AFTER THE TROUBLES (Police Incursion into Tivoli Gardens)

(WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 2010)
My Saturday morning market excursions came to an abrupt halt for a while after the police invaded Tivoli Gardens in search of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. The Jamaican Government had finally acquiesced to the extradition request for Coke by the United States to stand drug charges. As soon as this happened barricades started going up in Tivoli. Police stations and other buildings were bombed and burnt in the mayhem that followed. Eventually on labour day the police went in to dismantle the fortifications and take back the community from criminal elements. Unfortunately the ensuing battle claimed many lives and did not lead to the capture of Christopher Coke at that time.

The Coronation Market which is on the outskirts of Tivoli was not spared as a portion of it was set ablaze. The vendors were dislocated for a while in the aftermath of the police incursion but are all back at the market, although some had to be relocated due to the damage. The burnt out portion is being rebuilt with asistance from corporate Jamaica, namely, Digicel. Kingston's Mayor, Desmond McKenzie did a walk through of the worksite on Tuesday, September 21, 2010.

One of the changes in the vicinity of the market is the presence of the police, manning the entrance to Tivoli as well as patrolling the area including the market.
The 'Parking Don' is dead; or so I've been told by other shoppers as well as one of his former underlings who is now helping a vendor in the market. He tries to get me to buy from them and reminds me that he used to assist me in parking. He refers to me as Ms. Honda ----. I don't miss the Parking Don but there was order to the parking when that system was around. My last encounter with him was not pleasant as I tried to pay with $50.00 instead of the new fee of $100.00 as he had been telling me for a couple weeks. He did not take the $50.00 and shouted as to whether I was trying to embarass him after he had told me of the increase. I drove off with my money and that was the last I saw of him. That had been my last visit to the market before the 'troubles'. It took me a while to go back afterwards as I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been going for several weeks now and haven't really had any problems apart from the parking and the very rough parking area that I never use to park in before. Also because of the construction the roadway is restricted and it takes a little while to get into the lot. I try not to worry about the sight of policemen with large guns as I enter the parking area.