Lewin, a posterboy for honour?

The Editor, Sir:

After overcoming the initial shock effect of what former commissioner of police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, alleged regarding his meeting with National Security Minister Dwight Nelson and subsequent meeting with Prime Minister Bruce Golding, we must go on to raise a few obvious questions regarding the conduct of the rear admiral.

If we are to believe the rear admiral's account (and so far all we have are his words, as we are told he cannot be expected to reveal his 'intelligence'), for nearly five months after either the national security minister or the prime minister, or both, engaged in the kind of criminal behaviour he invites us to infer, he was happy to continue to as commissioner of police. Why?

Report ignored

In fact, Rear Admiral Lewin tells us that the primary reason for his subsequent resignation was the fact that for six months prior to his resignation the Government simply ignored a report he had submitted setting out a four-point strategy for reforming the police force. He has also been widely reported in May as indicating that he did not "resign in a huff" over the handling of the Coke extradition matter.

Are we to believe then that had Rear Admiral Lewin had his way with regard to his report he would still continue to be commissioner of police today, operating under what he ostensibly believed to be so badly compromised a minister of national security and prime minister? Did Admiral Lewin believe that failure to attend to his report trumped the egregious behaviour he infers about either or both of the two gentlemen? And just when would he have revealed this? In his memoirs, perhaps?

The rear admiral contends that in the last nine months honour and truth have suffered in Jamaica. That is not contested. What is, however, is whether without further and better particulars we should be in such a rush to make the rear admiral the new poster boy for such values.

I am, etc.,

A. E. HEWITT

ansord1@yahoo.com

Kingston 19