Tweet
Tivoli - The underbelly
published: Sunday | May 15, 2005
- FILE
A section of Bond Street in West Kingston blocked by residents earlier this year.
ACCORDING TO The Weekend Star report strongmen Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the community's top man and his brother called 'Livity', an area leader, are at odds.
Residents of the area say the rift developed after Dudus expressed dissent at the killing of the cops. They say the top man has stated that the killing of the cops was never to have happened.
Tivoli's low crime rate has been linked to popular belief that there is a death chamber and kangaroo justice in the community.
These beliefs date back to the reign of Claudie Massop and 'Jim Brown' who were both accused of torturing and executing dissidents.
But, while suspicions are rife that the trend has continued, argues DSP Hewitt, operations officer, Kingston Western Police Divison that "... There is no hard evidence to support this."
Member of Parliament Bruce Golding agrees: "There are a lot of allegations being levied against West Kingston and these allegations have been made on many occasions. Have these death chambers or kangaroo courts ever been found? No, so therefore they are just still unproven allegations."
ILLEGAL WEAPONS
Mr. Hewitt insists that there are large numbers of illegal high-powered weapons in Tivoli Gardens as in other communities.
However, things happen in Tivoli, 'as in other places', the police say.
"We know that things happen. We know that last year, a man was said to have committed a rape and he was killed. His body was dumped in a wheel barrow and pushed outside of the community."
But there are tunnels in Tivoli, which the police believe are used as escape routes for criminals. Former Commissioner of Police, Francis Forbes, had taken a group of reporters into the community to point out the 'waterways or 'tunnels'.
The then commissioner explained that the police had found footprints, empty food boxes and cigarette butts and had also interviewed people who had lived there and had been charged with criminal offences.
"They told us that they themselves have used them to escape from the police," he said.
Tivoli Gardens is by far the most organised inner-city community in Jamaica. On its skirt-tails lie big-name business entities.
Tivoli Gardens, named after one of Europe's most outstanding music and dance theatres, was founded in the midst of a chaotic inner-city slum.
The area itself appears to be relatively safe for its residents.
One can visit Coronation Market or party at Passa Passa, the weekly dancehall event, without fear of harassment or abuse.
Tivoli Gardens represents more than 50 per cent of the constituency of West Kingston's total voting population.
STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES
Tivoli Gardens grew out of the ashes of a laid-to-waste section of Western Kingston called Back O'Wall.
Modern high-rise buildings and state-of-the-art facilities replaced the ramshackle buildings which served as havens for thieves, drug dealers and users and prostitutes.
The community has been very active in sports and cultural events. They have won the National Premier League football competition, and they have a first-class dance group and a prominent marching band.
A vibrant young Edward Seaga assumed parliamentary responsibility for the area and was virtually worshipped by its inhabitants.
Tivoli Gardens was the early pacesetter in what would become Jamaica's don-controlled communities.
After the slaying of the feared but popular 'Zackie', a young athletic and charismatic Claudie 'Jack' Massop emerged as a community leader. His lieutenants included Carl 'Bya' Mitchell, Lester 'Jim Brown' Coke and Alvin 'Micky' Gordon. There were other key figures, but this quartet basically held sway in Tivoli.
Massop, who became a legendary folk hero, was shot and killed by police near Tivoli Gardens on a Sunday afternoon in February 1974.
His political inclination or commitment were never in doubt. He, along with Edward Seaga, were the names and faces of the Jamaica Labour Party during the 1970s.
SEAGA CALLED EVERY SHOT
While Mr. Seaga after his ascendancy to the leadership of the JLP called every shot on the national political front, his dominance in his West Kingston constituency was confined to politics - hardcore, down-to-earth politics that stayed clear of the extortion and illegal drug trade and gun dealings which were taking deadly shape in West Kingston.
Tivoli Gardens rapidly built a reputation for swift and terminal 'justice' for those who stepped out of line and Massop and his crew became the most feared men anywhere in Jamaica.
The Peace Initiative with rival political community Arnett Gardens 'Jungle', Matthews Lane and Payne Land, helped to further boost the reputation and image of the JLP activist.
When Massop was killed, Bya was the man slated to take over but his excessive abuse of hard drugs and his unpredictable mood swings earned him great disfavour in his own territory and he was soon exiled from his stronghold based in Tivoli Gardens.
