My first recollection of politics in Jamaica was the nineteen seventy two election.  I still vividly remember the many bell ringing and fist thumping motorcades and the nightly meetings by both parties in the various districts. The atmosphere was very festive and we would wave back to the motorcades returning their party symbols or sometimes, when we felt mischievous, that of the opposing party. At night we would attend political meetings in the community with older relatives as we speculate who the winner of the election would be.  The evil menace of illegal guns had just started creeping into ‘politics’ but this was still confined to Kingston and a few other areas and was of no immediate concern to us. The theme of the PNP was ‘Better Must Come’ and Michael Manley was touted as Joshua and was often seen with a rod called the Rod of Correction which it was said he received from Emperor Haile Selassie.
The big day came and it was victory for the PNP led by Michael Manley and along with this,  a great sense of hope for a better Jamaica. There were joyous celebrations throughout the country and it was a common sight to see house brooms and green bushes tied to the back of motor vehicles as the JLP was ‘swept out. Following the election a gun amnesty was declared which resulted in a large number of illegal guns being turned in to the authorities. A large number of social legislation were passed, among which the
maternity leave act, equal pay for women, equal right for children born out of wedlock and the minimum wage act readily comes to mind. These along with the announcement of free education gain the PNP vast popularity especially among the poor. The introduction of the adult literacy programme Jamal, and the National Youth Service were immensely popular.
The oil crisis of the seventies soon dwindle away our banking reserve causing shortages of materials and consumer goods. The financial intelligence unit was established to police the foreign exchange system and especially catch people taking more than the legally allowed fifty US dollars (US$50) out of the country.  This along with the regime’s new friendship with Cuba and the Eastern European Block in the middle of what was then the “cold war” soon cost the ruling party a lot of it’s support  especially among business  people and the upper class. There was also strong opposition from the United States resulting in a lot of economic aid being cut off. The formation of the OPEC oil group and their decision to cut  oil
production caused oil shortage and the skyrocketing of oil price as well as an unstable world economy. This caused a major foreign  exchange shortage  resulting in the country  having to apply to the  
International Monetary Fund (IMF)  for assistance in nineteen seventy seven. Strict conditionalities were imposed including a devaluation of the dollar which resulted in what was then known as the ‘crawling peg devaluation’ during which there was a fixed monthly devaluation.  In  the meantime economic growth slowed down and then went negative as the country’s economy started to decline. With this came layoffs and an increase in crime and violence and the use of the gun spread throughout the island. In the
meantime Edward Seaga had challenged Hugh Shearer for  the leadership of the JLP in 1974 and was successful. He was reputed to be a financial wizard and proved to be a formidable opposition leader.
By nineteen seventy six, the crime rate had skyrocketed with many major crimes throughout the country. Among the major incidents which stood out are the Greenwich Town shooting, the Gold Street massacre and the Orange Street fire in which babies were taken from their mothers who tried to escape the flames, and thrown back into the fire. The political divide increased and as people were forced to flee their homes,  the political garrisons spread and increased throughout the country. The dreaded Gun Court, now
called The South Camp Rehabilitation center, was established. It was painted red and even for the possession of a single bullet, one would be sent there ‘under indefinite detention’ meaning there was
no fixed release date.  In June of that year the then prime minister Michael Manley declared a nationwide State of Emergency (SOE). I can still recall hearing the announcement that Saturday as I was preparing to go with my mother to the market. This was to last just under a year. Immediately after the announcement a massive roundup of people started. Some PNP supporters were arrested but by far, most of them were members or supporters of the JLP including Parnell Charles and Babsy Grange. This was the start of a
long detention for many of them and in Ms Grange case a condition of her release was that she left the island. I remember one interesting case of one person being arrested as being a threat to national security but he was later released when it was proven that he was a British citizens and the British Embassy intervened. The SOE did little to stem the wave of violence and killings which continued unabated.
A general election was called for December of that year and with many in the JLP locked away, to the beat of ‘My leader Born Ya’, the PNP won a landslide of forty seven to thirteen seats. It was a very violent election campaign and I can remember our parents waking us up to hide in bushes as shots were fired and stones rained down on roofs. Very little changed, however, and the problems continued to increase. The scarcity of material and consumer goods got worst and the widespread ‘marrying’ of goods was a part of life. This was a practice where in order to purchase an item in scarce supply, the purchaser was force to purchase some other item. Inspectors were sent out to check supermarkets and shops for the hoarding and marrying of goods as well as overcharging, as all basic items had price control. Unemployment increased and to alleviate this the ‘Crash Work Programme’ was established. It was extremely unproductive and the participants spent most of their time leaning on brooms and abusing people driving by.  With critical shortages, self reliance was stressed and people were encouraged to ‘tun yu hand and mek fashion’ as well as to establish house gardens. The ‘land lease’ and ‘pioneer programme’ was expanded. The relationship with Cuba and the eastern block were expanded while that with the United States continued its’ decline. The controversial Brigadista Programme where people were sent to Cuba for training in medicine, dentistry and construction grew.  At the same time, health personnel, teachers and construction workers came to assist in our health and education sectors and the construction of schools and micro-dams.
The   JLP accused the government of sending these people for military training and objected to the Cuban personnel presence in the island. At the same time, the cry by the PNP that the CIA was destabilizing the country increased. In  January of 1977 the Green Bay massacre occurred in which young men from Southside and other areas were taken  by the Military Intelligence Unit (MIU) to the JDF shooting range under the pretence of getting jobs and then executed in cold blood. I recall the statement made by the Security Minister shortly after the incident that ‘no angels died at green bay’ for which he had since
apologized.  There were inquiries into the state of emergency and the green bay massacre in which the details were revealed and these proved to be in contrast to what was initially told to the public and probably are the two most shameful incidents since independence.
