‘Give a man enough rope him sure fi heng himself’, is a famous Jamaican proverb I learnt from my grandmother.  I’m sure if she was still alive she would use Jamaica’s current Prime Minister, Mr. Bruce Golding as a perfect example of someone working hard to prove that proverb true. The problem is how many Jamaicans does he intend to take down with him. Obviously he never grew with his granny or she would have told him, ‘Yuh play wid puppy, puppy lick yuh face’. Translated that means you play with fire, you will get burnt.

In August 2009 the United States government made an extradition request for Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke. Since then every day we keep reading and hearing of the numerous accusations against him, yet for nine months Mr. Golding did everything in his power to shield this individual. It was only after he was cornered that he decided to allow the courts to make a decision on the extradition request. But he could not even handle that correctly. Or was it a deliberate action to give ‘Dudus’ warning of the pending arrest by making a public announcement of the arrest warrant being signed. Either way many Jamaican’s paid dearly with their lives.

To add insult to injury, the nation is now being asked to pay dearly to clean up Mr. Golding’s mess.  Money is needed to rebuild Tivoli Gardens, physically and socially. Tourism needs money to rebuild Jamaicans image. Do we have our house in order as yet, is the timing right to start an image campaign even though ‘Dudus’ is still on the loose and further flair ups is a very real possibility. Clearly the Minister of Tourism, Edmond Bartlett is going ahead regardless.

What is really frightening is the constant revelations of just how involved the current Government is with this ‘Chirstopher ‘Dudus’ Coke and how much of tax payers money he is getting through government contracts to companies connected to him and his partner, west Kingston businessman, Justin O'Gilvie. Companies such as Bulls Eye Security Services Limited that is contracted to provide security services to the St. William Grant Park and the Downtown Transportation Centre. Incomparable Enterprises Limited is another company owned by the two which has been given several government contracts. I would not be surprised if there were many more. What does surprise me is that so far I have not heard of any move to seize or freeze Coke’s assets.

 So, when will Bruce Golding make the final tightening of the noose? The opposition tried to bring a no confidence vote against him in Parliament but his party protected him. As my granny would sey, ‘Birds of a feather flock together’. But I’m confident that Mr. Golding will eventually ‘heng’ himself. After all, ‘Cock mout kill cock’, (translated that means to betray oneself with careless chatter) and Mr. Golding is master at that. Maybe then Jamaica could begin a meaningful healing process. Maybe we can form a coalition like the United Kingdom using the best from each party to form a true Jamaican Government.  

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