Ras Benjamine the ethos of the youths in the ghettos is 'killed or be killed'. The police must have adopted that one.

There are three kinds of gangsters that exist on my most beautiful Island. The politicians, the state sponsored gansters/police/soldiers and the area dons. There is a networking that takes place between the three groups I mention, which keeps certain area of Kingston in particular under a cycle of violence that has lasted for more than 44years.

Whenever the problem of violence is being tackled in Jamaica, the fingers are first pointed to the ghetto people. They get blamed first and the real criminals goes unpunished and no accountability is given by those who incited the violence in the first place. I would say that 90% of police officers in JA are corrupt to the bone and so are the soldiers. The first reason is that of economics. A police officer presiding over a road block in JA, with a salary that is not able to feed him and his family, will not arrest you for bribery, if he is offered a large sum of money to let you go by with the 'contraband'. He will stand right there on the road block in the presence of his superior officers and make the deal. Of course half the time the superior officer is in on the deal.

During the time of Reagan's regime coupled with that of Seaga, they went on an eradication program to wipe all the marijuana, being grown on the Island. As some of us well know this was a disaster, as the chemicals they were using, manage to damage huge amounts of banana slated for export, coconuts and several other cash crops that supported farmers who had to wait for awhile to see profits from there other long term crops(bananas and coconuts). Also we all ended having pink eye from the chemicals they were using. While all this was going on, the white powder was taking its little time getting up in the noses of the locals. By the end of the eighties, the white lady was washing up on the shores of JA by the kilos. Police, soldiers, and civilians became vigilants by the seashore, waiting to be the lucky person that would spot a yellow barrel of cocaine floating on the pristine caribbean waters. Since then until now, the face of JA has drastically changed. There are Colombians residing on the Island. And only for one reason, that is, to protect their investments. There are more crackheads in JA than ever before with no means for rehabilitation.

I would really like to think that the cocaine was washing up on our shores because the Colombians were ditching them in the water when spotted by US Coast Guards but my instinct told me years ago, that there is more to this than meets the eye. Because it became sort of systematic. Now it no longer washes up to the shores, there is a thriving cocaine trade on the Island and the corruption has reached new limits and the ghetto people gets blamed for the guns, drugs and violence once again. While Mr. Big lives it up in Beverly Hills and Cherry Gardens.

I would like to point out that where I am from in JA, it is still possible to leave your door open and go to sleep. So JA is not the total hot spot that the foreign press would like us to think.

Give thanks for the article, though. I and a group of Jamaicans are presently working on a project that will impact my beloved people at a community level. Our aim is to begin to re-educate the Jamaican people and to begin to teach self reliance and self determination to those whom are willing to learn. We are also looking to impress upon the people the importance of agribusinesses as a way of sustaining themselves without relying on govt. for anything. Not that they ever did anything to benefit the masses. Michael Manley tried but was undermined by Blindaga, the CIA and his cohorts. One of the mistakes Manley made in the early days was to align himself with a know gunman in the Trench Town area and when said person was killed he attended the funeral. This was the beginning of part of his downfall. Of course the IMF and the World Bank didn't help. But Micheal had the right idea. Education and Land Reform was his biggest hit, but as soon as that wicked likkle syrian came to power, he proceeded to dismantle all of that and burnt up all the cultural data that was collected in particular on the Rastafari Movement. Thereby, killing the initiative to truly educate the Jamaican people.

One of the biggest mistake the Jamaican people can/will ever make is to put that devil back in power, even though the bottibwoi that is presently residing at Kings House, is no better.

But I pray for my people, I pray for the ghetto youths, who were never given much but is expected to give much of themselves to prove to a bias society that they are capable of doing better. Until they remove the vice grip of poverty which has been the companion of these people for decades, then the cycle of violence will never end.

It is indeed kill or be killed.

Recommended reading: Trench Town, Concrete Jungle, Kill or be Killed by Pauline Edwards. The author whom is from Trench Town herself, gives a chilling account of growing up in TT during the 70's and 80's. Good read.

Btw Ras Benjamine Ms. Edwards resides in London, so you should look out for her book. Blessed Love.