Tyronne Reid, Staff ReporterA crippling fear of being murdered has locked the lips of private sector big wigs who are refusing to identify the extortionists plundering their income on a regular basis.
The store owners and service providers are choosing instead to remain silent and continue to fork out millions from their coffers to ay criminals.
The police are lamenting that this code of silence among business owners and operators is perpetuating the choking cycle of extortion.
Beverley Lopez, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), told The Sunday Gleaner that there is just cause to be afraid.
Mrs. Lopez, who has been the mouthpiece for the private sector team that launched a protest against the staggering murder rate last week, said that business people are cowering in fear as a result of the state's failure to fulfil its number one duty: protecting its citizenry.
"Until we create an atmosphere where they don't have to pay, we are fighting a losing battle," confessed Mrs. Lopez.
At a recent press conference, Mrs. Lopez, who was responding to a statement that extortion is perpetuated by business people who bow under the pressure of the demands of criminals, reminded the gathering that "we are living in a real world".
"It is easy for you as a press man to say that (business people) are taking the easy way out. We are not here saying we are angels and we are saints. People sometimes are forced to do this (pay extortion money) and I am not saying it is right but sometimes they are forced in order to survive," stressed Mrs. Lopez.
She added: "What we must now do as a private sector is to ensure that this does not happen to this poor man who wants to do business. We are not supportive of extortion but have to realise that it is a real world. We don't live in a little isolated area and you say, 'Well don't do it' and you don't and you survive. It's a real world.
"However, a senior officer from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), who requested anonymity, said that if the private sector remains mum on calling the names of the extortionists, there is nothing the police can do to eradicate the problem.
IGNORED APPEALS
"We need at least a statement from the person (being extorted) to implicate them. In other words, there must be a complainant," stressed the senior officer.
The senior officer said that the private sector has constantly ignored continuous appeals from the JCF to come forward with information about persons seeking to obtain funds from their coffers by brute force or menace.
The reluctance of the business sector to finger the hoodlums is the primary reason "it is so difficult to address the problem because the (business) people are afraid", the senior officer revealed.
However, Mrs. Lopez responded with fervour, as she told The Sunday Gleaner that such statements would not be forthcoming until the police created a safe atmosphere to facilitate the surrendering of information.
CONFIDENCE
"They have to ensure that there will be no repercussions and whatever is given is given in confidence.""... There has to be a level of trust with the police and business sector; they have to feel comfortable. The first duty of the state is to protect its citizens," she insisted.
The PSOJ president said that until this facilitating mood is established, all her team is prepared to do is encourage their colleagues not to surrender to the extortion requests."We have no mechanisms or no legislation in place (to ensure that persons do not pay extortion report this to the police). The only thing we can use right now is moral persuasion.
