YOU have to admit that in the midst of the challenging time of public disaffection over property tax increases Prime Minister Andrew Holness shifted gears to bowl a bumper (to use a cricket metaphor) by stopping to apologise and pledge compensation to Rastafarians who were affected more than half a century ago by what came to be known as “The Coral Gardens Incident”, which occurred in the parish of St James in 1963.

Note: The decision for apology and compensation goes back to 2015 when the public defender declared that adherents of the Rastafarian community were unjustly treated at the time of the Coral Gardens incident and should be given an apology and compensation. Now that the present Administration has decided to carry out the recommendation, the prime minister issued the apology to the Rastafarians via Parliament and pledged for a trust fund to be set up to compensate the victims of “Black Friday” as Rastas call it.

However, a leader of the Coral Gardens Benevolent Society, an organisation which has long agitated for resolution of the matter, has dismissed the offer on the grounds that the offer of $10 million is not enough compensation. It has been said also that legal advice is to be sought by the members of the society to make a case for a more substantial offer.

The question of the day will no doubt be whether their refusal of the Government’s intended largesse will be replaced by more generosity.

The prime minister could not be amused. As old timers used to say in circumstances like this, “Good mi do, tenky mi get.” In other words, “This is the thanks I get for the good I’ve done.” We wait to see, therefore, how the Government will respond to the concerns of the Coral Gardens Benevolent Society.

Flash back to 2015: Selbourne Reid, a retired member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, authored a book titled

Rastafarian’s Uprising at Coral Gardens, Jamaica. He wrote of his experience of the event in which Rastafarians were killed and others injured and imprisoned.

On Thursday, April 30, 1963 Reid was a police constable stationed at Montego Bay Police Station, at 14 Barnett Street, when the call came to go to Coral Gardens, where a gas station was on fire and a confrontation had developed with a group of Rastafarians and other people. Officer Reid subsequently wrote of what he had seen involving Rastafarians and police personnel alike. A major drama was to follow.

Coral Gardens, was a developing residential community, as well as a part of the Kerr-Jarrett Estates at Ironshore, a district adjacent the community. When a Rastafarian sympathiser was shot and injured by a property owner in a dispute over land, retaliatory action led to the fire on the grounds of the gas station. Before long, many people were seriously injured and eight were killed, among them two policemen who had been on duty.

‘Fireball at Gas Station’ was the heading included in the narrative of the developments which followed. There were some scary bits, not only about the gas station on fire but how a man was chopped to death. Another headline described the situation as: ‘When hell broke loose and chaos reigned’.

Members of the Jamaica Defence Force, for the first time since Independence in 1962, were called out for duty alongside the police to maintain law and order, not only at Coral Gardens but elsewhere, especially in Montego Bay where fear had taken over.

Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante and Opposition Leader Norman Washington Manley left Kingston for St James to see the situation first- hand and made it known that the Government intended to put an end to the unrest.

Later it was said that many Rastafarians were unjustly treated by the Government of the day. There was disaffection, especially at Bustamante’s response.

In the book, Reid takes the opportunity to highlight some of the aspects of Jamaican life in an era of the newly obtained Independence and how the society faced the “rebellion”. The Rastafarian Movement was developing in the new nation, while in the wider community there were differing views as to who were Rastafarians and what they stood for.

Comparison was made also by the author, between the Rastafarian Movement and the Morant Bay Rebellion. How much similarity, how much difference can we see?

I had the opportunity of sharing the contents of the book with listeners to RJR‘sHotline programme of which I was then a host. When some of the excerpts from the book were shared there were angry responses from some of the callers who were of the opinion that “Rasta nuh do nutten wrong”. The common opinion was that Rastafarians had not been given fair treatment in the Coral Gardens incident and had been abused by individuals of social privilege.

Years later, the unyielding call by Rastafari to resolve the issue has come to the fore. Now that the Government of the day has re-entered the arena of the compensation matter, the question is, where does the road lead now?

Reid retired at the level of detective some time ago from the Jamaica Constabulary Force after 35 years of service. He now resides overseas. It would be interesting to hear his response to the present situation.

It could be likely that the majority of people who still defend the memory of Rastafarians and Coral Gardens are mainly elders. It would be instructive to know what they recall. Another question could be, what is the youth strength in the Rastafari Movement now? How much do they know of Rastafarian history? The Government of the day has also announced that they are prepared to assist Rastafari personnel and family members with property on which to settle. Six lots at the Pinnacle area in St Catherine will be declared a protected heritage site to promote Rastafari heritage and culture. In the fullness of time may the final decisions and supporting activity be carried out before long as we examine another chapter in our history from which something can be learned.

Barbara Gloudon is a journalist, playwright and commentator. Send comments to the Observer or gloudonb@yahoo.com.