Decision looms on state of emergency

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

A decision is to be made today on whether the state of emergency, initially intended to flush out Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the alleged drug lord and gunrunner who ruled Tivoli Gardens, will be extended or expanded.

The state of emergency, which took effect on May 23, will expire on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding had announced the emergency measures on May 23 in response to a rash of violent attacks on police stations as gunmen roamed sections of the Corporate Area.

Thunderous demands from a terrified public that the Government should move decisively spurred the Golding administration into action.

Heads of the Jamaica Defence Force and the Jamaica Constabulary Force are expected to provide an update on the near-monthlong operation to Cabinet.

One concern of the Government that is expected to take centre stage in today's discussions is resource limitations in the security forces - human and otherwise.

It is understood that influential persons in the police, army and Government are guarding against stretching security personnel to the limit.

Accordingly, Gleaner sources say Cabinet will be focusing on strategies to maintain strong presence by the police and army in troubled communities.

A government source told The Gleaner that in addition to examining the need for an extension of the state of emergency, Cabinet but would be looking at whether the special provisions must be extended beyond Kingston and St Andrew into St Catherine and St James.

Member of parliament for South Central St Catherine, Sharon Hay-Webster, had appealed to the prime minister to extend the state of emergency to Spanish Town as a bloody feud was waged in the Old Capital.

Golding did not rule out Hay-Webster's suggestion but emphasised that the decision rested with the principal operational facets of the national security machinery - the police and army.

Bloodletting in sections of Montego Bay in the week leading up to the state of emergency also commanded the attention of the Government.

Gleaner sources disclosed that government members were divided over any military incursion into the Second City.

One side led by the Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, who has to contend with a possible fallout in the travel sector, believes the stakes are too high to turn the resort town into a war zone.

Others are of the view that the entire country must be cleansed of criminality once and for all.