US embassy cable - 05KINGSTON1349

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 001349 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR FOR W. BENT, INL/LP FOR K. BROWN AND N. BOZZOLO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KCRM, SNAR, JM 
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: ANTI-CRIME PROTEST RECEIVES MIXED REACTION 
 
REF: KINGSTON 01337 
 
Classified By: CDA RONALD S. ROBINSON FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Across the island, there was mixed reaction 
as well as turnout to the Private Sector Organization of 
Jamaica's (PSOJ) May 25 call for businesses to close down in 
a show of solidarity against the escalating crime rate.  Most 
private sector businesses supported the idea of reduction in 
crime but many doubted that this public rally would secure 
any real progress towards that goal.  Some members of society 
commented in frustration that it is unfortunate that this 
rally was called only after a prominent member of society was 
killed, referring to the murders of businessmen Maurice Azan 
and Lloyd Phang. (Ref A)  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) In Kingston, there was a turnout of perhaps a thousand 
people at the May 25, Emancipation Park rally, where 
President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica 
(PSOJ), Beverly Lopez presented the 12-point 2005 Declaration 
of Emancipation Park which stated in part:  "All 60 members 
of the House of Representatives and officers of all the 
political parties, must sever and publicly declare in writing 
by June 15, 2005, a commitment to disassociate themselves and 
their constituency organizations from gunmen, dismantle 
garrisons and disassociate themselves from any association 
with criminals or the acceptance of any financial or other 
support from criminal elements." Lopez did not elaborate on 
what actions would be taken if the demands were not met.  The 
crowd composed largely of what appeared to be white-collar 
workers and merchants, as well as a smaller - but not 
insignificant number of working class and poor Jamaicans. 
 
3. (U) In a May 25 statement in support of the PSOJ protest, 
the Prime Minister stated in part, "Today must mark the end 
of the blame game.  People may have different opinions about 
how we have come to this and how we can improve the 
effectiveness of our security forces and policing 
capabilities.  However, there can be no disagreement that the 
level of brutality and savagery that we see in the murders 
that are committed is frightening."  Opposition Spokesman on 
National Security Derrick Smith also welcomed the 
demonstration, stating in Parliament on May 25 that "The 
organization (PSOJ) has the full support of the Opposition in 
their protest for bringing forcefully to government the 
problems of the day," and that this would show the government 
"that they have failed miserably in bringing crime and 
violence down to tolerable levels." 
 
4. (U) Although there were hundreds that turned out to 
support this initiative in Kingston, the protest received 
mixed reactions across the island.  In Negril, fewer than 50 
people turned up for the planned two-hour prayer and 
fellowship event.  In other parishes, there was no planned 
gathering but some key merchants reacted positively to the 
lockdown.  There were a number of statements made to the 
media that this event, while encouraging, should not have 
taken the death of a prominent businessman to come about. 
There were some merchants that did not fully support the 
event, commenting that "nothing will come of it", but stated 
they felt it was their duty to close their doors for at least 
a few hours. 
 
5. (SBU) Following a morning seminar on e-commerce on May 25, 
Econoff discussed the PSOJ initiative with several attendees 
of the seminar.  Nadine Schroeter, Customer Relations Manager 
for DHL supported the initiative in general, but didn't 
expect any real results to come from it.  She opined that the 
call for the politicians to cut their ties to the criminals 
has come too late, as the gangs have grown beyond their 
political connections and are self-supporting within their 
geographic strongholds.  Stating she would support a GOJ 
effort to "get rid of the problem people", Schroeter lamented 
that, "there's no legal way to do that."  Keith Collister, 
former President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and 
prominent financier, stated he did not expect any concrete 
results from the PSOJ initiative, which he characterized as 
being driven more by an emotional reaction to several recent 
high-profile killings, rather than by strategic 
considerations. 
 
6. (SBU) Offering a more positive outlook on the initiative, 
Anthony Chang, Managing Director of the Falcon Corporation, 
spoke strongly in support of the initiative.  He said that 
there are presently many small groups in Jamaica advocating 
for change, but that their efforts are individually weak and 
uncoordinated.  He stated that he hopes the rally and 
subsequent activities organized by the PSOJ will lead to 
these groups coalescing into a centralized anti-crime 
advocacy group.  In his opinion, the whole of Jamaican 
society and culture need to change before the crime problem 
can be properly or successfully addressed. 
7. (SBU) Milton Samuda, a partner at the law firm of Myers, 
Fletcher and Gordon, was also strongly supportive of the PSOJ 
initiative, stating that the protest might serve as a wake-up 
call for Jamaican society, which has become inured to the 
pervasive crime and violence across the island.  He opined 
that efforts like Operation Kingfish (Note:  Operation 
Kingfish is the GOJ's anti-crime initiative that is based on 
intelligence gathering to apprehend criminals. End Note.) 
will not have the desired effects of reducing crime, because 
any leading figures that are arrested or killed will be 
replaced by others so long as the country's society and 
infrastructure support criminal enterprises.  Samuda stated 
that extortionists have become role-models for the youth, and 
that the country is developing a worrisome gun culture.  He 
would like to see the PSOJ initiative urge people into action 
behind the "enough is enough" bandwagon, and thereby push the 
GOJ to take decisive action towards reform. 
 
8. (SBU) At the rally itself, Econoff spoke with a 
representative of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), who explained 
that their organization hopes to use the PSOJ initiative to 
publicize their own agenda.  JFJ literature being distributed 
at the event called for the GOJ to be held accountable for 
its inactivity on the recommendations made in 2001 by the 
bipartisan National Committee on Crime and Violence.  These 
recommendations generally cover rebuilding the moral 
authority of elected officials; providing more investment for 
community development; and enacting new legislation to deal 
more effectively with hardened criminals.  Further 
discussions with the JFJ representative (who declined to give 
his name), revealed a general sense of dissatisfaction with 
the whole structure of government - a feeling that the 
Westminster model of government leads to a lack of 
accountability and an absence of real choices at election 
time.  He also expressed frustration with the inefficient 
procedures and antiquated methods and technologies used by 
the law enforcement system - including both the Jamaica 
Constabulary Force (JCF) and the backlogged court system. 
 
9. (C) Comment:  Despite the exhortatory remarks expressed at 
the rally, the business community in Jamaica seems to have 
little hope that the GOJ will be spurred to any significant 
action by the PSOJ initiative.  The tangible accomplishments 
they hope for center around the creation of a strong private 
advocacy group that can use its resources to energize a 
grassroots movement among the electorate. The general 
consensus is that the crime problem is inextricably 
intertwined with the current standards and attitudes of 
Jamaican society, and that the problem can not be dealt with 
except by changing social mores.  End Comment. 
 
ROBINSON