THE JAMAICA ACTION PARTY
J A P
Reflection Con'td
The decline in the country’s fortune accelerated. Shortages of consumer goods and material increased. The poor
performance of the economy and stringent conditions set by the IMF resulted in the continued devaluation of the
Jamaican dollar leading to increase prices and more hardship, especially for the poor, and the discontinuation of a
lot of social programmes. By the end of nineteen seventy nine the country was in a state of an all out undeclared
civil war across the country. As in the 1976 election illegal guns were everywhere and these were said to be given
out by politicians in order to win but this was never proven. The link, however, between politicians and known
gunmen were quite apparent with even the leaders of both parties attending the funerals of known gunmen and
area dons. Residents in many communities were forced to flee their homes and communities where they had lived
all their lives, in some cases with only the clothes on their back. Their houses were taken over by political rivals
resulting in the extension of the garrison communities. By the election the following year many persons were of the
opinion that the island was going to be turned into a communist state. This was fuelled by some political activist
telling people that they would be taking over their properties when the island went communist. Many persons,
especially those of the upper class sold out their homes and businesses at a minimal cost and fled the island with
their family.
In 1979 there was a massive roadblock across the island as there was an impending gas increase. This was the
first of the three great gas protests and I can remember walking home from school some distance of about twelve
miles. Other people were forced to walk much further and in some cases had to seek shelter as they could not
make it home. The rise in the price of the gas when it came was minimal. Those who organized the protest claimed
it was as a result of their protest while the government claimed that the organizers had an agenda. There was also
the Eventide home fire in May 1980 in which over 400 destitute old persons and some retarded children were burnt
to death. It was claimed that the fire was set by political rivals.
The 1980 eighty election was fought mainly along ideological lines and if we should continue with the IMF, the JLP
being for and the PNP against. The JLP was seen as leaning to the right (pro America) while the PNP was seen as
leaning to the left (pro Soviet Union). The term IMF was revised by some to mean ‘is Manley fault’. The theme of
the JLP was ‘deliverance is near’ and Mr Seaga was touted as the deliverer while that of the PNP was 'stand firm for
a third term'.
The election was announced in Sam Sharpe square before a large crowd by Prime Minister Manley who declared
that “one hundred and fifty thousand people can’t be wrong”. The PNP was defeated in the election held in October
1980 which swept the JLP to power with a fifty one to nine seats victory. It was the bloodiest year ever with over
eight hundreds deaths most of which was politically motivated. These included that of one candidate Roy McGann
who was killed in the Papine region shortly before the election. Previous to that the yearly murder rate was about
two hundred, and nineteen eighty was to stand as the record for the number of murders in a year for seventeen
years until it was surpass in nineteen ninety seven. I can remember after the election the almost instantaneous
availability of basic items which up to the day before the election were unavailable. I remembered one shopkeeper
throwing open his shutters and shouting “come people, uno come. A have everything; rice, sugar, flour, condense
milk and bath soap”. These were item that were either totally unavailable or were “married” to other items. This
help to confirm in many persons’ mind that the PNP government was sabotage in some ways by the business class.
After the nineteen eighty election the country settle down and many of those who had fled the country return. It was
said that some of these persons offered substantial amount for the properties that was basically given away when
they fled but their offer was not accepted as the market value was much greater.
One of the first thing I remember the new government doing was to allow the importation of about twelve million
dollars (a substantial amount of money then) worth of motor cars which from the mid seventies were almost
impossible to procure. During this period of time the waiting time for a new car was a minimum of three to four years
and the cost of a second hand car could be two or three times the cost of a new one. This was one of the few
countries where car price appreciated. The decision to spend this amount of money for such purpose was criticized
as the country was facing an extreme shortage of foreign exchange. The government defended its decision saying
that the people needed some relief from the hardship they had endured for so long.
The government was still under the constraints of the IMF and had to abide by their stringent conditions. Many
persons felt that they were more interested in pleasing the IMF than in the welfare of the citizens. About this time
the dreaded “eradication squad came into being. As the name suggests this squad was seen as a squad which
eradicate suspected wrong doers and for the several years that it existed the average number of police killings
were about three hundred and fifty each year.
By nineteen eighty three, the support of the JLP had declined dramatically as lots of people felt that the promised
‘deliverance’ and that, to make ‘money jingle in their pocket" were not delivered. The invasion of Grenada following
the ousting of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop in Grenada and the take over of the island by communist
sympathizers proved to be a boost in the popularity of the JLP. With the JLP popularity at a high, the PNP made the
mistake of calling on Mr Seaga to resign. He chose to call a snap general election and with the communist bogie
revived, the PNP chose not to contest the election as they said Mr Seaga had broken not to call any election until
the election procedures were fixed. This resulted in the JLP controlling all sixty parliamentary seats.
The nineteen eighties were hard years. With the country being short on foreign exchange and being in the thongs
of the IMF, a wide range of social services were cut and there were wide layoffs including in the government sector.
Price controls on basic items were abolished. The freezone sector was developed and provided a large number of
jobs especially for women but many people criticize this, saying that it was cheap labor and the working conditions
were poor. I can remember the then minister of labor responding to say that the workers were ‘working in salubrious
conditions’ for which he was severely criticized. .By the end of the nineteen eighties, migration was again at a high,
with some of those who had returned after the nineteen eighty election choosing to leave again.
