CHANG. I was in control of myself

JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) deputy leader Horace Chang confirmed last night that he yesterday drew his licensed firearm on what he considered to be a threatening throng of Norman Horne supporters in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, but insisted that he was in full control of himself during the incident.

Horne was the JLP's constituency caretaker for the South East St Elizabeth constituency who announced his resignation from the party last week, but is refusing to leave his Senate seat to which he was appointed by ex-JLP leader Edward Seaga.

No shots were fired during yesterday's incident and no one was injured.

"I was in control of myself," Chang told the Observer. "I knew what was happening."

Up to last night Chang said he had not reported the matter, which he called "a minor incident", to the police.

"But with the media hype" he expected the police might now want to talk to him about the incident, Chang said.

Horne last night declined to comment on the incident, saying that he had not been in the area.

"I don't know what is happening down there," Horne said. "I am hearing bits and pieces, so I need to apprise myself of the situation."

Chang, who is in charge of the JLP's western region, had managed the campaign for Bruce Golding's run for the leadership of the party, which is expected to be formalised at a February 19 party conference when Golding's will be the only name on the ballot.

The only other declared candidate, Pearnel Charles, Golding's brother-in-law, has dropped out of what was a divisive campaign that had reached the courts over the validity of the list of delegates who will be entitled to vote.

Horne was a key man in Charles's campaign. He formally announced his departure from the JLP on January 19, the same day Seaga's retirement became formal.

Chang told the Observer that he had gone to South East St
Elizabeth to address a meeting organised by senior JLP constituency and regional officials to apprise them of Horne's resignation and their need to continue to build the party's organisation.

Among the JLP's figures at the meeting were J C Hutchinson, the MP for North East St Elizabeth and chairman for Region 4; Shirley Myers, the vice-chairman for the South East St Elizabeth constituency; and Frank Witter, the chairman of the St Elizabeth Parish Council and mayor of Black River.

Chang, as well as other attendees, said that yesterday's meeting had become boisterous, which Chang attributed primarily to Horne supporters who had seemingly come with the intention to be disruptive.

According to Chang, when it was clear that the meeting might get out of hand and was already disturbing a nearby restaurant, the session was ended.

He said that "on the way to my vehicle" he was followed by a "hostile" group.

"One of them flashed his hand in my face and I pulled my firearm," he said.

Critics of Chang's action point to the fact that the person who made the gesture was not armed, but Chang countered: "They surrounded me and became threatening."

He rejected claims that he had actually cocked his gun or that at any time during the incident he had adopted an aggressive posture.

"Defence was the intent," Chang said.

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