Land transfer to Rastafari community imminent, says Chang

WESTERN BUREAU:

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang has indicated that land at Albion Heights in St James would be transferred to the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society (RCGBS) by the end of June.

“This property ultimately belongs to the [Rastafarian] community. It has been approved, but the formal handover will take a little more time because the bureaucracy must be at work,” Chang said.

“In fact, I expect that very soon in this first quarter [of the new] financial year, we will have a Cabinet submission to formally transfer it to the Coral Gardens Benevolent Society, that is when you can get the title and call it your own,” Chang, who is the member of parliament for St James North Western in which Albion Heights falls, told members of Rastafarian community last Friday during their annual ‘Bad Friday’ commemoration of the 61st anniversary of the 1963 atrocities.

The earmarked land is part of benefits agreed with the Government following years of lobbying by the RCGBS on behalf of those killed or maimed on Good Friday in 1963. The atrocity unfolded when former Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante sanctioned police brutality against the Rastafarians early into Jamaica’s political Independence from the United Kingdom.

According to Chang, there are two properties on the land, for which the Rastafarians can install the resources required to build out what they desire.

“You’ll be able to not only develop an active cultural centre, but also, [based] on my understanding, to move the current home from Norwood here,” noted Chang.

ASSISTANCE FROM GOVERNMENT

Furthermore, he assured the community that the Government would assist in refurbishing the houses.

“I am not sure of the structural state of the buildings, if they can be refurbished or if we will have to knock them down and start over, but there is enough land space here to do what is required to provide a strong culture and active economic and education centre because this is where we will have a spot where you can ... have a spot where you can put the historical data and have a continuous presence in helping to inform others in the society what happened to the Rastafari movement.”

Six decades later, Chang, who is also minister of national security, argued that many citizens, including some Rastafarians, continue to face post-colonial obstacles with lawmen.

“ ... The truth is, up to this day, there is always some conflict between those who are struggling and the police from time to time. Separate from any criminal activity the struggle for justice by many who are not privileged is a challenge still in the society, unfortunately,” the security minister admits.

The 61st commemoration of the 1963 incident was held under the theme ‘Community Reparations Now’ and saw several cultural presentations, including emotional testimonies from survivors.

“I am pleased to be here today because it’s an event that needs to be respected and recognised. And I want to say, we took a turn as a Government when we apologised and started the process of not only recognising the movement that’s active in Montego Bay, the Coral Gardens Benevolent Society,” he added.

Following years of agitation by the RCGBS an inquiry was done by the Office of the Public Defender. In December 2015, the office published a report concluding that Rastafarians there had suffered extreme acts of violations of their basic human rights. The public defender recommended that the State should apologise, pay compensation to individual survivors, and make reparation to the wider community.

In June 2016, representatives of the community met with government representatives and submitted a 13-point plan, which forms the basis of the negotiations.

The Government in 2017 apologised to the residents of Coral Gardens, particularly the Rastafari community, for the atrocities meted out to them. That has come with some level of compensation to those directly affected.

Among the compensation was the establishment of a trust fund of now less than J$10 million to the survivors and their families, along with six the provision of six lots at Pinnacle that will become designated protected heritage sites, and which will also include a Rastafari village.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com