Mr Seaga must tell Tivoli’s full story

January 15, 2016 Juleus Ghunta

Now at a mature age, Edward Seaga is determined to rewrite his political legacy and die a saint.

In his article: ‘Wignall Wrong on Tivoli Broad-brush’ (Gleaner, December 20, 2015), he accused critic and columnist Mark Wignall of being “biased” and proffered a clever defence of ‘the Tivoli Gardens he built’.

Debates on this issue will continue for many decades.

On this matter history is unlikely to remember Mr Seaga favourably.

Nonetheless some sceptics may absolve him if he admits that he erred.

Tivoli Gardens was in every respect a partisan project. Thousands of People’s National Party (PNP) supporters were removed from the area by riot police and replaced with intransigent Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) loyalists and youth gangs.

In his book ‘Demeaned but Empowered’, Obika Gray writes that, “Edward Seaga’s harnessing of these gangs for political purposes is instructive of the early nexus between gangs and political parties in Jamaica.”

As Youth and Community Development minister, Mr Seaga “funnelled” resources through the Youth Development Agency to gangs in return for “…obligatory loyalty to (himself) and the JLP.”

Mr Seaga was not the pioneer of “the partisan distribution of housing” or the use of gangs to secure votes and crush opposition, but his participation is irrefutable and untenable.

Mr Seaga should do himself and Jamaica a favour by leading an honest discussion on Tivoli and its spinoffs. At some point during these discussions he must seek absolution and advocate for healing.

For a polemicist so concerned about his legacy, this seems like a perceptive move. A move that may very well lead to his just elevation to sainthood.