A bus ride through hell
Published:Saturday | March 30, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
When you read about madness going on, it is bad and not so bad. When the madness happens to you, it is quite a different story. On March 25, I had an experience which shook the little faith I have left in this country.
About 5:15 p.m., I took a fully overloaded 20A bus on Hagley Park Road headed for Greater Portmore. Shortly after boarding the bus, I noticed an intense discussion going on between the driver of the bus and two Immaculate Conception High School students, one in the full white uniform indicative of a lower-school student and the other in the blue top and white skirt of a sixth-former.
Their conversation continued intensely from the time of my embarkation non-stop. I discerned from the argument that one of them was maintaining she had been robbed.
When the bus reached the gate of the Hunts Bay Police Station, the driver stopped the bus and the two young ladies got off. They went over to a policeman at the gate and after some discussion they proceeded further into the police station. All of this happening, without the driver even uttering a word. Eventually, the passengers, unaware of what was going on, started getting irritable.
The driver, in response, said he was asking for just a minute, which became 10 minutes with him still insisting he was only asking for a minute. I challenged him asking him what he was doing. He never answered.
About 10 minutes after, the bus was encircled by a group of several policemen, some in full blue battle fatigue heavily armed, and one gentleman, apparently a detective, in shirt and tie, who ordered everyone off the bus. The policemen proceeded to order everyone off the bus whereupon a search ensued.
The detective gave orders that his group of male policemen would search the male passengers; while the females were to be searched by the two Immaculate students, as he said there were no women police available to carry out that part of the exercise.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, an older detective entered the fray and insisted that the young students could not participate in the search. The whole exercise took the best part of an hour, with the male police searching everyone. At some points it seemed that the entire force in the station came out to watch the excitement.
In that time, my patience wore thin. I approached a small group of three policemen standing by and asked if all of this was legal and if it made sense. All of them thought so. One of them, in plain clothes, however, seemed to be offended that I dared to question their authority. I challenged him, pointing out that I had the right of free speech and asked him if he wanted to kill me.
That incensed him further and only the intervention of one of his squaddies seemed to quiet him down.
After a futile search, we finally got to retake the bus. As the bus moved on, I noticed that the two Immaculate students were still upset arguing among themselves.
If I thought my ordeal was over, it wasn't quite yet. Further on, near Portmore Pines, some student at the rear of the bus released the sunroof window, causing the driver to stop the bus, taking about another 10 minutes to replace it. The end result was that a journey which would normally take one hour and a bit took two hours and 15 minutes.
So let's analyse what took place. An entire bus load of passengers was held hostage. All the passengers waiting both in Greater Portmore and back in Half-Way Tree would have been seriously inconvenienced by the senseless decision. A significant part of the Hunts Bay Police Station allowed themselves to be distracted over a minor offence at the expense of oversight of crime in a highly volatile police precinct.
Many lay the blame of the society against the Government and think it is all about a deal with the International Monetary Fund. Wrong. The whole society is sick to the core.
Clive Stewart
Greater Portmore PO
St Catherine