Fake News About Transportation Lock Down In Jamaica!

There was no disruption caused by the transport operators' demonstration, and it is clear that the rumour was started by people who wanted to disrupt the system.

Bark Di Trute felt there would be no demonstration because the leadership of the transport sector was supposed to have a meeting at 10:00 am with some ministers of government.

My understanding is that the proposed fare increase will be taken to the cabinet in June for consideration. If the operators are not satisfied at that time, then there could be a disruption in the system.

The leadership of the transport sector met with Minister Vaz and Finance Minister Fayval Williams today. 

More senior police officers were invited to join the Emergency Alert System. This would allow the officers to be in touch with the media houses in real time, and they would keep the citizens informed of any challenges on our roads.

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Relationship Between Police And Citizens

I just got a video that seems as if it is a recording of the incident where that female taxi driver was shot by the police in St. James. I have written about how police behave and how citizens respond to officers. I can only write, and I will write again. This video has motivated me to write this article. Thanks to my Bark Di Trute Supporters.

I am aware that with the dark blue outfits being worn by the police, it is difficult to identify officers, especially at nights, while they are working on the road.

Officers sometimes love to stay in some secluded areas at night and stop motorists. Motorists will not stop in certain areas when they are not certain that they are being stopped by officers. The aim of the police should not be to use a clandestine approach to deal with motorists so that they can issue tickets. This brings me to the idea of allowing officers to issue warning tickets and for drivers to be able to report other drivers for poor driving on the roads. We would need a computerized system that works very well.

Police officers involved in giving traffic directions used to wear white gloves. They had specific hand movements for you to stop or to make a turn, for example. These days, it seems that officers just make up hand directions while they are on the road, and this can be confusing to motorists.

I believe that a few officers still see themselves as the law; therefore, they do not greet citizens pleasantly, and they shout orders at citizens. Can you imagine how some of us feel to have an officer talking to us like wi a bwoy when you have taught officers who have retired from the force at a senior level?

How do we deal with this, Mr Commissioner? You need to have seminars and allow the officers to hear from ordinary citizens, and we can hear from the police officers. A cultural change is needed in the force. Cultural change does not mean speaking patois (LOL).

Citizens need to respect authority. When you are given an instruction by the police, you follow the instruction unless you are given an illegal instruction or you are incapable of carrying out the instruction. Fight it out in the courts with the police, do not fight it out on the streets. Remember that sometimes you can fight for your rights and end up being dead right. Don't follow some of your leaders in parliament who have absolutely no respect for the rules.

Citizens should not interfere with a scene of a crime nor try to crowd the police when they are working. You should not be inciting someone who has been accosted to resist arrest. You could end up being arrested for obstructing an officer. Those who are standing by will say, for example, "No mek di bwoy handcuff yu. Eee can' shoot yu because mi have it pan video". Really!

Let us take a look at this video, which was sent to me. My untrained eye tells me that the driver was being interrogated by the officers. Other people got involved in the excitement rather than looking for peace. An officer was standing in front of the vehicle when the driver attempted to move the car. The police took evasive action and shot the driver. I also noticed that the door of the car was still open when the car started to move off. That is my interpretation of what I saw in the video.

I will advise all political leaders to seek peace and not to make any comments to incite more tension in the area. Some of you were not there, so how are you giving reports? Some of you are probably just looking for popular support from the people, and that is a dangerous thing. Let INDECOM do its work. Stick to politics and not to politrics.

I know that people will say that this proves that the police should have body cameras. Yes, you are right, but cameras on the street and citizens having their phones to record things is also a good thing. When you are recording, stay at a distance so that it cannot be said you are interfering with police work.

Click to view the edited video below.

Note that I cannot ascertain if this is the video that was taken when the taxi lady was shot in St. James.

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Breaking News

Traffic on our streets could be disrupted on Monday, May 18, due to a possible protest for increased fares. Things could change depending on a meeting with Minister Vaz and transport operator leaders at 10:00 am.

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• Make a financial donation now.

Remember that Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day without your support. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.

You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.

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Patois Hab Nuff Talk Dese Days!

On the UNESCO website, it defines culture as:

Culture is the shared way of life of a group of people. It encompasses the collective beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, arts, and knowledge that are passed down through generations. In short, it is the "personality" of a society, dictating how people interact, perceive the world, and solve problems

In Jamaica, if we should go by the behaviour and action of some leaders and many who have been blessed with tertiary level education, the culture in Jamaica is dancehall and patois.

Based on the UNESCO definition and my opinion as one who can think for myself, the sum total of our experience, which now forms part of our practices and our mores, societal norms, for example, have now become our culture. We have had forebears from Africa, India, Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. Our post-independence leaders wisely have our motto as 'Out Of Many One People.'

Recently, we have been politically manoeuvred into believing that our dialect patois, being spoken in the Parliament, is a priority at this time. Practical and intelligent people would be pushing for us to learn languages such as Mandarin and Spanish, which would give us leverage in large markets. English is now our official language. Patois is not a language at this time. Leave patois alone and don't put the formality in and take away the beauty of our Jamaican dialect.