As the relationship between the communist Workers Party of Jamaica (WPJ), the Soviet Union and the government increased so did the fear  and unease that the country was going communist, especially among the upper class. That led to the ‘five flight a day to Miami speech’ by Prime Minister Manley in which those who did not like how the country was been run was encouraged to catch one of these flights and leave.
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. The link 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 impaired 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 it. 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 strong, 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 previously 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 that 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 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 bogey revived, the PNP chose not to contest the election as they said Mr Seaga had broken a promise 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 resulting in their increase.  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 mid nineteen eighties, migration was again at a high, with some of those who had returned after the nineteen eighty election choosing to leave  again. 
Overall the country gained some sense of stability during the 1980’s after the turbulent years of clean prior to which one had to pick their way through the mounds of garbage. There were beautification projects through the country and there was an overall sense of law and order, stability and civic pride returning to the country. Some of the more controversial things done by the JLP government were the rationalization of the health sector which saw many hospitals down graded or closed in preference to a more centrally
located major hospital. There was also the Spring Plain project which was the growing of winter vegetables on a high tech farm located in Clarendon. This project failed, with the loss of millions of
dollars which were put in by the Jamaican government. There were also the incidence of market vendors being attacked, and that in which people were evicted and their furniture thrown from high rise building because they were said to have ‘switched’ when the  JLP lost the 1986 local government election. With most of the Parish Councils controlled by the PNP, the JLP government drastically scaled down the Local Government system and moved most of its’ responsibilities to Central Government. The country paid a heavy price for this action. There was also an incident in which several person were shot dead in a flare up of violence between two JLP strongholds and it was claimed that the member of parliament  sat and drank beers with the gunmen and claimed that it was a  family affair and everything was settled.
One of the failure of the JLP government was it’s refusal to build on any achievement of the former PNP government. As a result half finish housing schemes (especially those in PNP garrison area) were abandoned and programmes such as Jamal were scaled back. We were  to see this happening again in 1989 when the PNP returned to power and lay to waste the rebuilding of the Cornation Market and other projects started by the JLP government.
The JLP government also faced its ‘gas protest’ in 1985 when roads were blocked over the entire island to protest against the increase in gas price. I can recall walking from UWI where I was a student at the time to Half Way Tree to pick up my sister and the all the way to Havendale where I was living. The foreign exchange rate remained fairly stable moving from about $2.50 in 1980 to about $5.50 at the end of the  JLP term as government in 1989. It was felt by many that the rate was kept artificially low by the then ‘auction system’ in which people would bid for available foreign exchange and the exchange rate would be set as that of the lowest bid accepted. All buyers, however, had to buy the foreign exchange at the price that they bid. The robot minivans that had infiltrated the JOS bus route were legalized and started operating alongside the JOS bus. This resulted in the demised of the already ailing JOS in 1983 and
transportation being taken over by the minivans. This resulted in total chaos which was to continue until the advent of the JUTC bus service in 1998. One of the frequent criticisms of the government was that it was a one man government as  many felt that the Prime Minister was running the entire government. This was so as he appears to be in charge of various project in various ministry such as Spring Plain winter vegetable project and MPM which was responsible for the beautification and cleaning of the city. In 1988 on September 12, the country was hit by hurricane Gilbert. Many persons had not taken the warning seriously and had just treated it as just another case of ‘crying wolf’. I can recall driving from Kingston to Clarendon on the morning of the hurricane and seeing many children, including tiny ones, on their way to school. I can still recall the howling wind with the trees swaying back and forth as the hurricane hit the island. The hurricane which had started in the afternoon lasted for most of the night. Next morning we awoke to find that our house was undamaged and there were little damage in our yard except for one tree which was blown over. In general, the area in my district did not suffer much damage. It was a different sight that met my eyes however, as I headed back into Kingston the next day. Thousands of trees, electrical and telephone poles were scattered all over the place. Countless houses were missing their entire roof and many others were badly damaged. Squatter settlements such as that at Riverton City were completely wiped out. Light and telephone services were almost non existent throughout the entire
island. Stores and business places were looted of their contents. With no refrigeration, corn beef became a common part of most meal and was vastly popular. Foreign aid poured from all over the world in the form of needed goods and materials, as well as various personnel to aid in the rebuilding process. The cry of victimization and claim of unfair distribution of benefits started and increased as the distribution got
underway. The restoration process was efficiently handled and sooner than most people expected some semblance of normality started to return to the country. The sale of generators became big business as householders and businesses seek to acquire them. The general election which was expected by November of 1989 was held in February of the following year. Despite the decrease in the crime rate, the change from negative to positive growth and the quick rebuilding after hurricane Gilbert, the JLP had lost its popularity from before the 1986 parish council election and was never able to regain it. It lost the election to the PNP  despite the fact that the PNP did not even put out a manifesto and most of its
candidates were the same ones from the seventies whom were soundly rejected in the 1980 election. The slogan of the PNP was ‘we put people first’.
Overall the 80’s was a much calmer and more stable period than it was in the 70’s. There were however much hardships as the government follows the dictates of the IMF, cut social programmes, and jobs were lost in both the public and private sectors. It was during the 80’s that the food stamp programme was  introduced to help those marginalized by the restructuring programme.