Unfair and unjust
Floyd Green matter upsets persons charged with breaching curfew orders
Two persons who were arrested and charged for breaches under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) have taken offence to calls being made for Floyd Green to be reinstated as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Green, the member of parliament for St Elizabeth South West, resigned from the Andrew Holness-led Cabinet on Wednesday after a video surfaced on Tuesday night of him at a champagnepopping birthday celebration during curfew hours. But persons have been calling for Green to be reinstated. A petition on www.change.org said that “suspension, charges and an apology are good enough”.
The petitioners argue that Green is “a honest and very hard-working minister” and “the best minister Jamaica has had in YEARS”. The petition had more than 6,000 signatures at press time Thursday night.
However, two residents of Olympic Gardens, in St Andrew, who are among 18,000 persons charged under the DRMA, have frowned at the calls for Green’s reinstatement.
Jane*, 31, claimed she was hosting a small birthday party inside her living room when she was arrested by the police and charged for breaching the curfew order. She said the gathering was no more than seven people, which included her brother, two cousins and three nieces.
“If a one ordinary Jamaican like miself, dem who out deh a say him nuh fi resign would a say how much mi disobedient, and a we mek di country stay suh, and all sorts of things,” said Jane.
Her brother, Andre*, pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was fined $50,000 by a parish judge last November. He thinks that the persons asking for Green to be reinstated would not be as forgiving for a “poor man”.
“Mi can tell yuh say a tru him a politician mek dem a go online a say him shouldn’t resigned. Dat bun mi bredda, cause a nuff people out deh a try and get punished fi less,” he said.
Commission of Police Major Antony Anderson confirmed at a press conference that the police are investigating the matter.
* Names changed to protect identity