Jamaica must not allow dons to reclaim power, says Orane

May's civil unrest which turned sections of the Jamaican capital into a shooting range was the result of decades-old social neglect which led to the creation of criminal Frankensteins, says business mogul Douglas Orane.

The GraceKennedy Group chairman charged that successive governments have flirted with a social experiment that has left entire communities marginalised and residents believing that their existence depended on handouts from politicians or community dons.

"We, the rest of the society, have given tacit approval for this experiment, and so on May 24, when our country, the laboratory for this experiment, exploded, very few ought to have been particularly surprised," he lamented.

However, the former senator said that in recent months Jamaicans have proven that "we have the power to effect the changes we want to see in our country".

He warned that if politicians are allowed to continue with "more of the same", the country would be doomed to recreate the same scenario it is trying to escape.

Orane argued that the garrison phenomenon emerged and became entrenched because of widespread poverty and the lack of social support for the most disadvantaged.

"This created a situation where the loyalty of entire communities could be bought by anyone prepared to provide basic welfare services that should rightly come from the central State, which is the repository of our tax dollars," he said.

This situation, he added, has been exploited over the years by politicians "who were then able to deliver 'safe' seats for their party, and, later on, by enterprising young men who emerged as community dons".

See excerpt from Orane's speech on Page C7.