REMEMBER! CELEBRATE! BELIEVE! - My Island Jamaica

Defenceof a nationTHE DEFENCE Act(1962) speaks to: Theestablishment of the JDFas a military body to be overseenby the Defence Board.The JDF’s mandate included:■ The defence of Jamaica■ The maintenance of order inJamaica■ The performance of suchother duties which may bedefined by the Defence Board■ Empowering the chairman ofthe Defence Board to givedirections to the chief ofdefence staff for the operationaluse of the JDF, commensuratewith the directives ofCabinetThe police in their all-out search for five fugitives checked all cars that passed along the road way.SNAPSHOTSCONTINUED FROM 13were there. I can’t say much about theIndependence celebrations other than it wasreally a lovely occasion.On Independence Day, I can’t remembergoing to any special occasion in particular. Iremember it was a holiday and that people werehappy. It seemed to be a great occasion for us asJamaicans, to become a nation. There weremany good wishes for the future.We had imagined more progress by now.Clearly, there’s still a lot of poverty, and we’dhoped for Jamaica to be achieving more, economicallyand so on. There’s still a lot to bedone. But, on the whole, I’d say it was definitelya positive change.‘Independence is good’– Bertram HenryI was seven years old, a big girl in my mind,because I had just moved from little school tobig school. My mom worked at the library andan older aunt lived in Allman Town. I was sentto Allman Town little school and then moved tothe all-age when Jamaica got Independence. Wetravelled daily from Norman Gardens to thatarea so my aunt could pick me up after school. Iwas given a mug with the coat of arms, flag anda button.Most of all, I remember a little part of a songthat went like this: ‘Independence is good forthe young and old, also for you and me,Independence is good for the whole generation(forgot the rest).’Jamaica was so peaceful, innocent, virtuousand full of pride then. Mrs Blair, my first teacher,was wonderful, and Ms Johnson would be calledabusive now but really she knew how to puteveryone in check (she was better known asRecke Tecke Johnson).Happy anniversary, Jamaica! May we one dayrecapture some of that peace nationally, withoutburglar bars and fear, to live and move aroundfreely. God bless Jamaica!jokrick@yahoo.comVeronica Elaine Brimm is my mom. She was bornon January 4, 1962. She is mother to five children:Roy Baily; Robert White; Leighton Minott, USmarine; Nicole Rodgers, cosmetologist; and me,Troy Rodgers, primary-school teacher. She workswith the Ministry of Education Region 2.– TroyMay Pen float paradeA large crowd watches as the float parade passes through May Pen on IndependenceDay 1962.■ Empowering the governorgeneral to declare units of theJDF to be on active service toengage persons and groupsengaged in armed operationsagainst the JDF or any cooperatingforce■ Empowering the governorgeneral to order the whole orany part of the JDF to beemployed outside of Jamaica■ Empowering the DefenceBoard to order any member ofthe regular (full-time) force toproceed to any place outsideJamaica for training, duty oremployment■ Mandatory compliance onthe part of all members of theregular force who are orderedto deploy overseas, whether bythe governor general or theDefence Board.Jamaica’s murdercount hasgone from 66 in1962 to 1,674 in2005 – a 26-foldincrease. Sincethe startof 2009, themurder counthas shattered the900 mark.18 JAMAICA CELEBRATES | TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2009