Mike Henry - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

Parliamentarian Mike Henry is adamant that Great Britain should not be allowed to get away with not paying reparation to the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade; especially since slave owners were compensated at the end of slavery.

"I will never let Great Britain get away with paying 20 million to the slave owners and nothing to the slaves," said Mr. Henry, as he addressed last Friday's 44th anniversary ceremony of the 1963 Coral Gardens uprising, in Montego Bay.

"That injustice must be rectified and I will not give up the fight."

Mr. Henry, whohas been championing the cause of reparation in Parliament for the past five yeaars, said the time has come for the Jamaican Government to call in the British High Commissioner and inform him that the Parliament is debating the issue, so as to alert Great Britain to what is unfolding.

"Call the British High Commissioner in, tell him that we are debating reparation then ask our politicians to vote on whether or not they think we should get reparation," said Mr. Henry. "Once the vote is over we can then take our demand to Britain."

Impact lingers

Rejecting the concern that the fight for reparation might prove too costly to be worthwhile, Mr. Henry said the impact of the injustices of slavery was still being felt.

"It has cost us dearly, that is why we are worshipping Europe rather than Africa," said Mr. Henry. "It is the reason why our people continue to line-up daily in Liguanea, without the convenience of bathrooms, trying to get to another man's country."

In declaring that he has no intention of giving up the reparation fight, which has become his passion, Mr. Henry said he would prefer to line-up with Rastafari for repatriation, than to join those seeking a green card to run away.

"The way Israel got their money (reparation) was because they became a state," said Mr. Henry. "What we need to do as a nation is to stand up together in this struggle for the justice we are seeking."

"France, Spain and Holland will not get away either," the MP noted. "I am focusing on Great Britain first because they paid they slave owners."