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Vol. 32, Issue 51 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN December 17-23, 2021
By Bert Wilkinson
A very firm decision has been
taken for Jamaica to use 60th
independence anniversary celebrations
next August to transition
to a republic but the main
opposition People’s National
Party (PNP) says it is the very
governing Jamaica Labor Party
(JLP) which had in fact derailed
previous attempts to make the
switch and to abandon the British
Privy Council as Jamaica’s
final appeals court.
Apparently shamed into
action after watching fellow
Caribbean Community member
nation, Barbados, make a rather
seamless transition to a republic
at the end of last month,
there is now a mad scramble in
Jamaica to set things up before
the island’s diamond jubilee celebrations
rolls around in eight
months.
Former Justice Minister A.J.
Nicholson this week accused
the JLP of pushing against
all previous unified attempts
to change Jamaica’s constitutional
requirements to allow
for republican status and the
installation of a local president
as head of state instead of Britain’s
Queen Elizabeth. Nicholson
said the PNP had wanted to
establish a united front with the
JLP to clear referendum hurdle
requirements and tenants in the
constitution to eliminate the
Privy Council and switch to the
Trinidad-based Caribbean Court
of Justice (CCJ). Nicholson says
that while the PNP government
had agreed to most suggestions
from the (JLP) on republicanism
and the CCJ, the process
was derailed by several factors
including an apparent boycott
of important joint committee
hearings by the JLP.
“The opposition leader duly
accepted the prime minister’s
invitation to name representatives
to serve as members of the
preparatory committee. Neither
of his two nominees, however,
attended even a single meeting
of the committee. Indeed,
the broad agreement from
every quarter that had existed
in Jamaica along the Independence
journey since the 1960s
concerning delinking from the
council came to an abrupt end
in the late 1990s with the decision
of the JLP that they were no
longer any support of Jamaica
acceding to the jurisdiction of
Santa with children on stilts at WIADCA’s annual Children’s Holiday Celebration
and Toy Drive event. See story on Page 32 Michelle Gibbs/WIADCA
First female NYPD Commissioner
By Nelson A. King
New York City Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams on
Wednesday welcomed Mayorelect
Eric Adams’ appointment
of Keechant Sewell as the first
female commissioner of the
New York Police Department
(NYPD).
Sewell, 49, chief of detectives
for the Nassau County
Police Department on Long
Island, will lead the NYPD and
its 35,000 uniformed officers
when Adams takes office on
Jan. 1.
“I want to congratulate
Chief Keechant Sewell on her
selection to become the first
female Commissioner of the
NYPD,” said Williams, the
son of Grenadian immigrants.
“I believe that new leadership
from outside the department’s
ranks could be crucial
in bringing the changes in
culture, policies and practices
that are critical as the new
administration takes office.
“We need a new era of
transparency and accountability,
and a new approach to coproducing
public safety that
recognizes law enforcement’s
role without solely relying on
it,” added Williams, a candidate
for Governor of New York
in next June’s Democratic Primary.
“This means more fully
embracing and structuralizing
successful strategies such
as the crisis management system
(CMS) as full partners in
public safety.”
Williams said it was “very
encouraging” to see Sewell’s
appointment announced at
696 Queensbridge in Long
Island City, Queens, “a CMS
site that has shown impressive
results.”
“Amid a nationwide rise in
gun violence and other crimes,
Continued on Page 12 Continued on Page 12
WIADCA’s Christmas
JAMAICA
SAYS IT
IS READY
Opposition says Jamaica Labor
Party to blame for delays
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