Elrington and laborers clash in Lake I.
The project may not be worth eight million dollars but it’s still an important one, both to the politician who’s behind it and the laborers who want to work on it. Those two parties had something of a falling out, however, and a News Five crew, which happened to be in the Lake Independence area on another story, got caught in the middle. Patrick Jones reports from a government construction site on Mahogany Street.
By the time the news crew arrived on the scene shortly before noon, the battle line had already been drawn. On one side was Housing Minister Hubert Elrington and staring him in the eyes was a group of about a dozen very angry young men. According to Charles Herrera, the commotion started when he and the other workers showed up for work at the Lake I Community Centre this morning, but were turned away by their former boss.
Charles Herrera, Disgruntled Laborer
“All a we deh out ya di work. We di work wid di Minister. Dis mawnin all a we come fu work, now this man wa just look pah we and tell we come back ina the next two weeks. When we get fi find out now, that the job shet down. All we di ask this man fa da at least mek ih give we one week’s notice pay self, because all a we come out here, Easter done gone, we expect job out here.”
But according to the man on the hot seat, Minister of Housing Hubert Elrington, the young men were riled up for no reason. Elrington says they were advised well in advance that work at a number of sites around the City would be put on hold for two weeks after the Easter holidays.
Hubert Elrington, Minister of Housing
“Well it’s the usual problem you get with the gang boys – when you try to employ them, you run into this kind of problem and that’s one of the reason, it is myself that does the employment of the gang boys and the Conscious Youth Programme. Only two of us do that, but we have some who want to change and you have some who do not want to change. As you can see the work is ongoing out here, we have a lot of work men out there getting on with their work, but these people who are out here, they don’t have any tools. They don’t have any idea of what the work is, we are trying to rehabilitate them; we are trying to rehabilitate them. That’s the problem and we can’t just go on spending money and getting nothing in return. They have to come under some kind of discipline; they must understand that you can get work and we want to employ you, but you have to be disciplined.”
But despite some strong words from the angry mob, the Minister stood his ground.
Hubert Elrington
“Too many people are afraid of these guys and run away from them and I don’t have any intention to be afraid of them or to run away from them or to tell them any lies. I am going to tell them just as it is. That’s the way it’s going to be.”
Charles Herrera
“People out there done know Elrington areaddy; everybody know Elrington, nothing but an educated con man. He will look at me and tell me get pan the film – mek him see my face – he could mark my face. He know ‘part I live. I no di run from him. We deh out here di try struggle and get out of the ghetto. If he no want get out of the ghetto, same way how he fly after that little young boy just now. He could have gotten bomb rush, just like how everybody else get bomb rush.”
P. J.
“But you will solve nothing by coming here and fighting with the Minister.”
Charles Herrera
“Yeah, we no di fight yet. No fight no start yet, you see I di fight. You see I di fight. Da him di fly after man; he make the first move, da no we move first, you understand. We show him the respect by humble for weself and come work. Dat da enough respect we show to him by humble fu weself and come get wa job. He supposed to respect we as wah man, no come di look down pan we.”
Anthony Nicholas, Disgruntled Laborer
“I just hope that di Minister reconsider this, because I believe that this is very unfair for us, because, like everybody come out here to work this morning. We collect our pay on Thursday, they did not tell us that we would stop work or something like that so we come out this morning fu come and work. Dat was like a surprise to we, wa real ambush.”
Charles Herrera
“But like he said, you can’t lash him; the cameraman can’t lash him; Cordel can’t lash him. Jah wa whip him!”
And just in case they have any ideas, after this morning’s spectacle on Mahogany Street, Elrington says that when work commences again in a couple of weeks, the men who confronted him at the Lake I Community Centre would do well, not to show up, because there will be no jobs for them. Patrick Jones, for News Five.
The project in question involves an addition to the Lake I Community Center as well as the prefabrication of low cost housing. No one was hurt in the confrontation.
