‘No, not me !’ National security minister scuttles personal lie-detector test

A WEEK after announcing his government’s commitment to mandatory polygraph tests for all holders of sensitive posts in the public sector in the name of probity, National Security Minister Dwight Nelson seems unwilling to take the test himself.

In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Wednesday, Nelson said he was not averse to the idea of taking the test but shut down the proposal when our news team asked if he would lead by example and take a polygraph test.

“I’m not saying to you that it is my intention to do it, but I am saying to you that I would have no aversion,” Nelson said.

When pressed for clarification and specifically whether he would do it, the national security minister, who conceded that his post was a sensitive one, went into evasive mode.

“No, you’re going a little bit too far now. You asked me if I would have any aversion and I tell you no. That is where I stop. I am not going down that road with you. I am going to bring this conversation to an end,” said an apparently irritated Nelson.

Source: the Gleaner. Read full story here –
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110206/news/news2.html

Brady promises to appear but won’t talk at enquiry

Harold Brady has sent yet another scorching letter to the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry ahead of today’s face-off, informing them that he will be attending the meeting simply out of courtesy.

The attorney, who helped the governing Jamaica Labour Party engage the services of United States law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips during its ill-fated attempt to stave of a diplomatic row which ensued as a result of an extradition request for accused drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court last week.

The commission said it had received the court documents and would deal with them today.

“We refer to yesterday’s (Friday’s) proceedings and confirm that the commission was informed by affidavit and notice of objection that our client, Mr Harold Brady, would not be testifying at these proceedings,” stated law firm Henlin, Gibson, Henlin in the letter sent to the commission on Friday.

The law firm noted that the commission had wished for time to consider the documentation and said it would reconvene today after having done so.

“As a courtesy to the commission, the undersigned will attend the commission meeting on Monday, January 24, but, for the avoidance of doubt and so as not to be accused of wasting time, we wish to record that our client’s position is one that will not change.”

Henlin added: “Furthermore, we consider the matter of his refusal to testify and his reasons for so doing to be a matter between himself and the commission alone.”

Accordingly, Henlin served notice that it would not be engaging in any legal argument with any other attorneys appearing for any other witness.

On Thursday, Patrick Bailey, the lawyer representing former state minister in the foreign affairs ministry, Dr Ronald Robinson, served notice that he would be asking questions today.

Robinson was the only government minister to quit in the midst of the turmoil in which Jamaicans called for the resignations of Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne and Solicitor General Douglas Leys.

Source: jamaica-gleaner.com

No retreat! Police to pursue criminals

Saturday January 22, 2011

THE POLICE High Command has reacted strongly to what it describes as two particularly barbaric incidents perpetrated by criminals in St Catherine and St Andrew over the past 24 hours.

At the same time, investigators have released the names of persons of interest in relation to one of the incidents: the murder of five persons in Portsmouth in Portmore, St Catherine.

Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington said the incidents represent a clear statement of intent by criminal elements that they are willing to test the resolve, determination, and capabilities of the police in maintaining law and order.

“I am issuing a warning to these criminals that their attempts to unsettle the police in the conduct of their lawful duties will be met with stern resistance,” declared Ellington in a statement late yesterday.

Read full story at the Gleaner here: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110122/lead/lead32.html

Owen Ellington orders audit of police equipment

The police commissioner, Owen Ellington has ordered an immediate audit of all police equipment issued to persons who have left the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in the last five years.

The Commissioner gave the directive out of concern that police equipment issued to persons no longer with the JCF have been recovered in operations targeting members of the criminal underworld.

He says this situation is unacceptable as it seriously compromises the security of police personnel and members of the public.

Read full story at go-jamaica.com here: http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=25881

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Leslie Green is to head an investigation into “serious” allegations made by a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) activist against Energy Minister James Robertson.

Green, who heads the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), was appointed by Commissioner Owen Ellington to lead the probe, according to a release issued yesterday.

“The police have interviewed the complainant and a statement has been taken. Witness protection measures have been offered and appropriate steps taken to ensure the safety of the individual,” said the release.

An appeal is being made for persons with information on the incidents/allegations to contact the police.

The probe follows damning allegations made by Ian Johnson against Robertson in court documents in the United States where he is seeking political asylum.

Robertson has, through his lawyer, dismissed the allegations. The JLP has said in the meantime that the allegations were designed by political opponents as a wider effort to topple the Government.

Meanwhile, the PNP has called on Prime Minister Bruce Golding to relieve James of his ministerial duties, pending the outcome of the probe.

Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com

Special Corporal Jermaine Cummings’ Island Special Constabulary Force batchmates of 1998, along with the ISCF Association, were among the mourners who paid tribute to their fallen comrade at yesterday’s funeral, but it was the remembrance by his son that evoked the greatest emotional outburst.

“Daddy, I love you and you served your country well. I love you, my daddy. My daddy, I love you so much,” said the preteen, whose name was withheld, moving the congregation to tears.

