State fails to give inner cities justice - Matalon
Published:Wednesday | June 23, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The failure of the State to provide justice for inner-city communities across Jamaica has resulted in the breakdown of law and order and the mushrooming of criminal enclaves, says business mogul Joseph M. Matalon.
Matalon, who presides over the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), accused successive governments of abandoning citizens in urban slums.
He said there was a lesson to be learned from the swift and brutal informal 'justice' executed in the Tivoli Gardens stronghold of west Kingston enforcer Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who was nabbed by the police yesterday afternoon.
"One of the things Mr Coke provided in Tivoli was justice that the Government does not provide for these communities, giving birth to alternate governments," Matalon said.
He was addressing a PSOJ/Flow-sponsored business leaders' breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall in Montego Bay yesterday.
The PSOJ head said he was convinced that the level of order maintained in Tivoli could be established through ongoing operations by the police and army, which have resulted in the seizure of scores of illegal guns and thousands of rounds of ammo.
Matalon believes that the sooner the State re-establishes its control over rogue communities, the sooner it would stamp its authority "in social services, community policing, and even in the area of infrastructure".
Backing state of emergency
In the meantime, Matalon endorsed the extension of the state of public emergency to St Catherine, which has recorded nearly 200 murders this year.
"Although significant losses were incurred during the period of unrest, which those outside of the Corporate Area, including those in the tourist industry, will feel for some time, the state of emergency is important," he argued.
According to him, normality has returned to downtown Kingston on the back of heavy military and police presence in the commercial district and surrounding communities.
His comments came weeks after noticeable silence from his organisation regarding the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips controversy - embroiling the governing Jamaica Labour Party's recruitment of lobbyists on the Manatt issue - a precursor to the unrest in the capital city.
"We maintain the call for full disclosure in the Manatt affair, as that issue will not trickle away," Matalon demanded.
He added that the social-partnership talks between the Government and civil-society groups would not resume until all the Manatt cards are laid on the table.
The talks were suspended more than a month ago.