Page 1 2 3
The decline in the country’s fortune accelerated. Shortages of consumer goods and material increased. The poor
performance of the economy and stringent conditions set by the IMF resulted in the continued devaluation of the
Jamaican dollar leading to increase prices and more hardship, especially for the poor, and the discontinuation of a
lot of social programmes. By the end of nineteen seventy nine the country was in a state of an all out undeclared
civil war across the country. As in the 1976 election illegal guns were everywhere and these were said to be given
out by politicians in order to win but this was never proven. The link, however, between politicians and known
gunmen were quite apparent with even the leaders of both parties attending the funerals of known gunmen and
area dons. Residents in many communities were forced to flee their homes and communities where they had lived
all their lives, in some cases with only the clothes on their back. Their houses were taken over by political rivals
resulting in the extension of the garrison communities. By the election the following year many persons were of the
opinion that the island was going to be turned into a communist state. This was fuelled by some political activist
telling people that they would be taking over their properties when the island went communist. Many persons,
especially those of the upper class sold out their homes and businesses at a minimal cost and fled the island with
their family.
In 1979 there was a massive roadblock across the island as there was an impending gas increase. This was the
first of the three great gas protests and I can remember walking home from school some distance of about twelve
miles. Other people were forced to walk much further and in some cases had to seek shelter as they could not
make it home. The rise in the price of the gas when it came was minimal. Those who organized the protest claimed
it was as a result of their protest while the government claimed that the organizers had an agenda. There was also
the Eventide home fire in May 1980 in which over 400 destitute old persons and some retarded children were burnt
to death. It was claimed that the fire was set by political rivals.
The 1980 eighty election was fought mainly along ideological lines and if we should continue with the IMF, the JLP
being for and the PNP against. The JLP was seen as leaning to the right (pro America) while the PNP was seen as
leaning to the left (pro Soviet Union). The term IMF was revised by some to mean ‘is Manley fault’. The theme of
the JLP was ‘deliverance is near’ and Mr Seaga was touted as the deliverer while that of the PNP was 'stand firm for
a third term'.
The election was announced in Sam Sharpe square before a large crowd by Prime Minister Manley who declared
that “one hundred and fifty thousand people can’t be wrong”. The PNP was defeated in the election held in October
1980 which swept the JLP to power with a fifty one to nine seats victory. It was the bloodiest year ever with over
eight hundreds deaths most of which was politically motivated. These included that of one candidate Roy McGann
who was killed in the Papine region shortly before the election. Previous to that the yearly murder rate was about
two hundred, and nineteen eighty was to stand as the record for the number of murders in a year for seventeen
years until it was surpass in nineteen ninety seven. I can remember after the election the almost instantaneous
availability of basic items which up to the day before the election were unavailable. I remembered one shopkeeper
throwing open his shutters and shouting “come people, uno come. A have everything; rice, sugar, flour, condense
milk and bath soap”. These were item that were either totally unavailable or were “married” to other items. This
help to confirm in many persons’ mind that the PNP government was sabotage in some ways by the business class.
After the nineteen eighty election the country settle down and many of those who had fled the country return. It was
said that some of these persons offered substantial amount for the properties that was basically given away when
they fled but their offer was not accepted as the market value was much greater.
One of the first thing I remember the new government doing was to allow the importation of about twelve million
dollars (a substantial amount of money then) worth of motor cars which from the mid seventies were almost
impossible to procure. During this period of time the waiting time for a new car was a minimum of three to four years
and the cost of a second hand car could be two or three times the cost of a new one. This was one of the few
countries where car price appreciated. The decision to spend this amount of money for such purpose was criticized
as the country was facing an extreme shortage of foreign exchange. The government defended its decision saying
that the people needed some relief from the hardship they had endured for so long.
The government was still under the constraints of the IMF and had to abide by their stringent conditions. Many
persons felt that they were more interested in pleasing the IMF than in the welfare of the citizens. About this time
the dreaded “eradication squad came into being. As the name suggests this squad was seen as a squad which
eradicate suspected wrong doers and for the several years that it existed the average number of police killings
were about three hundred and fifty each year.
By nineteen eighty three, the support of the JLP had declined dramatically as lots of people felt that the promised
‘deliverance’ and that, to make ‘money jingle in their pocket" were not delivered. The invasion of Grenada following
the ousting of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop in Grenada and the take over of the island by communist
sympathizers proved to be a boost in the popularity of the JLP. With the JLP popularity at a high, the PNP made the
mistake of calling on Mr Seaga to resign. He chose to call a snap general election and with the communist bogie
revived, the PNP chose not to contest the election as they said Mr Seaga had broken not to call any election until
the election procedures were fixed. This resulted in the JLP controlling all sixty parliamentary seats.
The nineteen eighties were hard years. With the country being short on foreign exchange and being in the thongs
of the IMF, a wide range of social services were cut and there were wide layoffs including in the government sector.
Price controls on basic items were abolished. The freezone sector was developed and provided a large number of
jobs especially for women but many people criticize this, saying that it was cheap labor and the working conditions
were poor. I can remember the then minister of labor responding to say that the workers were ‘working in salubrious
conditions’ for which he was severely criticized. .By the end of the nineteen eighties, migration was again at a high,
with some of those who had returned after the nineteen eighty election choosing to leave again.
Page 1 2 3
 | |  | |  | |  |