On a warm Sunday afternoon in Kingston, family members grieved openly, as one of the special corporal’s sisters broke down at the end of the service.

Read fuill Gleaner story here: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100823/lead/lead2.html

From the Sunday Gleaner

Yesterday, a group of women, with horror and dread etched on their faces, observed a team of police and soldiers patrol the Tredegar Park, St Catherine, community.

That, they said, gave them little comfort, as experience has taught that as soon the security forces leave the streets, once again, they would be at the mercy of marauding gunmen.

“Me don’t have anywhere to go, but me have fi move out. This is enough!” a clearly frustrated woman told The Sunday Gleaner last Friday.

“We are tired of the constant killings. It is really not fair to those of us who are not involved in the violence,” another woman said.

Read more here www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100815/lead/lead21.html

Queen’s Council and one of Jamaica’s Constitution’s framers, The Honourable David Coore, has agreed with the Opposition’s non-support for an extension of the State of Emergency.

Read full Gleaner article here: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100801/focus/focus5.html

‘Flip-flopper in chief’ – PNP chides Bruce Golding

Goes on offensive over State of Emergency vote abstention

THE Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), five days after its members of Parliament abstained in a vote to extend the limited State of Public Emergency, and in the face of mounting criticisms, yesterday accused the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) of playing politics, and labelled Prime Minister Bruce Golding a “flip-flopper-in-chief.”

In her address to conclude the party’s two-day National Executive Council meeting at the University of the West Indies, Mona, PNP President Portia Simpson Miller charged that the Government had no intention of extending the State of Emergency.

“Everybody is coming at us, and they are not even recognising that we tried to find a compromise. They not even recognising that the Government came to Parliament with no intention of having an extension,” Simpson told the comrades.

“…But, of course, we have become accustomed to the flip-flopper-in-chief. Say one thing yesterday, and another thing today,” she charged.

In her attack on Golding, Simpson Miller cited an October 9, 2003 letter to the editor, which she claimed was written by Bruce Golding on his return to the JLP, which was then in Opposition.

In the letter written to the Gleaner, which has been making the rounds on social networking site Facebook, she said Golding suggested that the State of Emergency at the time, should, and must be resisted, as police officials would seek to use the conditions to violate the rights of ordinary Jamaicans.

The letter also chastised supporters of the State of Emergency, which was called after the passage of Hurricane Isabel.

At the time the letter was written, Golding was not yet opposition leader, but Simpson Miller believes the prime minister speaks from different sides of his mouth for expediency.

“When we moved the motion of no-confidence they had everybody in Parliament. One even had to be called back to rejoin the team. When the motion in the Senate (the motion against the Minister Lightbourne), all were there. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all the time,” Simpson Miller said.

During the post-NEC press conference, party chairman Robert Pickersgill said the JLP was clearly unaware that it required more than a simple majority for the extension.

“Personally, I don’t know that this is a party position, but based on the reaction when Peter (Bunting, PNP general secretary and spokesman on national security) mentioned the 31 votes, I saw the reaction of the JLP and the person went up to the clerk, and when the clerk said yes, meaning Peter was right, they were very surprised,” Pickersgill said.

According to the chairman, the action was one of incompetence, as no prime minister should ever go to Parliament without the majority he needs.

“Which prime minister would go to Parliament with a matter that they regard so important and didn’t take the count? He obviously thought it was a simple majority. So he would have outvoted us,” Pickersgill said.

He said the offer of 15 days was done in a spirit of compromise despite not being given any information it had requested.

Meanwhile, Simpson Miller told comrades that the PNP was being set up to be blamed for any upsurge in violence since the discontinuance of the State of Emergency. She claimed that a “sinister plot” to cause mayhem in communities was being hatched, and she warned them to be vigilant.

“I have already heard it said that the people murdered in Linstead was part of that plot,” she said.

Thursday night, four persons were shot and killed by gunmen who invaded their Pleasant Hill home in Bog Walk, St Catherine.

While not giving details of the so-called plot, she said the PNP would not be daunted by those who believe the safety of some should come at the expense of others.

“The fight against crime is of paramount importance to the lives of the people of Jamaica. It is a principle for which the party would not retreat,” she said.

Source: The Observer http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Flip-flopper-in-chief_7828556

National Security Minister Senator Dwight Nelson is seeking to assure the nation that plans remain under way to refurbish the Metcalfe Street Remand Centre and relocate all children now in police lock-ups, albeit a month later than hoped.

Nelson was responding to concerns raised by Children’s Advocate Mary Clarke who scolded the Government for continuing to hold juveniles in lock-ups.

“Unfortunately, the recent situation in west Kingston has set us back about four weeks, but we are continuing to work, the army is continuing to work, and hopefully (the refurbishing) will be completed by September, at which time we will be able to move all the children out of lock-ups,” Nelson said.

Read full Gleaner story here: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100712/lead/lead3.html