When Will The Public See The JCF Administrative Review Report, Commissioner Quallo?

Last Friday, July 28, 2017, the High Command of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) released the following statement indicating that it has completed an Administrative Review into the May 2010 operation in Western Kingston.

Jul.28l.17 – High Command responds to Editorial

The release referred to a Gleaner editorial (actually published on July 24, 2017), which questioned the lack of a public update regarding the JCF’s promised actions in response to the recommendations of the Western Kingston Commission of Enquiry.

The Commission’s report was tabled in Parliament on June 15, 2016, and two weeks later, on June 30, 2016, the JCF issued a press release giving its response to the recommendations made in the Commission’s report. It indicated its position regarding a number of the recommendations –  15.17, 15.18, 15.20, 15.21, 15.22, 15.27, 15.28, 15.30, 15.31 – 15.33, 15.34, 15.35 – saying what actions it intended to take in response.  I do wonder why it took 8 months more (according to last Friday’s press release) for the promised review to begin.

I hope that Commissioner Quallo will make the report public sooner rather than later; it is reportedly now being “shared with the various oversight bodies for the JCF.” Until then, the public will not be able to assess the scope and adequacy of the review or its recommendations. This public accounting is an essential part of the post-Enquiry process.

Twitter Thread

Below is a series of tweets that I made on June 30, 2017, highlighting some issues that ought to be dealt with in the JCF review report.

Related Blog Posts

• Nearly A Year Later: Time For Western Kingston Commission of Enquiry Reccomendations Update
• Report of West Kingston Commission of Enquiry Made Public; Now Online

 

 

 

Simple Ritual: Weekly Photo Challenge – Satisfaction

“This week, share a photo of something that brings you satisfaction. It can be monumental, minor, or something in between.”

I sit on the roof, drinking tea, writing in my journal……watching the sunrise. Simple, repeated ritual.Satisfaction.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Satisfaction

Pinned Petals: Weekly Photo Challenge – Unusual

“For this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge, please post a photo that is unusual in some way for you, whether it be through technique, by subject, or in some other unique way.”

UnusualPinned purple petalsScissors and common pins on a tree stumpParts of a flower and two antsParts of a flower

Weekly Photo Challenge – Unusual

 

350 Words or Less: Ladies, You Are Armed & Dangerous!

There is obviously something very threatening about women baring arms that seems to result in institutions of state formulating dress codes that prohibit women wearing sleeveless garments in their hallowed halls! This came up in the USA last week. It wasn’t a case of sleeveless in Seattle, but rather a case of sleeveless in Washington DC, in the Speaker’s Lobby in the US House of Representatives.

A journalist was told her sleeveless dress on a hot Washington day was not appropriate and her attempt to create “sleeves” with pages from her notebook didn’t work either. Eventually a California Congresswoman declared a Sleeveless Friday and she and a number of women turned up “inappropriately” dressed.Subsequently, Speaker Paul Ryan said that there would be a move to modernise the dress code, having initially reminded women of the need to be “appropriately” dressed.

We have our sleeveless prohibition here too, not only in Gordon House, but in a number of Ministries and other government agencies.  I wrote about it in a blog post last year, sparked by an instance in which a woman fashioned “sleeves” out of two scandal bags and was then allowed inside. You Have Got To Be Kidding! (Those Sleeveless Rules Again…)

Those bare arms are inimical to good order and the efficient conduct of government business and simply cannot be allowed. (We will not talk today about the dangers of bare heads, knees and toes.) Senator Longmore wore a sleeveless dress in the Senate recently, but kept it covered with a shawl throughout the debate. What chaos might otherwise have ensued in the Chamber!

And then there is this photo…. Maybe the prohibition hasn’t always existed, or maybe some people are exempt from the regular rules.

First sitting of Parliament of independent Jamaica, August 1962

You think if I wore a sleeveless frock, but also wore long gloves and a tiara, they’d let me into the Gallery at Parliament?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jade Vine Flowers: Weekly Photo Challenge – Collage

“Collage: An assortment, a collection, a hodgepodge. This week, share one — whether found in the wild or assembled yourself.”

Strongylodon macrobotrys. Jade vine. A collection of fallen jade vine flowers. On a bed.On a dressing table.Collage?

Weekly Photo Challenge – Collage

J. Wray and Nephew Building, 24 Port Royal Street

If you are walking or driving on Port Royal Street in downtown Kingston, you may notice this old, locked up building that sits between Church Street and Temple Lane.

It is the old J. Wray and Nephew building, at 24 Port Royal Street.

Here it is on Google Maps:

If you stand at the intersection of Port Royal Street and Church Street, looking down towards the harbour, you can see the overhead crosswalk from the Jamaica Conference Centre to the multistorey parking garage.And this is what the building looks like when you are standing across from it on Church Street.An address given in 1975 by then Managing Director of J. Wray and Nephew, Mr. B. E. Latibeaudiere, at the official opening of their new office complex on Spanish Town Road, gives some information about the building on Port Royal Street.

John Wray, a Scottish wheelwright from St Ann, opened a tavern in Kingston in 1825. It was a successful business and in 1862 he took his nephew Charles James Ward as a partner and the business became J. Wray and Nephew. (Ward later became a member of the legislative council and custos of Kingston; the Ward Theatre, which he built and donated to the city after the 1907 earthquake, is named for him.)

“[Wray] moved to larger premises on Port Royal Street, which were conveniently near the wharves – in those days rum was brought in barrels by sea from various distilleries in the country parts.

John Wray died in 1864 and Ward became the sole owner of J. Wray and Nephew. The business developed considerably.

The premises on Port Royal Street fortunately escaped the fire of 1882, which destroyed a large section of the city of Kingston. However, the fire which followed the 1907 earthquake completely razed Port Royal Street, causing the loss of all the old records and documents. Most of the company’s thirty-odd retail branches throughout the city were also destroyed.

Although approaching his 70th year, Ward immediately set about rebuilding Port Royal Street and the new building which went up after the earthquake covered the entire block from Church Street to Temple Lane and business was resumed from those premises in June 1909.”

The business remained at this location until 1970, when it moved to Spanish Town Road.

(Sunday Gleaner, October 5, 1975)

Photo showing damage to buildings on Port Royal Street after 1907 earthquake

Photo showing damage to a building on Port Royal Street after 1907 earthquake

An illustration of the new J. Wray and Nephew  premises built on Port Royal Street after the 1907 earthquake

The iron fretwork is one of the most striking features of the building……though now showing the effects of time….Trees and cut-stone paving would make for a really pleasant area… …between the building and the multistorey carpark, if the area was maintained.Vines on the closed shutters……and grass on the roof show nature taking its course….I checked at the National Land Agency to see who is listed as owning the property, but was told that there is no registered title. I wonder what plans there are for this building.

 

 

 

This Bridge I Saw in London: Weekly Photo Challenge – Bridge

“For this challenge, interpret the theme “bridge.” You can go the same route as I did and capture any type or style of bridge where you are, or go deeper and take a snapshot of something or someone that acts as a bridge in your life: a link, a connection, a mediator.”

This week, I have gone for the most obvious, most literal interpretation of the topic. Here is a picture of this bridge I saw while on vacation in London last year…

Weekly Photo Challenge – Bridge