We can initiate change in our culture, but in a country where indiscipline is a major problem, going into the House of Parliament to break the rules to get attention so you can appear on radio and television programmes is a depraved form of leadership.

What Jamaica needs at this time is a comprehensive cultural policy framework for transforming this country into a nation of disciplined and productive people who are good at giving service. We are now just into he hype of speaking patois.

Our cultural practices as they relate to the food we now eat is hurting our health. The practice of bleaching and making changes to our bodies is an indication that we do not appreciate ourselves for who we are. Today you see a woman with a flat batty and the next time you see her, her batty bigger dan di biggest truck bumper. Today she has thin lips, and tomorrow the lips are broader dan any fan. Many are aspiring to be brownings and we therefore bleach their skins. Many regard hard work as slavery. These are some of the cultural issues that we need to deal with.

Our colonial past has been part of our experience. We cannot white it out nor black it out. When yu look pan some a wi, yu see, India, Europe, and Africa eena we. Wha wi a go do bout it? Those colonial things that are good for us let us keep them, and those that are bad, change them.

In the meantime, I will look out for a comprehensive cultural policy document from our political parties, which will be the road map to developing positive attitudes in our people, starting with those in parliament. Stop the hype about patois because the hype is taking us nowhere.

Mi luv mi patois. Tell dem people wey come up with patois dictionary, that language evolve, yu caan just put it eena book and tell di res a wi fi follow you. Who give yu dat authority? All when yu tun di bible eena patois, yu just a waste time. Don't rush things, patois will become a language one day when mi an yu dead and gone. Right now, bad eena patwah mean good and bad eena patois mean bad. Lef patois alone. We no need fi talk patois eena parliament fi get status. Patois hab status already. 

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Breaking News

Traffic on our streets could be disrupted on Monday, May 18, due to a possible protest for increased fares. Things could change depending on a meeting with Minister Vaz and transport operator leaders at 10:00 am.

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Remember that Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day without your support. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.

You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.

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NCB Do You Care For Your Customers?

Have a look at the video below.

A bank that allows its customers to be herded in a space like this, like animals, has no respect for those who help them earn major revenues.

The operations manager needs to take a look at this situation and come up with a solution. When we heard about ABM, we thought that the days of long lines in our banks had come to an end.

This is a disgrace. This video was captured at MegaMart in Kingston.

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Please add your comments at the bottom of the blog. Share this blog with all your friends and relatives.

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Remember that Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day without your support. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.

You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.

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The Right To A Liveable Space

Contributed

A livable space statement is an interpretation of the United Nations International Covenant on Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Article 11(1), to which Jamaica and over 175 countries are signatories, is not embedded as one of our constitutional rights.

Reads as follows:

"The right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and family, including adequate food, clothing, and housing, and to continuous improvement of living conditions".

Squatting was created by the colonial British government. Be reminded that in 1838, the Emancipation papers made an estimated 450,000 slaves squatters.

What are we celebrating, Emancipation/Independence, and to do what? Celebrate the nearly 1.5 million squatters? (According to some "official" information, that figure has remained at 700,000 since the 1960s, which is ridiculous.)

Oh, perhaps to eat, sleep, procreate, defecate, whine, steal, and trash-talk. Non-black indentured labourers got land and money.

Well, Jews got a headstart under the Spanish 1494 colonizers from about 1530 onwards to the British 1655 to 1838 and beyond; thus, 16 of Jamaica's 21 wealthiest families are Jewish.

Any decent conscious leader, academic, or strategic thinker knows that squatting can be and must be eliminated for emancipation or independence to begin to have real meaning to the 98% of Jamaica's population, mainly black.

Constant excuses comparing USA homelessness and squatting (doesn't necessarily mean being homeless or without a fixed place of abode) cannot be eliminated, is a lame excuse to keep decorated slavery going.

Most squatters (without legal tenure to the property occupied) in Jamaica are not homeless, different from those who legally own a home.

Crown lands are already paid for by the colonial government. We should not wait for those lands to be retransfered to the descendants of slave owners under the guise of  "INVESTMENTS".

Call the squatters elimination program  REPARATIONS if that would be deemed more strategic, no problem. Let's break away from the traditional slave plantation psyche that squatter liberation is impossible.

It will be done no more squatting not from the "meet the judge or your maker" Prime stance.

The ICESCR article 11(1) must be the guide and also be "Mace-d" solidly in the Jamaican Constitution's rights and privileges for its citizenry.

Michael Spence

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_________________

 

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Remember that Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day without your support. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.

You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.

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Labour Day?

Press Release Ministry of Culture, Gender , Entertainment and Sport - May 15, 2026

The Hon. Olive Grange OJ

The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has said that this year’s Labour Day will focus on the restoration of sports, early childhood and community facilities. 

The focus was selected in the context of the devastating hurricane Melissa which affected Jamaica last October.

The Minister also announced that there will be two national projects this year.

