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News
Tivoli residents happy Coke unharmed
BY PAUL HENRY Observer staff reporter henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
JUBILANT Tivoli Gardens residents yesterday flocked to the streets of their community as news spread that their former community leader Christopher 'Dudus' Coke was safely in the custody of the police.
The throng of people -- among them the elderly and the very young -- sang pro-Coke songs and made expletive-filled, anti-Bruce Golding comments as they marched through sections of the community.
The gathering of mostly women and children was happy that Coke was unharmed and expressed their undying love and support for him.
They were convinced that the police had been given orders to kill Coke to prevent him from giving evidence in United States, where he is wanted on drug- and gun-running charges.
"We love wi Prezi same way. No matter what dem do we nah let down Prezi!" shouted one woman, while referring to Coke by one of his aliases.
"A him turn in himself. A him a di real big man," shouted another.
As the Observer news team drew near, the crowd got louder while chanting
in unison.
A young woman, who gave her name as Kimoy, had nothing but praises for Coke, whom she said took good care of the poor and needy within the community.
"Him school nuff a wi and give nuff a we place to live and tek care of the homeless," said Kimoy.
Coke's apprehension along the Mandela Highway in St Catherine yesterday afternoon, while reportedly heading to the US Embassy in Kingston with Reverend Al Miller, brought to an end the four-week hunt for him by members of the security forces.
Coke had been on the run since May 24, when members of the security forces
went into Tivoli Gardens, his former stronghold, to serve an arrest warrant on him and restore law and order in the West Kingston community.
Following his arrest yesterday, the police asked Miller to turn himself in for questioning as there was no agreement with the police for Coke to be taken to the US Embassy.
Coke is reportedly afraid of spending a day in a local cell as he is of the view that the may suffer a similar fate as his father Lester, who died in a mysterious fire in his cell at the General Penitentiary in the early 1990s while fighting his extradition to the United States.
With Coke in custody, the residents of Tivoli Gardens want the security forces to leave their community, while comparing their living condition to being imprisoned.
As the residents sang and danced in the streets yesterday, police officers in two motor vehicles pulled up and cautioned them to return to their home as the curfew hour (6:00 pm) was just minutes away.
"Even when you on you verandah dem come tell you fi go in a you house," a female resident complained.
 
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6/23/2010
@ Chicken Foote
thank you.........that is the root of the problem.
action speak louder than words, how will the problem be fixed.
6/23/2010
Now that the king and his kingdom has fallen, residents will have to appoint a new don..ette to provide school bags and send their children to school.
6/23/2010
@ james bond always read your postings find them very interesting but this one i disagree i dont beleive in the demolition of tivoli gardens. Too much history even though it is very violent & painful. we cannot wipe away history. There is no community in modern Ja that has the history of tivoli gardens. Tivoli gardens should be a symbol of change. If we cant change tivoli then we cant change Ja. All are not criminals , its the system.
6/23/2010
These people are parasites. They will continue sucking the blood from the rest of Ja. They will never pay a light or water bill. The 30 people paying in TG was a strategic move,as some people may not know thats the minimum requirement of registered paying customers needed to stop JPS from disoconnecting electricity from the whole area. If TG is demolished/changed they will just move to another garrison so they can continue living the way they are now. Its too late, they cant be helped.
6/23/2010
These lickkli lickkli women need to find gainful employment and stop depend on "Dons" for survival. They will always encourage wrongs and shield these bad guys because they depend on them for financial support. Shame on you!
6/23/2010
Well, imagine that! They want "the security force to leave."
Where I am from in Jamaica they asked for a police station to be put in the community but they were told that they did not have enough manpower. Quite the opposite.
People in Tivoli Gardens need to be schooled. They were incorrectly socialized. This is something that must be fixed as well.
"If ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise."
6/23/2010
The reporter who concocted this report is just as bad as the free mentality[roso] residents in most of these communities.Can't he see that he is aiding and abetting these people to continue living their parasitic livestyle.Shame on you,go and find something uplifting to report on and stop this glorification of debauchery.
6/23/2010
Tivoli residents can't change and will never change, they are still under the Seaga spell, "TG ah fi wi nuh bady caan do wi nuttin bcos we have Eddie fi back wi" Do these silly people appear to have learnt? check their attitude!! As i have said so many times they are all criminals as they were born to criminal parents in a criminal community. These people hate law and order, if the gov. is silly to leave these people to re-group Ja will pay dearly. Demolish TG now the place is just too evil.
6/23/2010
@Chicken Foote. You got that right.The "social apartheid" in JayA is rigid, but is not prescribed by race or colour per se, though its has tangential features to both, as the majority of the wealthy economy leaders are minority ethnics. The blacks for dancehall and athletics, for instance, minorities for business. TG has to be reformed, rid of criminals,no question, but I am beginning to love them. I am surprised. The ladies got it right. They WANT Prez to testify in the US. God Bless Them.
6/23/2010
Yeah he gave you money and groceries, but what did he take from all of you in return?..he controlled you,..with aligators and torture chambers...locked you in when the police asked you to leave the area for your own safety, ran away leaving you behind when the first "boom" dropped, caused the death of many to save his skin, you are right be so very proud of "Bashment Presi" ...wake up...
