Golding rues ‘unequal’ application of laws

Opposition Leader Mark Golding says the recent events in Negril, Westmoreland, which led to the Government issuing a closure order on the popular tourist attraction and entertainment spot Rick’s Café, shows the unequal application of the rules and laws of the country.

Golding stated that Jamaica’s entertainment industry is faced with a crisis where some persons are allowed to operate under certain restrictions while others are not. Strict COVID-19 containment measures have severely hampered the entertainment industry since the virus hit Jamaican shores last year March.

However, last week, videos surfaced on social media showing a jam-packed Mocha Fest party at Rick’s Café, which has triggered investigations by a number of agencies.

The sports bar was ordered closed for seven days by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, having hosted the party which seemed to breach the orders under the Disaster Risk Management Act, while the Tourism Product Development Company has revoked its COVID-19 compliance certification. The entertainment facility will be required to undergo a recertification exercise to ensure strict adherence to the protocols before it can be allowed to accept visitors again.

“I look at it as the bigger picture and this is symptomatic of a problem that Jamaica has, which is the unequal application of the rules and laws of the country across different sectors of the society,” Golding said in reference to the Mocha Fest event.

SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION

“And this unequal treatment in our own country is a source of frustration and indeed resentment amongst those who the laws are enforced against rigorously, versus others who are perceived to be in a more privileged position and are treated as being exempted from our own laws.”

The opposition leader also stated that the entertainment industry has been facing increasing hardship because of the pandemic.

“The entertainment industry has been going through terrible pains for over a year. People have lost their income, lost their businesses, some have had to migrate to try and make a living elsewhere, and they really had no help, or very little help from the Government, in terms of trying to survive as an industry,” Golding told The Sunday Gleaner at an event in Westmoreland yesterday.

“They will deem it unfair when they see this happening. Yet, the corner parties, or the parties on lawns, or street parties, are shut down by the police and persons are charged, or taken to jail by the police for attending, because the ticketing system that was supposed to be part and parcel of this new measure is not in place. The police now have no way to enforce the law than to arrest and take people to jail.”

He continued, “That is what is happening in one part of the society, and in another part of the society, foreigners are coming here and partying like it’s a free-for-all and there is no pandemic.

“So I am not gonna just jump in and criticise Rick’s Café, I am just saying that this issue is symptomatic of a broader and deeper problem that the society has, and that we must address, because social cohesion and the feeling of one nation, and we are all in this thing together, and we all care for each other, and each are equal in our own land, is being undermined by this type of thing.”

Speaking at an event on Friday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness weighed in on the matter, while not referring to the attraction or event by name.

“This Government has a duty to ensure that the law is equally applied both to those who have not and to those who have,” he said.

“Government will have to ensure it was not complicit in any breach of its own law ... ,” he added, noting that the various state entities investigating the incident have to ensure that if there was any breach, “the full application of the law is guaranteed”.

On Tuesday, Holness is expected to update the country on the new COVID-19 containment restrictions as the current ones under the DRMA will expire on June 3.

editorial@gleanerjm.com