Mark Wignall

Because Peter Phillips is no longer at the UWI Mona campus teaching youngsters how to regurgitate "knowledge" - if not substance - in style and neither is he in an impoverished sub-Saharan state collecting big bucks as "consultant", we are forced to be stuck with him as minister of national security, PNP administration, PO Box: Mayhem, Jamaica, West Indies.

Even if we cannot shower him with love we must embrace him simply because he is one of us, a born and bred Jamaican. And we must do this because it is the civil thing to do to a "Jacan" whether he is abroad or at home on the "rock". To give Dr Phillips his due, he has been stuck in the most unforgiving ministry in Jamaica, that of national security.

That he seems not to have a clue as to the short-term plans for drastically reducing the murder rate is probably more an indication of the dysfunctional nature of the society and the PNP's general failure in running the country than it is about putting more police on the streets. But Peter Phillips must take responsibility, not just because the security buck stops with him but, if the murder rate was in a downward spiral, he would be first off the blocks in claiming success in his policy approaches.

In his most recent dispensation, he is one of the main contenders for the post of PNP president. It is my view that the election of Phillips to the top post in the PNP would mean more of the same, that is, a continuation of PJ Patterson's weak and tepid approach to governance. In his campaign for the presidency, people attached to his team have made disparaging remarks about Portia Simpson Miller while some have painted in various places crude, nasty graffiti in criticism of the front-runner.

In an effort to give credence to the saying that more hot air is being generated by the PNP contenders in the last three months than sensible, workable government in the last 11 years, all we have to do is examine what took place last Sunday. At the large "Solid as a Rock" meeting held at the National Arena, Peter Phillips made a most stirring contribution. If words were food, we would all be filled today by Peter Phillips' mouthful dished out last Sunday.

Scarcely had the listeners digested and burped, misfits attached to the Phillips camp, coming from the Phillips meeting decided that the rotting, stinking politics of yesteryear was still very much alive in Jamaica. A bus carrying Phillips' supporters from the meeting was stoned in, of all places, Stony Hill. In response, goons and criminals on the bus went on a rampage in a community close to Golden Spring, and in the process a young man, Damion Hussey, just 21 years of age, was grabbed from out of his home, beaten and stabbed to death.

Let me explain something to you. No sensible and decent person would be caught dead on one of the typical buses transporting JLP or PNP party supporters. Outside of party supporters who live in deep rural areas, the general rule on these buses is appalling behaviour, drunkenness, an excess of ganja smoking and a trigger finger on violence. In the late 1970s it was typical for these buses, especially those transporting people from the inner-city communities to be filled with stones, machetes, Molotov cocktails (firebombs) and guns. Men, women and children would participate in violence with unbridled glee.

I personally witnessed one of these incidents in late 1980, before the October elections. I saw a truckload of green-shirted JLP supporters chase a man into a cane piece. Doing the chasing were men and women with machetes and they were laughing and having a jolly good time. I did not stop long enough to determine if the man lived or died, but the "JLP massive" enjoyed themselves that day.

It has been reported to me that the inducements to attend the Peter Phillips meeting were too attractive to pass up, and even a few labourites found good reason to attend. What was most disturbing and distressing about the Golden Spring incident is that if Dr Phillips was not able to convey his message of order and civility to the PNP converted, how in God's name is he going to convince the wider constituency of Jamaicans?

In addition, the Peter Phillips team must be made aware that the criminal dregs left over from the PNP street forces of the 1970s - men older than me - have attached themselves to the street side of the Phillips campaign. If Peter Phillips is unaware of this I am imploring him to come out openly and tell them in no uncertain fashion that they are unwanted.
These men should have been "eliminated" while the wave of "clean-ups" of PNP gunmen was on in earnest in the late 1970s and 1980s. And it should not have mattered whether they were in Jamaica or on foreign soil.

Has Dr Phillips visited the relatives of young Mr Hussey? Does he have the nerve to make the trip? More important, as the minister in charge of security in this country, does he believe he can just wash his hands of this brutal killing and put it down to political exuberance?

I am not for one moment supporting the stoning of the bus.
The person or persons who initiated this action must be soundly condemned, uncovered and arrested. If the stoning was done by JLP supporters or "independent" idlers, it means that we have not moved too far from the political madness of the late 1970s.

Without using the terribly ill wind which blew on Peter Phillips' presentation last Sunday as a collateral positive for Portia, I must say that as the leadership race draws to its final phase, Portia Simpson Miller is beginning to show some signs of statesmanship, which is an appealing aspect of her armour beyond her very obvious leadership capabilities.

Some people have been saying that I had withdrawn my support for the lady simply because I made mention of the poor state of her constituency. Well, the answer to this is that none of the contenders must consider themselves beyond criticism especially from those who endorse them. The confession that I had become bored with them and their "fool fool" promises must be made.

One cannot, however, afford to be bored with violence and death in the name of PNP politics. We need to hear from Dr Peter Phillips even as he attempts to distance himself from the tragedy which took place last Sunday. He can't just walk away from this and convince himself that his soul is untouched. He needs to cry in shame to recover a little bit of himself that was lost in that heinous action.

observemark@yahoo.com

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