6/23/2010
"Him school nuff a wi and give nuff a we place to live and tek care of the homeless," said Kimoy.
Is this the way the people of TG expect to live? ....by handout, paying no tax, no light bill, no water bill and have so much mouth.
6/23/2010
If I "miss nanny" was caught "driving Dudus to the embassy". I would NOT be allowed to leave the scene and I most certainly would have been charged with Aiding and abbetting a criminal. How can he be driving a wanted man escorted by gunmen?!!Thats why I dont believe a word church people say. I dont believe in "throwing offering" so pastor can use it for his personal use. Al Miller CRAVES fame and notoriety. Is he an 'OLE NYGAH OR A TOPANARIS?
6/23/2010
I remember as a youngster being asked to deliver a parcel to a young woman in TG. I can remember she was a very pretty Indian girl so she didn’t have to persuade me much to stay the night. The next day I jumped into my car and drove off. I never went back to TG, since there was no commitment. I do not even remember her name.
I make the point to say that TG has never always been that intimidating or forbidden place one reads about today. Or it could be that since living dangerously is something youngsters do, I did not give it much thought. I think it was the former case though.
But over the years nobody can convince me successfully that the political directorate did not know what TG had become. The torture chambers, the cemeteries, the jungle justice, the escape routes are all things we heard of out here, so how come they did not hear, or did not investigate?
6/23/2010
it is truly amazing how the TG residents see only what they want to see, TG ppl dudus DID NOT turn himself in he was CAPTURED, even to the end he is a coward, u all need to go n find wuk n learn fi pay bills like the rest of JA and stop glorifying a coward who has the blood of thousands of innocent Jamaicans on his hands, but seeing that oonu spend so many years being wutless and dependent on blood offerings, i doubt you all know how or want to become productive citizens
6/23/2010
My father use to say "If fool don't go to market, bad food don't sell"......some idiots will always be around.....I wonder if we could start exporting idiots....? Oh, nowhere needs idiots....
6/23/2010
same way suh mr. officer man, kip dem undah control. is about time dem realize that law is to be implemented by those who are been hired to do so, not vigilantes who elevate themselves to be more than the law. Jamaica has a police forece, a army, courts and a government. those who seek justice must take their issues to be settled there. the safety of Jamaica has great economic benefits to those who will seek to invest or move there
6/23/2010
I have said this many times, there is a social divide in Jamaica that competes with the caste system in India. This social apartheid, dictates that when people from the inner cities put their addresses on things like job applications, etc, they have to submit another address other than where they live. How can a country with mostly black people divide themselves in this way and expect to not have crime go through the roof? Have we not learned from South Africa?
6/23/2010
A bunch of eediats! I wonder who is going to provide for them now that the thug is in custody? Oh, forgive me, the Tivoli community have many waiting in the wings to hand out freeness to these freeloaders. Thanks JL_
6/23/2010
The citizens of TG have to get used to the fact that TG is part of Jamaica. They can’t want the security forces “to leave their community.” They can’t want to interact with the wider society on their terms. They can come and go freely, but we can’t do the same? Madness! They have got to learn how people live, and it is perhaps not too late for Mr.Seaga to help in this regard. He started it, HE MUST FINISH IT.
And how come they were not imprisoned when the President ruled with an iron hand? TG, the past is finished; done with, kaput. You have got to pay to live like the rest of us.
6/23/2010
The residents of Tivoli learned nothing from the seige. The people in this community is so programmed it is mind boggling. "Ah him a di real big man" yesh he is. After all the death and mayhem he caused he turned himself in... I wonder why.. The net was tightening as evident by the police picking him up with his convenor. Whoy by the way should be charged for ading and abeting...
6/23/2010
It still breaks my heart to see that some poor people continue to feed off of negativity and hand outs just to still eat a food. The Observer needs to stop giving these people a voice they are part of the problem when you uphold lawlessness. To see teenagers young kids that really do not know better other than what their parents instill in them is still sad. Let us pray!
6/23/2010
These residents of TG still don't get it. It is obvious that long term presence of police and introduction to law and order is needed in this community. These residents could also benefit from job training and placement, thereby instilling self esteem, pride and sense.
6/23/2010
Lester Coke was safe up until the night before his departure to the US. So they better keep their fingers crossed. I dont beleive however that the orchestrators now are as clever as those then. These look like a bunch of amateurs who cant run a bakery or a car mart.
6/23/2010
Why didn't Coke turn Tivoli Gardens into a model community and teach the residents survival technics, and independece. I need to know how to make my groceries instead of you giving them to me. If he cared so much for you why not truly help you. The poor women in the media praising him, now he is gone and did not leave you a bag of groceries what do you do now. Find another don or learn to raise your consciousness.
6/23/2010
Thank goodness that the U.S. intervened in Jamaica with its clandestine investigations, extradition request, warnings, punitive economic and security sanctions against individuals, and most importantly to project its power against corruption and criminality in the governance of Jamaica.
Without this, there would just be business as usual with the country remaining under the occupation of corrupt politicians and criminals. Nuff respect to the Obama Administration. Down with the U.S haters !.
6/23/2010
REV AL should have been preaching the gospel of restoration for these people who have been abused and programmed by politicians and gunmen. Instead they are out there making excuses for them
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