“One of the projects will be in Western Jamaica which was severely affected by hurricane Melissa.  That project will involve significant work at the Lewis Town Early Childhood Institution in St Elizabeth,” said Minister Grange. 

She said the school suffered severe damage during the hurricane, “and so we will all come together to ensure that we can restore a safe and comfortable place for the children to learn and to grow.”

This year’s other national project will be rehabilitation and construction works at Sabina Park, one of the country’s premier sports venues.

The Minister said the “much needed works at Sabina Park will enable the venue to successfully host upcoming international cricket assignments” including the Sri Lanka tour of the West Indies and the return of the Caribbean Premier League to Jamaica.

As usual, each municipality will lead a project on Labour Day.

Minister Grange said: “I’m encouraging everyone to let us put work into Labour Day.  There is much for us to do as we continue to recover from last year’s devastating hurricane and prepare for this year’s hurricane season, which begins on June one.”

Labour Day will be observed on Monday, May 25 because the 23rd falls on a Saturday.

The theme is ‘One People, One Purpose: In all things Jamaica Wins’.

Editor's Note

Can someone tell me what in this release tells you about the struggles and achievements of out workers? What are we observing Labour Day for? Is it just in memory of Michael Manley's "Put work into Labour Day?

Will we educate the workers about the work of Bustamante, St. William Grant, Marcus Garvey and others in the fight for the workers?

Probably, we need to check our history and ascertain why Labour Day was introduced in the first place.

What role will the Ministry of Labour play and what role will the trade unions play. We have sidelined the workers' unions from Labour Day, the Workers' Day.

Vernon's Operation Is Coming Up!

Thanks To Good People

Good people can make a big difference in your life. I tell people to keep good people close, and when they see evil people, not even Usain Bolt should be able to catch them.

This past year has been a difficult one for me after I first discovered that I have prostate cancer. Thanks to a good doctor who just called me to ask me if I was taking care of myself. His checks revealed quite a bit. Thanks to doctors, the Honourable Professor Errol Morrison, Dr Lucien Tomlinson, Dr Belinda Morrison, Professor Dr Soyibo, Dr Murphy, the Heart Foundation of Jamaica and all the people who worked with these doctors and organizations.

Thanks to Councillor Winston Maragh, Minister Pearnel Charles Jr., Suzette Enriques, Everton Anderson, Dr Kimorley Humphrey, and all the staff at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Audley Gordon and also the Ministry of Health.  Of course, I have only highlighted a few of the people who have been supportive of me.

Now to those good people who surround me and who have showered me with love and care. Some send messages every day to check on me. I don't know many of them, including those overseas. A few invited me to dinner.

Many people have improved their support of Bark Di Trute, and because of that help, I have been able to continue to help others with consumer issues.

Some people are working hard to hear me on the radio again. Yes, after the operation, I will have to start earning something. Some of you have made financial contributions, and I thank you very much. 

The Costs And Operation Date Coming Up

Tests during the year cost close to JAD 1 million. The cost of the operation will run into approximately JAD 4 million. It's been over a year since I started to discover my challenges, and it seemed as if that operation would not have been possible. Only one report is outstanding, and the operation could be at the beginning of June.

There were the blood tests, MRI, x-rays, biopsy test, heart stress test, colonoscopy and endoscopy tests, ultrasound, and CT scan. I must be the most medically tested person in Jamaica (LOL). Take my humble advice; it is important to take some of these tests whether you are ill or not. During this month, one person in the news media business was taken out by a heart attack, and another had a major heart attack. A few others are now experiencing heart challenges. The men need to check on their prostate, especially if it runs in the family and they are about to hit the 50-year-old mark. You also need to check for diabetes and hypertension, the silent killers. Too many people I meet are overweight. I am proud to tell you that over the past few years, I dropped my weight from 230 lbs to 169 lbs, and it has made a major difference to my health.

That Scare

I had a scare a few weeks ago. I got an intense pain in my right leg, and a pharmacy friend advised me to get to the hospital immediately because it could be a blood clot. As I arrived at the hospital, a lady whom I know decided to take charge of my situation even though she was there with her own ailment. It was not a blood clot. I was not able to walk without assistance for a few days. The porter who was pushing my wheelchair at the hospital asked the lady who was assisting me to take me to the nurses' station.

I said to him,"Yu mad, yu a direct a man's wife to look after me." He was confused. That same lady covered my medical costs for the hospital.

I continue the fight, and I know that I will be fine to continue publishing Bark Di Trute, help others, and possibly be back on the radio.

Thanks to you all. I love you. I am certainly blessed.

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Please add your comments at the bottom of the blog. Share this blog with all your friends and relatives.

It is best to view the blog on a computer or in web view on your phone.

 ________________

Bark Di Trute requests that you click on the advertiser's link on the page and also donate to the work of Bark Di Trute. It takes cash to care!

_________________

 

_________________

Subscribe Now!

• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
• Subscribe to my Emergency News Advice Service.
• Make a financial donation now.

Remember that Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day without your support. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.

You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.

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