Ombudsman dreams of brighter days for Jamaica

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Battle-worn Tredegar Park residents rolled out of their homes on Thursday when Bishop Herro Blair, the political ombudsman, accompanied a team of government officials and agencies through that shell-shocked community.

Eight persons, including two children, were murdered by gunmen in the St Catherine neighbourhood one week earlier in what the police reckon was a gang-related incident.

As political ombudsman and a member of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the 62-year-old Blair has been to numerous crime-ridden areas. He is accustomed to traumatic scenes.

"We spoke to many people during the tour. They are scared and need assurance that they will be given some form of protection," Blair told The Gleaner, a few hours after leaving Tredegar Park.

The Tredegar Park shooting was the latest in a crime spree that has occurred since the lifting of a two-month state of emergency in late July.

It has pushed murders this year closer to the 1,000 mark.

Despite the discouraging figures, Blair says strides have been made in keeping the peace.

"We have seen marked improvement in terms of the PMI's involvement in places like August Town and Mountain View where there was no violence for two years," he pointed out.

"Even in Tredegar Park, there was no violence there until the police recently moved out."

Prevented by politicians

Blair was appointed political ombudsman by then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson in July 2002. Five years later, in an interview with The Gleaner, Blair said the influence of politicians prevented him from performing effectively, even though the Political Ombudsman Act of 2002 authorised his office to investigate activities of political parties, their members and supporters and report, if necessary, to Parliament.

On Thursday, Blair seemed less frustrated. He said he has helped keep politicians in line by meeting regularly with senior members of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People's National Party (PNP).

The greatest concern for crime-fighting organisations, he noted, is tracking the movement of nomadic criminals.

"Take what happened in west Kingston, for example. You didn't need an investigation to see that many persons were coming from all over the country to identify relatives," Blair observed.

"What we need is a blanket curfew for the country to be purged," he added.

One week after the May 23 clash between security forces and gunmen in the west Kingston enclave of Tivoli Gardens, Blair was dispatched to the area by Golding, who is also member of parliament for the constituency.

Blair supported the limited state of emergency which Golding declared on May 24. He was disappointed when it was not extended on July 20 after the PNP outvoted government members in Parliament.

Toeing the line

"The state of emergency was not political," he said. "Extending it would have done Jamaica good for the rest of the year."

Born into a religious family in Somerton, St James, Blair is one of several pastors (others being Al Miller and Garnett Roper) who have toed the line between religion and politics.

Blair has done so for nearly 40 years. He became a national star in the 1980s through weekly televised broadcasts of his sermons from the Faith Deliverance Centre, his church, which is located in the gritty Waltham Park section of St Andrew.

During that period, he became spiritual adviser to Prime Minister Edward Seaga when the JLP formed the government. In the mid-1990s, Blair was elected chairman of the newly formed National Democratic Movement which was led by Golding.

Blair says he has never allowed politics to influence his faith.

"As a man of the cloth, I have to offer spiritual advice and meet the needs of people of all persuasions," he said. "It's basically the same thing in my jobs as ombudsman and with the PMI."

With crime on the rise following a post-west Kingston lull, Blair foresees busy times for his office in coming months. He says there is hope for persons in tough communities like Tredegar Park.

"They need more social intervention, jobs, skills training. This can help give them a sense of self-worth," he said.