Dr Alfred Sangster, OJ, president emeritus of the University of Technology, Jamaica, has written a book on what he calls The May 2010 Battle for Tivoli . It focuses on the role of the security forces in that incident, and also includes a review of the Tivoli Gardens Commission of Enquiry’s report. The book is to be published shortly, and follows closely on the heels of Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s apology to Tivoli residents made in Parliament on December 6.

The author would be well aware that his ‘Battle for Tivoli’ will rake up controversy and disappoint those who would hope that the saga would have disappeared like a nine-day wonder. Indeed, it would appear that this is exactly where the Tivoli operation was heading. But the questions raised by Sangster will be questions which will puzzle and haunt the society for many years to come.

Like the rest of Jamaica, he must have watched in trepidation as the battle erupted on May 23, 2010, and waited in anticipation for some kind of a fix-it or justification or recommendations out of the enquiry that would have been a suitable response to the social as well as physical sores perpetrated by the incursion.

The writer does not allow foolishness or any wild conjecturing while making his observations. He has carefully and meticulously armed himself with testimonials, records, news clippings, and public statements.

Wait till you get a chance to read this book. He gives us in detail the findings of a not well-received enquiry,, and whistles impatiently at the amazing turn of events when, following the commissioners’ report that “security officers acted improperly”, a Jamaica Constabulary Force review cleared the adverse findings on the security forces, making the situation quite controversial. Where that will lead to has not yet been settled.

The importance of a background and historical context to Tivoli is well covered and substantiated by historical references from the earliest days of western Kingston through to the amazing and world-class restructuring of “Lizard City” into a model housing and community development which will remain a legacy to the creative and innovative hand of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga for a long time to come.

The writer makes no excuses for the misbehaviour of residents of Tivoli in this matter, nor for their resort to violence and the raids carried out on police stations prior to the security forces’ operation. He is, however, astonished at the recommendations of the enquiry that vilified certain security officers who had little choice but to act as the strategic arm of the State in planning and implementing an attack on a Tivoli front line that was fortified by gunmen from outside of the area.

After all, maintains Dr Sangster, the community was surrounded by four People’s National Party constituencies so that it had to struggle to survive in the Jamaican tribal politics of the day.

Well, as we saw, the battle for Tivoli, and the battle to defend a beloved leader, was settled by the inevitable invasion by force.

One of Sangster’s major points is that the commission of enquiry’s report was influenced by public sentiment aroused by the death of 70 individuals resulting from the security forces’ operation. Security officers are named and criticised, yet they did take control and overcome evil and turned a bad thing into good with the eradication of a high criminality level as a result of the policing of the area after May 2010.

Two major concerns are raised in the author’s recommendations. One, that the breathing spell afforded by the police-led control of the area could have been better used to re-socialise the community. To date, this has not been done to any satisfactory level.

The other concern is the recommendation that the Government should apologise to the people of Tivoli. The prime minister has done so, but Dr Sangster takes the opposite viewpoint that the people of Tivoli should apologise for their behaviour and culpability in the development of the gang culture in the area.

He has never been afraid to call a spade a spade. He has done it in this book, and he has done it all his life. Bolstered by his Christian beliefs, he cannot be content with the nation succumbing to a nine-day wonder over such a mega issue.

He invites us to join him as he examines and probes the issues which are covered up and concealed by the lethargic reviews of the case.

The ‘Battle for Tivoli’ is indeed a battle for the hearts and minds of the Tivoli people. This book is not designed to make friends, but to influence thinking and to set hearts and minds straight with the people’s conscience over this matter and, by extension, with their God. It should be read carefully, because controversy or no, Tivoli matters.

Lighter moments

From some old newspaper clippings I was recently reminded that never mind the professional coverage, horror, and instant replay of today’s crime stories, those earlier writers managed to cover a wide range of angles, from the burlesque to the staid, punctuated by the oftentimes ribald comments from the very involved eyewitnesses.

Take, for example, this hilarious account headlined ‘Cop in chase runs into river’, which appeared in The Star some time in the late 1960s. The names are changed to protect the innocent, but it appears that a young policeman, a Constable Haughton, patrolling the banks of Barnett River in Montego Bay one Saturday evening, heard a man using indecent language and attempted to arrest him.

The man started to run and the policeman gave chase, shouting between strides, and in proper regulation terminology, “Stop run or I will shoot you!”

The account goes on blithely to say that the policeman would not give up, so the fleet-footed fugitive ducks around a small building on the edge of the riverbank.

Then comes the climactic moment, accompanied by dramatic background music and the stark announcement that “Constable Haughton, not being acquainted with the area”, had sprinted straight into the river.

As we hold our sides laughing, we are told in the next paragraph that “commuters journeying home from the market tarried long enough to enjoy the spectacle of the rookie’s predicament, but offered no assistance”.

Fortunately, the story ends well, as Constable Haughton is rescued by another policeman, losing only his cap in the incident.

Like Hollywood: Another newspaper story from that period highlights the dilemma of a young Romeo who, accompanied by a female companion, drives his car at 3:00 am to a popular trysting place where the same Barnett River “provides a kind of wishing well for lovemaking”. Oh, the days of innocence.

We are told that while in the car “basking in the balmy breeze”, the couple is pounced upon by five men.

The unwelcome visitors proceed to rob the couple and then start to remove the motorist’s pants when there comes a sudden electricity blackout.

Could Hollywood do any better than this? As I hold on to my seat in the cinema, the motorist starts to wrestle with the men while his female companion, undressed, darts away calling stridently, “tief, tief, murder, murder, police, police”, in that order.

The gang leader orders his colleagues to shoot the motorist; a shot is fired in the air and the frightened driver pulls himself out of his pants and jumps into the river which, according to the journalist, “is in spate at the time”.

It just doesn’t stop there. The drama continues, as our hero swims across the river to a cane field, drags himself up onto the bank, and then, mercy of mercies, finds himself looking straight into “the business end of the property watchman’s shot gun”.

He manages to explain himself to the understanding “Watchie”, who allows him to escape.

The tale ends there, but it takes several stiff drinks for both the reader and the motorist to recover.

To paraphrase a byline from the old TV drama The Naked City, there are a million stories alongside the banks of the River Barnett. Thanks to our intrepid newspaper reporter, we get the feeling that we have just been through one.

Lance Neita is a public relations consultant and author. Send comments to the Observer or lanceneita@hotmail.com.