Prior to Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s forced decision Monday to have his justice minister get the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition process underway, it was widely believed that a hidden hand was behind the Government’s apparent intransigence.

In fact, it was openly joked that the real power behind the throne was Mr Coke, variously referred to as “President”; “Prezzy” or “Short Man”, and that the prime minister entered Tivoli Gardens at his (Coke’s) pleasure.

It did not help that Mr Golding firmly declared in the nation’s parliament that he was willing to pay the political price for his stance, in defence of Mr Coke’s constitutional right. That gave some credence to what was, up to then, street talk.

Events yesterday in West Kingston, and Tivoli Gardens particularly, have made us wonder if all that was mere street talk, or a reality that was known to the street long before it was to the rest of us.

In an apparent show of support for Mr Coke, for whom an arrest warrant has been signed, some residents of Tivoli Gardens barricaded the community to keep out the security forces — a clear defiance of the law and the prime minister and member of parliament.

Police tell us that the barricades have been “reinforced by barbed wire attached to high voltage Jamaica Public Service electricity distribution lines” and that “liquid petroleum gas cylinders have also been inserted into the barricades”, obviously meant to put our forces in grave danger.

What seems worse is that “criminals are preventing residents from leaving, and have been confiscating their mobile phones”, the police reported. In other words, law-abiding residents are being held as human shields, and up to now, the police appear unable to do anything about it.

Furthermore, a police armoured personnel carrier was shot up while travelling in Denham Town. With the criminals clearly in charge of West Kingston, the Ministry of Education had no choice but to transfer the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) sittings from schools located in the troubled constituency.

In East Kingston, where there is a known pocket of support for Mr Coke, police reported that the Mountain View Police Post received threats that thugs were planing to fire-bomb the station.

The stage was set for yesterday’s activities on Tuesday when rumours spread wildly that violence was about to erupt in downtown Kingston if attempts were made to arrest Mr Coke. Many companies, as a precaution, sent home ‘non-essential’ workers early and some closed altogether.

We had hoped that Mr Coke would have surrendered himself and allow the courts to decide whether the US had a case to have him extradited. So far, Mr Coke is not showing any confidence in the Jamaican justice system. He is in good company. But it is not too late for a shower of rain.

At this stage, things have not yet gone awry. But we should not wait. The prime minister must demonstrate that he is in charge of this country by being resolute in getting the arrest warrant served, using every lawful means at his disposal, including gentle persuasion of his constituent.

Our country cannot afford the kind of mayhem that is threatening. The fickle tourism industry upon which so much is already hanging, cannot afford widespread riots and the attendant bad foreign press. The economy cannot afford such a potentially dreadful setback.

Show us who is in charge, Mr Prime Minister.