the 34-country Assembly that it cannot be denied that the cost required and measures needed to collect illegal arms in Jamaica and other countries in the Americas “could be better spent providing well-needed economic and social support to our nationals.” Trenton Levers, a South Miami resident, who grew up in West Kinston close to Tivoli Gardens, said he hopes that Ambassador Mark’s message to the OAS was a definite reflection on the government’s policy. “Crime in Jamaica will not be solved by only ferocious assaults on criminal gangs,” Levers said. “Such assaults may solve the crime problem temporarily, but what is needed is a sustained, aggressive program by the government to fill the social and economic gaps that breed crime in the country.” In the meantime, other South Florida Jamaican-Americans are perturbed that after the onslaught by the security forces, which have left over 70 people dead and has curtailed the rights of hundreds of others, Coke is still at large. “It is disturbing that so many people were killed, the reputation of Jamaica so badly tarnished, and Coke who is alleged to be so dangerous, cannot be found by Jamaican authorities,” said Sadie Murrell, a former Jamaican teacher. The violence in Jamaica related to attempts to capture Coke continues to have a negative impact internationally. Up to early this week the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom had not rescinded advisories to their nationals against traveling to Kingston (although Canada has withdrawn its advisory for downtown Kingston) because of the risk of further violence. Unfortunately, some potential visitors believe the unrest in Kingston affects the tourist resorts along Jamaica’s north coast, miles away from the troubled areas. While the Jamaican security forces are continuing an intense search for Coke and are committed to eliminating criminal gangs, calm has returned to Kingston, and the situation there appears to be under firm control. The Jamaican Government has also launched a new US$10-million tourism marketing blitz aimed at the North American and European markets to counter the bad press that could further damage the island’s tourism industry.
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