If Seaga Was Alive As PM? Would Thugs plan To Extort The Eastern Coastal Hiway Project?

“Duppy knows who fi frighten”

The recent reported threat to security that led to the temporary shutting down of the Eastern Coastal Hiway by thugs called

extiortionsts … has raised many questions. One of which who is in charge in Jamaica?

Leadership needs to be seen as robust yet gentle.  You can be quite effective without being boisterous and yet command respect. There is a saying in Jamaica:

Duppy knows who fi frighten”

Translated is … a ghost knows who to scare.

My Neighbour Asserted who we will call N …

HO’C-D: Did you hear about the Extortion atrocity at the Eastern Coastal Hiway?

N: If Mr. Seaga was alive Dennie, this challenge to the constituted authority would not have occured.

HO’C-D: What do you mean,? Was my obvious question.

N: Well Mr. Seaga is known to be a no nonsense man. You don’t challenge his authority and get away scotch free.

HO’C-D: So what are you implying?  Was another question posed by me.

N: You see people react to how they see you Dennie.  If people think you are weak, then they will take steps with you.  Hence the saying:

“Duppy knows who to frighten.”

There was the perception that Mr. Seaga was a very effective leader who commanded so much respect that opponents would weigh carefully any attenpt to embarrass him as the reprocussions may not be nice.  It is likely that the thugs who issued threats to make blood flow and actually disrupted the road construction in St. Thomas causing the Eastern Coastal Hiway, the hiway was stopped temporarily. It is felt that the occupant of Jamaica House is no threat to them. Too soft to mount any meaningful challenge to their badness.  Is this so?

Canada

In up north as in Canada the first Nation Chiefs mounted blockades on the TransCanadian highway causing even CP trains to have to abandon their way.  The PM Justin Trudeau looked the other way. What can we say. You see this had to be  the Canadian way.

Poetic Commentary

Let little or no blood to flow

That is the only way to go …

Has Holness learnt such a lesson

As Canadians we have grave concerns about  bloodshed …

Such will never enter our head

You see we are people … well bred

We talk and talk and talk instead

Alas!  This never happened in Oka.

Least of all the Ipperwash drama

Oops! Not on those occasions …

blood flowed like the ocean

The Oka Crisis

This was 1990 when Mohawk Indians clashed with whites in Quebec over a land dispute. Will give more details later.

Ipperwash Crisis

It was in 1995  that a dispute over expropriated land dating back to World War 2.  It was in Ontario, Canada over a park.  The Canadian government was fighting with the Native Canadians who were asserting their rights to their antestal lands.  Watch this space for further details. Amen!

Conclusion

There is merit in Seaga’s era. We respect others including the Canadians,  but Jamaican culture is different. Let bad men be aware that their tactics will not scare.  Long live the memory and invaluable contribution of Edward Phillip George Seaga who helped to draft Jamaica’s constitutlional arrangements.

Negotiations

Jamaica negotiated peacefully their independence from the British in 1962 …  NO blood flowed.  The USA had a bloody civil war over taxes aka the Boston Tea Party,  which ended with their independence from the British in 1776.  So whom up North should we learn from?

Atrocities

Canada and the USA cannot afford not to want to unite with the First Nations people for whom they owe an unpayable debt. Both Nations stand accused of raping defenseless native women, putting children in residential schools, brain washing, cultural distruction of their language along with other atrocities.  We note that compensation has been paid to certain victims.  They also occupy illegally or stole their antestal lands.

Long live Seaga. He would not have tolerated the disgraceful conduct by thugs in St. Thomas recently. We note the matter has quieted down. We hope no money was paid.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is a veteran International journalist with a keen interest in politics globally.