Diaspora leader says protests by some members will harm Jamaica's image

By Kimone Witter    

 

President of Jamaican Women of Florida, Janice McIntosh, says the series of protests being organised by members of the diaspora will harm the image of the country.

 

The group has secured permission from the City of Miami Police Department to stage the first protest outside the Jamaican consulate-general's office in Miami on Friday.

 

Ms. McIntosh has questioned whether the objective of the group is to embarrass the government and have strategic partners pull out of Jamaica.

 

Chairman of the Jamaica Diaspora Crime Intervention and Prevention Task Force, Dr. Rupert Francis, who is spearheading the protest, said the decision to go this route came after the government failed to respond to requests for discussions around several issues of concern, including crime, corruption and the diaspora's involvement in the political process.

 

But, speaking Tuesday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, Ms. McIntosh said the group is being unfair in its demands of the Jamaican government as some of the issues highlighted are not unique to the island. 

 

"The government in its own purview and its own prerogative is there to take advice from anybody. But for them to act on it is again in their purview. I know Dr. Francis sounds frustrated about giving the government advice and so on, but we are the diaspora. We are not in the day-to-day running of Jamaica and the country. So as much as we visit Jamaica and as much as we love Jamaica, we are not really in it," she said, adding that the protests will "shed a very bad light" on Jamaica.

 

Ms. McIntosh suggested that Dr. Francis and other disgruntled members of the diaspora channel their concerns through the Jamaica Diaspora Council.

 

For Dr. Francis, members of the Jamaica Diaspora Crime Intervention and Prevention Task Force feel they are being sidelined by the Jamaican government, despite offering their expert advice. 

 

"We have been doing this for years. We have been making proposals for years and we see they're bringing people of all different places to come and assist who doesn't (sic) have the acumen to be able to do it properly," he complained. 

 

He said the protests are a way of indicating the government that "we need a seat at the table to do it properly, to do it the right way". 

 

Dr. Francis was also a guest on TVJ's Smile Jamaica.