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.... the "Tivoli Model" of development celebrated by Seaga and his fans.... crushed.....With innocents & criminals alike suffering.
But the JLPNP architects of the Infamy still drinking whisky in their Ivory Towers
The Battle - Blood Flows As Security Forces Go After Dudus On May 24, 2010
Published: Tuesday | May 24, 2011
"Time to take back the streets," said a motorist as he drove past a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) team. And that was obviously the intention of the security forces.
Persons ran for cover - even those several metres away - as the sound of high-powered weapons rocked buildings in west Kingston.
The police and soldiers sealed the entrances and exits to Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town and Hannah Town, barring all non-essential personnel.
Even members of the media were firmly and politely told that they would not be allowed on to the battlefield.
The soldiers avoided the heavily fortified and booby-trapped barriers by blasting their way through walls to enter the community.
Pitched battles
But the armed thugs were not prepared to surrender, and police and soldiers had to take back the streets - barricade by barricade, block by block.
"We encountered a level of resistance and saw an armed, trained and organised militia prepared to engage us to the death," one army man reported.
"Areas that should have been secured in minutes took us hours to secure as the thugs, armed with high-powered weapons, responded with a ferocity that I have never seen before," another army man said.
"One boy with an AK (AK-47 assault rifle) kept the helicopter man busy for almost an hour before a sniper get him," said a soldier as he recounted the hottest gun battle he had seen in his more than 10 years in the army.
That claim was given more credence when one soldier, Private Maurice Green, was killed early in the incursion. (The Medal of Honour for Gallantry will be awarded to him posthumously).
For most of the day, the sound of gunfire echoed across the southeastern city where commercial activity had come to a standstill.
'Ground zero' was the area around Tivoli Gardens stretching from Darling Street in the east, Industrial Terrace in the west, Spanish Town Road to the north and Marcus Garvey Drive in the south.
But other areas, including the Fletcher's Land neighbourhood beside The Gleaner's North Street offices, Denham Town, East Queen Street in the vicinity of the Central Police Station, and sections of Hannah Town also saw major gun battles.
Civilians shot
As the guns blazed, terrified civilians going about their business in the downtown commercial centre - less busy not only because of the spiralling violence but on account of a national holiday - scampered for cover in just about every direction.
A number of civilians were shot, and by Monday night the official report from the police was that 26 civilians, many believed to be combatants, had been killed and 25 injured. However, it was immediately clear that the death toll would be much higher, as medical personnel were reporting that they had seen 44 bodies and a further 37 people with gunshot wounds.
The final official death toll was put at 73, but it was never determined if that included two men found in a south St Andrew community with tags on their bodies indicating they had been killed for refusing to participate in the fight to defend Coke.
The police also reported that 211 civilians - including six women - had been detained during the initial assault and a large number of firearms, ammunition, binoculars, army fatigues and ballistic vests seized.
The news Jamaica was waiting for came late in the day.
"To our best information, he (Dudus) is still at large," then acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told journalists.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
But the JLPNP architects of the Infamy still drinking whisky in their Ivory Towers
The Battle - Blood Flows As Security Forces Go After Dudus On May 24, 2010
Published: Tuesday | May 24, 2011
"Time to take back the streets," said a motorist as he drove past a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) team. And that was obviously the intention of the security forces.
Persons ran for cover - even those several metres away - as the sound of high-powered weapons rocked buildings in west Kingston.
The police and soldiers sealed the entrances and exits to Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town and Hannah Town, barring all non-essential personnel.
Even members of the media were firmly and politely told that they would not be allowed on to the battlefield.
The soldiers avoided the heavily fortified and booby-trapped barriers by blasting their way through walls to enter the community.
Pitched battles
But the armed thugs were not prepared to surrender, and police and soldiers had to take back the streets - barricade by barricade, block by block.
"We encountered a level of resistance and saw an armed, trained and organised militia prepared to engage us to the death," one army man reported.
"Areas that should have been secured in minutes took us hours to secure as the thugs, armed with high-powered weapons, responded with a ferocity that I have never seen before," another army man said.
"One boy with an AK (AK-47 assault rifle) kept the helicopter man busy for almost an hour before a sniper get him," said a soldier as he recounted the hottest gun battle he had seen in his more than 10 years in the army.
That claim was given more credence when one soldier, Private Maurice Green, was killed early in the incursion. (The Medal of Honour for Gallantry will be awarded to him posthumously).
For most of the day, the sound of gunfire echoed across the southeastern city where commercial activity had come to a standstill.
'Ground zero' was the area around Tivoli Gardens stretching from Darling Street in the east, Industrial Terrace in the west, Spanish Town Road to the north and Marcus Garvey Drive in the south.
But other areas, including the Fletcher's Land neighbourhood beside The Gleaner's North Street offices, Denham Town, East Queen Street in the vicinity of the Central Police Station, and sections of Hannah Town also saw major gun battles.
Civilians shot
As the guns blazed, terrified civilians going about their business in the downtown commercial centre - less busy not only because of the spiralling violence but on account of a national holiday - scampered for cover in just about every direction.
A number of civilians were shot, and by Monday night the official report from the police was that 26 civilians, many believed to be combatants, had been killed and 25 injured. However, it was immediately clear that the death toll would be much higher, as medical personnel were reporting that they had seen 44 bodies and a further 37 people with gunshot wounds.
The final official death toll was put at 73, but it was never determined if that included two men found in a south St Andrew community with tags on their bodies indicating they had been killed for refusing to participate in the fight to defend Coke.
The police also reported that 211 civilians - including six women - had been detained during the initial assault and a large number of firearms, ammunition, binoculars, army fatigues and ballistic vests seized.
The news Jamaica was waiting for came late in the day.
"To our best information, he (Dudus) is still at large," then acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told journalists.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