Jim Brown took over leadership and went on to become the most feared community leader Jamaica had ever experienced.
published: Sunday | May 15, 2005
- FILE
A section of Bond Street in West Kingston blocked by residents earlier this year.
ACCORDING TO The Weekend Star report strongmen Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the community's top man and his brother called 'Livity', an area leader, are at odds.
Residents of the area say the rift developed after Dudus expressed dissent at the killing of the cops. They say the top man has stated that the killing of the cops was never to have happened.
Tivoli's low crime rate has been linked to popular belief that there is a death chamber and kangaroo justice in the community.
These beliefs date back to the reign of Claudie Massop and 'Jim Brown' who were both accused of torturing and executing dissidents.
But, while suspicions are rife that the trend has continued, argues DSP Hewitt, operations officer, Kingston Western Police Divison that "... There is no hard evidence to support this."
Member of Parliament Bruce Golding agrees: "There are a lot of allegations being levied against West Kingston and these allegations have been made on many occasions. Have these death chambers or kangaroo courts ever been found? No, so therefore they are just still unproven allegations."
ILLEGAL WEAPONS
Mr. Hewitt insists that there are large numbers of illegal high-powered weapons in Tivoli Gardens as in other communities.
However, things happen in Tivoli, 'as in other places', the police say.
"We know that things happen. We know that last year, a man was said to have committed a rape and he was killed. His body was dumped in a wheel barrow and pushed outside of the community."
But there are tunnels in Tivoli, which the police believe are used as escape routes for criminals. Former Commissioner of Police, Francis Forbes, had taken a group of reporters into the community to point out the 'waterways or 'tunnels'.
The then commissioner explained that the police had found footprints, empty food boxes and cigarette butts and had also interviewed people who had lived there and had been charged with criminal offences.
"They told us that they themselves have used them to escape from the police," he said.
Tivoli Gardens is by far the most organised inner-city community in Jamaica. On its skirt-tails lie big-name business entities.
Tivoli Gardens, named after one of Europe's most outstanding music and dance theatres, was founded in the midst of a chaotic inner-city slum.
The area itself appears to be relatively safe for its residents.
One can visit Coronation Market or party at Passa Passa, the weekly dancehall event, without fear of harassment or abuse.
Tivoli Gardens represents more than 50 per cent of the constituency of West Kingston's total voting population.
STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES
Tivoli Gardens grew out of the ashes of a laid-to-waste section of Western Kingston called Back O'Wall.
Modern high-rise buildings and state-of-the-art facilities replaced the ramshackle buildings which served as havens for thieves, drug dealers and users and prostitutes.
The community has been very active in sports and cultural events. They have won the National Premier League football competition, and they have a first-class dance group and a prominent marching band.
A vibrant young Edward Seaga assumed parliamentary responsibility for the area and was virtually worshipped by its inhabitants.
Tivoli Gardens was the early pacesetter in what would become Jamaica's don-controlled communities.
After the slaying of the feared but popular 'Zackie', a young athletic and charismatic Claudie 'Jack' Massop emerged as a community leader. His lieutenants included Carl 'Bya' Mitchell, Lester 'Jim Brown' Coke and Alvin 'Micky' Gordon. There were other key figures, but this quartet basically held sway in Tivoli.
Massop, who became a legendary folk hero, was shot and killed by police near Tivoli Gardens on a Sunday afternoon in February 1974.
His political inclination or commitment were never in doubt. He, along with Edward Seaga, were the names and faces of the Jamaica Labour Party during the 1970s.
SEAGA CALLED EVERY SHOT
While Mr. Seaga after his ascendancy to the leadership of the JLP called every shot on the national political front, his dominance in his West Kingston constituency was confined to politics - hardcore, down-to-earth politics that stayed clear of the extortion and illegal drug trade and gun dealings which were taking deadly shape in West Kingston.
Tivoli Gardens rapidly built a reputation for swift and terminal 'justice' for those who stepped out of line and Massop and his crew became the most feared men anywhere in Jamaica.
The Peace Initiative with rival political community Arnett Gardens 'Jungle', Matthews Lane and Payne Land, helped to further boost the reputation and image of the JLP activist.
When Massop was killed, Bya was the man slated to take over but his excessive abuse of hard drugs and his unpredictable mood swings earned him great disfavour in his own territory and he was soon exiled from his stronghold based in Tivoli Gardens.
Jim Brown took over leadership and went on to become the most feared community leader Jamaica had ever experienced.
Comment