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Thwaites: I will be an informer
MP calls for link between politics and crime to be severed
BY ERICA VIRTUE Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, August 16, 2010
MEMBER of Parliament for Central Kingston Ronnie Thwaites yesterday called for the link between politics and crime to be severed completely, stating that there should be more widescale support for the police.
Insisting that where there is wrongdoing Jamaicans should support the law, Thwaites said he was willing to be an “informer” and set an example that people should condemn criminals and not be afraid to report crimes to the police.
“I will tell the police, tell them that I am an informer,” Thwaites said in his address to a People’s National Party (PNP) Kingston Central constituency conference at Kingston Technical High School.
“The people of Central Kingston must send a message to PNP central to disassociate itself from any criminal activities anywhere,” he added, making reference to last week’s murders of eight persons in Tredegar Park, St Catherine, which were allegedly carried out by the PNP-affiliated Klansman Gang.
Marauding gunmen carried out the attack in Tredegar Park Friday morning. An 11-year-old girl was among their victims.
The police reported that two of the 20 gunmen said to be involved in the early morning massacre were members of the Klansman Gang.
That gang, and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)-affiliated One Order Gang have been involved in a turf war in Spanish Town and its environs for years, police said.
Thwaites said the most recent murders were yet another stain on the nation.
“PNP don’t need any connection with any criminals to win any election,” he said. “We must not support any criminal action carried out by anyone.”
In a heated speech as the political temperature in the PNP rises ahead of its 72nd annual conference set for mid-September, Thwaites told the comrades to distinguish themselves from members of the ruling JLP.
“We have nothing in the PNP compared to what was uncovered and dismantled in Tivoli Gardens,” he said. “We do not have any leader in the party who is prepared to go to the limits to protect anyone like the prime minister did to protect Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.”
The conference was also addressed by PNP Youth Organisation president Damian Crawford, who said that much of the society’s ills were “because of irresponsibility and indiscipline”.
“It is indiscipline that leads to criminality. If that indiscipline is not contained, it leads to further indiscipline, and later widespread indiscipline which is the root of our crime problem,” he said to loud cheers.
Constituency conferences were also held in St Andrew, South East, South, and St Catherine South East yesterday.
MP calls for link between politics and crime to be severed
BY ERICA VIRTUE Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, August 16, 2010
MEMBER of Parliament for Central Kingston Ronnie Thwaites yesterday called for the link between politics and crime to be severed completely, stating that there should be more widescale support for the police.
Insisting that where there is wrongdoing Jamaicans should support the law, Thwaites said he was willing to be an “informer” and set an example that people should condemn criminals and not be afraid to report crimes to the police.
“I will tell the police, tell them that I am an informer,” Thwaites said in his address to a People’s National Party (PNP) Kingston Central constituency conference at Kingston Technical High School.
“The people of Central Kingston must send a message to PNP central to disassociate itself from any criminal activities anywhere,” he added, making reference to last week’s murders of eight persons in Tredegar Park, St Catherine, which were allegedly carried out by the PNP-affiliated Klansman Gang.
Marauding gunmen carried out the attack in Tredegar Park Friday morning. An 11-year-old girl was among their victims.
The police reported that two of the 20 gunmen said to be involved in the early morning massacre were members of the Klansman Gang.
That gang, and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)-affiliated One Order Gang have been involved in a turf war in Spanish Town and its environs for years, police said.
Thwaites said the most recent murders were yet another stain on the nation.
“PNP don’t need any connection with any criminals to win any election,” he said. “We must not support any criminal action carried out by anyone.”
In a heated speech as the political temperature in the PNP rises ahead of its 72nd annual conference set for mid-September, Thwaites told the comrades to distinguish themselves from members of the ruling JLP.
“We have nothing in the PNP compared to what was uncovered and dismantled in Tivoli Gardens,” he said. “We do not have any leader in the party who is prepared to go to the limits to protect anyone like the prime minister did to protect Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.”
The conference was also addressed by PNP Youth Organisation president Damian Crawford, who said that much of the society’s ills were “because of irresponsibility and indiscipline”.
“It is indiscipline that leads to criminality. If that indiscipline is not contained, it leads to further indiscipline, and later widespread indiscipline which is the root of our crime problem,” he said to loud cheers.
Constituency conferences were also held in St Andrew, South East, South, and St Catherine South East yesterday.
