The Wall of Jericho: A Tale of Sons and Fathers

The Wall of Jericho: A Tale of Sons and Fathers
by Yannick Nesta Pessoa

Greetings once again Montegonians, were live again from the battlefield of daily existence in our once friendly city. However before I delve into the topic, I must apologize for the inconsistency as of late, but sometimes real life has away of interrupting and hampering the writing process. But anyway, this week, I would love to have titled the article "The Wall of Jericho: A critique of the JLP in St. James." Owing to the fact I'm sure there wouldn't have been space I'm saving the mirror some editorial work. Well here is another of my stabs at political debate and analysis out west. Here is to hoping that I can catch some of that letters to the editor fan base that the mirror has, that eternally sings the praise of Robert Esq. and Byron Balfour and all these archetypal political pundits. Now the other day we had some showers, God knows I'm happy for the blessing but there came a day when it fell like no other, battering on way past its usual 3-6pm respite, I'm sure most of you will have remembered that day in particular. But before I delve any further, I need to take you a little back to set the stage for my critique as it were.

Now Paradise is an axis point community, a nexus for Albion, Peace View, Mango Walk, Norwood, Canterbury and so one. Now in these most crucial of times and instances, when everything is sky high, the cost of living is battering everyone and the city has a brewing garrison problem, with communities fermenting with crime and social decay; Issues which failed to be addressed thoroughly or properly by our archetypal polluticians. Now smack dab in the middle of these ailing communities, some developer or the other with the blessings of the government and possibly even under their auspices rises the ostentatious symbol of urbanization, development and progress, The Mango Walk Country Club. Think of it like I like to, I call it "The Community Apart"… as in apart from all the other surrounding communities, because here we are erecting a gated community, of town houses and fine living and so some brilliant guy in a suit and tie probably saw it fit to erect a monumental wall that is at some points a towering 30 feet, which seems to me clearly meant to illustrate what Bogle called "we over yah so and dem over deh so." An ode or testament as it were to, the fact that the uptown-downtown elitist and segregationist phenomenon, the stark social contrasts I witnessed in Kingston have now arrived in the once friendly city. This wall I tell you of symbolizes all that. I call it "The Wall of Jericho."

Now for most of Montego Bay's entrance into the 21^st century we have seen the hallowed halls of "THE CECIL DONALDSON BUILDING" the home of St. James Parish Council decked in green. Now ladies and gentlemen, I am going to show the sardonic, if not poetic nature of life. The Parish Council came to Paradise up by where we call "POND" grounds of the Supreme Prep School, to hold palaver with the plebs, the common folk, yup, us the masses. Our current mayor was there. Cameras were too. So if they still have them at the council, if they haven't discarded them yet, they can bare my witness. Our Mayor Noel Donaldson sat as Mayor, before his father, once mayor of Montego Bay himself, as a citizen and member of the community of Paradise, and somehow, it seems when his father told him that the legal height for a wall was I think 6 or 5 feet, he didn't hear. And when his father asked him as a citizen of Paradise why a neighboring community needed a 30 feet wall he must have been out of space. Now Proverbs 15 verse 5 says "A fool despiseth his father's instruction, but he that regard reproof is prudent" Now to tell you how prudent our mayor was… he did absolutely nothing to address the wall.

Now let me illustrate the disaster that the wall is. Firstly it has done nothing more that serve to propel the legend of BIN LADEN / AL QAEDA who swoops these tall walls at night to rob from the rich estate owners / real estate developers, the oil / gasoline that runs their machines to sell or distribute to the "needy." The legendary BIN LADEN / AL QAEDA also specialize in ply, bricks and steel, but the strangest thing is no one is sure he is real, not the security over by the country club and the wall, or the police who it seems he evades effortlessly. The wall has reached the point of being a joke. Not only that but the country club also sit on top a few caves, caves that carried and still do carry water from what was once known as Kaya bush to another or possibly the same network of caves that run underneath the Cornwall College ball field and then to the sea. However with the advent of the country club and the wall, where does that water go? Hmmm well in the great rains we found out. It banked up at the walls near a place us here in Paradise call LIKKLE MIAMI. Well when it banked up there, at the architectural disaster of a wall 30 feet high and with columns 20 feet apart and no horizontal beams across it, and no reef or vent holes for water to pass. So after the many days of water beating around the wall of Jericho, it burst at the seams, what little of them it apparently had and like a busted dam water came flooding through garages, yards, homes, washing away cars, dogs, sand, stone and clothes. It almost sent a van hurtling into my friend Likkle Dread's yard, and washing away a dog of his.

So now I have some questions for the Mayor and JLP. "Mek unnu suh hard ears?" Didn't you hear when your daddy told you about this, didn't you hear when the people told you, or do we have to feel before you hear, or is that you all just don't care, or are the lives beyond the wall are disposable, are the board houses less important than those on the caves, didn't money sweat and tears go into their erection, more soul and spirit than the prefab walls we call town houses? Please smaddy gimmi an answer. And let us be real, now isn't it a visible fact that under the GREEN REGIME we have seen an increase in crime… with whispers and hushes in the streets about the new green arms that just arrived. Welcome to the Second City, the 21^st century of where Montegonians and Jamaicans labour and pollutitions party.

So while political pundits play tea party and talk trite about the silly season of political merriment, here is the real story, "MI NAH WEAR NO GREEN OR NO RED AGAIN… MI A WEAR BEIGE" and I think the ordinary citizen will agree on this point because I know they don't care about the board room talk, just real life real issues and here it is. From the frontline… yah! Till Next week.