Lead Stories

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

SECURITY PERSONNEL yesterday swarmed Gordon House in a bid to protect members of parliament (MPs) who turned up for the sitting of the House of Representatives amid violent clashes between gunmen and the security forces in capital city Kingston.

The MPs were determined not to avoid doing the people's business because, as South St Andrew's Dr Omar Davies said, "It is the people's Parliament" and criminals are not in charge of the country.

Violence has bedevilled sections of the Corporate Area since the armed forces announced they would be entering Tivoli Gardens to execute an arrest warrant on the notorious Christopher Coke.

Gordon House did not escape its fury of running gun battles between lawmen and criminals. And there was an abundance of spent shells to prove it.

examined spent shells

When West Central St James MP Clive Mullings and his colleague from South West St Ann, Ernest Smith, arrived, they walked into a pile of shot casings and were bemused. Both picked up the shells, examined them carefully, shook their heads in disbelief, and then headed for the chamber of the House.

But Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller took notice of nothing else but the entrance to Parliament as they dashed from their vehicles into Gordon House.

At 2:40, forty minutes after the usual start of the House, Golding slipped out of his car and headed quickly into Gordon House. His head was being guarded by nearly 20 police officers, including snipers on Parliament's roof.

Seventeen minutes later, Dr Peter Phillips, covered by a strong contingent of police, dashed from his car straight into the House. Just before Phillips' arrival, the police were boosted by more boots on the ground when a unit of soldiers arrived.

The vehicle which carried Phillips and those providing escort had hardly got the chance to move out when Simpson Miller arrived.

Traffic congestion in front of the entrance to Gordon House caused Simpson Miller's convoy to stop metres from the door, forcing her to walk about 15 paces before she was inside Parliament. And that mini-run would have perhaps been her fastest entry into Gordon House.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com