Over the past number of weeks, and probably months there has been one news item that has been taking up the majority of the Jamaican attention. I dont know the exact details of the deal but from what has come out in the news one can say the following.

1) The US has asked the government to extradite one of our crime bosses and gang leaders

2) The Jamaican government refused

3) The Jamaican government saught the help of a law firm who would be able to assist them in resolving the treaty dispute

4) Mannatt denies the government saught their help

5) The government denied they seeked the help of the firm

6) The JLP says that they were the ones that used the firm.

I'll let that sink in for a second...

So what we have here is a case where the government has yet again come out and blatantly lied to Jamaica and then tried to cover up that lie not by denying it or saying that it wasn't them or some method that normal people use. Instead they are going to say that they didnt do it, the party did it. As if the government is a wholly completely body from the party (theoretically it is, but we all know better).

**Taken from Jamaica Gleaner

So now there is no way to say that the government is not trying to protect a hardened criminal as they have spent (through the JLP) US$50,000 to seek the help of the law firm. I have written time and time again that what the government is doing in response to the extradition request is wrong on many levels but this just makes it all the more obvious that these people should be locked up along with all the criminals.

The Washington Post in an article had long claimed that Manatt signed a US$400,000 contract to lobby on behalf of the Jamaican Government and spent several months talking with the White House and other administration officials about why the United States should not extradite accused Kingston drug kingpin Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. But like the article states, if the GOJ did not pay for Manatt's help then who did? Am I to believe that Coke himself has the power to call upon this law firm to lobby for him?

I have to ask first of all why is it that the government could not have turned to local lawyers to assist with the situation. I am pretty sure that the government has an entire arsenal of lawyers to call upon such as the Attorney General, the person who was put in place to essentially be THE lawyer for the government. Or am I to believe that our lawyers have no skill in these matters, and are all but just a waste of the country's resources.

Secondly and most important is why is it that this man is so important that the government has seeked to do so much to keep him here in Jamaica. Since earlier this year when the issue was first brought up in parliament there have been nothing but denials by the government stating that they had no part in the deal. What kind of philosophy do these people that run our country have? I ask myself these questions on a daily basis and can only draw blank answers as I am profoundly confused.

I would have to agree with the opposition leader who has made a call for the government to give a full disclosure on what exactly has taken place. How can I trust a government who has lied to us on so many occassions... its hard to not be frustrated in a situation such as this.

Its all a very sad state of affairs to know that the government intends to risk the diplomatic health of an entire country... for one person.