ACCOMPONG TOWN, St Elizabeth – A decision by the police to shut down three sound systems at the height of the annual maroon celebrations in Accompong Town on January 6, is being condemned by the group’s former colonel, Meredie Rowe. “It’s an attack on our sovereignty,” he told the Observer West.

According to Rowe, the shutdown, effected under the Night Noise Abatement Act, undermined the group’s autonomy which derives from the 1738-39 pact between then Maroon leader, General Lissimo Cudjoe and the British.

Except in cases of murder, the four established maroon states, Accompong Town, St Elizabeth; Moore Town and Charles Town, in Portland; and Scott’s Hall in St Mary — have jurisdiction over their own affairs. The maroons don’t pay land taxes, spirit and trade licences to the Crown, but to their own state to maintain their infrastructure.

“We should not be subjected to the Jamaican constitution and its provisions because the interpretation of the historic resume contained in the treaty stipulates the maroons as a sovereign state,” said Rowe. “And it is no wonder that the framers of the Jamaican constitution appeared unmindful of the necessity to make any mention of these first nation people,” he added.

Observer West sources claim that after locking down three of the four systems during the 272-year-old treaty celebration, efforts by the police to lock down the fourth were met with strong resistance which prevailed.

Rowe explained that signs of the erosions of the maroons sovereign rights surfaced on Monday, December 28, when the police visited the community demanding that persons who intended to stage dances during the January 6, 2010 celebrations should apply for permits to do so.

“Their actions are tantamount to aggression against the maroon people. Since we have been having our annual celebrations some 272 years now, no such requests — which I deem unnecessary and unwarranted — had ever been made. The maroons had never in the least thought that any government agency had any such right, based on our historic resume,” he said.

Colonel of the Accompong maroons, Ferron Williams, who is also a police inspector, noted that a meeting was scheduled between members of the St Elizabeth police hierarchy and the maroons in a bid to resolve the matter.

The St Elizabeth divisional command’s Inspector Harvey D’Aguilar said that the meeting scheduled to iron out the maroons’ concern fell through. He, however, expressed optimism that a rescheduled meeting will be convened today or tomorrow.