KINGSTON, Jamaica — Following attorney-at-law Velma Hylton’s withdrawal today from the Commission of Enquiry into the 2010 Tivoli Gardens incursion by the security forces, Member of Parliament for the area Desmond McKenzie says she did the right thing.

“I wish to say clearly on behalf of my constituents and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that our objection to Velma Hylton was not an objection to the person, but to the danger of bias against the residents of West Kingston,” McKenzie said in a release from the JLP late Tuesday.

“Our legal advice was that given the state of the law, the statements she made and the circumstances in which she made them, the question of her removal was going to be a matter of timing — that is ‘when’, not ‘if’, so we are pleased that she did the right thing.”

McKenzie added that he is waiting to hear the proposed replacement, and “while he didn’t believe it would change very much in terms of the real political intent behind the Commission of Enquiry, he still hoped in the interests of the rights of his constituents, that the new Commissioner would at least appear impartial”.

The 2010 West Kingston incursion, which began on May 23, ended with conflicting reports of the number of civilian deaths, with figures ranging from 73 to over 140. Four soldiers were also killed and more than 500 people arrested as the security forces battled gunmen loyal to Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who was eventually captured a month later.