Maroon Chief Richard Currie has urged Prime Minister Andrew Holness to “be guided accordingly” after the head of the government said “Jamaica is a unitary sovereign state”.
In a statement, Currie said that the “Maroons of the Cockpit Country, descendants of the First People of the Archipelago now called Jamaica,” wanted to remind Prime Minister Holness of “a few things” including one that “Jamaica is not a unitary sovereign state.
“Elizabeth II, of the House Windsor, is your Queen and Sovereign. Jamaica is simply “fully responsible” in Elizabeth’s Commonwealth per the legal language in the Charter for Jamaica,” he added.
Currie was responding to a statement made by Prime Minister Holness during a news conference on Sunday that that there is no other sovereign authority on the island than the government of Jamaica.
“Jamaica is a unitary sovereign state. There is no other sovereign authority in Jamaica other than the Government of Jamaica. I want that to be absolutely clear: None. And under my leadership, not one inch of Jamaica will come under any other sovereign authority,” he told reporters at the virtual news conference.
The Jamaica Observer newspaper reported last weekend that a US$6.2-million ($958-million) project to conserve biodiversity and reduce land degradation in the Cockpit Country has been put on hold, and could be scrapped, based on demands from Currie.
Asked during the news conference about the decision by his government to disengage with so-called ‘sovereign’ Maroons, Prime Minister Holness said what was being asked of the government was for it to use taxpayers’ money and grant funds to fund another ‘government’.
In early December, the Government of Jamaica had issued a directive to all ministries, departments and agencies prohibiting the allocation of funds to any area that has declared itself sovereign.
“This is not a government saying that they are local government, or a parish council government, which is under our constitution. Are you crazy? Really! Do you know what you are asking? This is the stuff of how guerilla wars come [about] and state breakdown. Wake up, Jamaica! Don’t court foolishness and problems. Wake up!” Holness said.
“People have died as a result and you expect me to stand here as prime minister and fund activities that could lead to the breakdown of our State? Never!” he added.
But in his statement, The Maroon Chief reminded Prime Minister Holness that he is a “signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People” and that he should read the document in question.
“Jamaica has an extensive external debt and is constantly begging, so you rely on other sovereign nations. In other words, you are receiving funding from others, so please consider human and indigenous rights before you end up de-funded as well.”
“Jamaica, as a government entity, begged for “independence” whereas the Maroons waged war to maintain theirs. Please be guided accordingly,” Currie added.
The Maroons were escaped slaves, who ran away from their Spanish-owned plantations when the British took the Caribbean island of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. The Spanish called these free slaves “Maroons,” a word derived from “Cimarron,” which means “fierce” or “unruly.”
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