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former long-serving MP for West Kingston and himself a
former Prime Minister. He was Minister of Development and
Works when Back o’ Wall was flattened. At the time it had
been regarded as a People’s National Party (PNP)
stronghold.
3.3. Tivoli Gardens features a Community Centre which
offers training in art, craft, music and dance; a maternity
centre and infant school; a church, small grocery shops and
other business outfits; a few small parks (green areas) and a
relatively large playing field – all in the same complex.
Thus, it is an almost self-sufficient enclave.
3.4. Over the years, residents of Tivoli Gardens have
excelled in many forms of artistic expression and sport,
across all age groups, winning many competitions, awards
and trophies; sometimes international recognition or
acclaim. The community has for umpteen years been
regarded as a prime example of the Jamaican phenomenon
called “the garrison”. In fact, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, a
retired Chief of Defence Staff (later Commissioner of Police),
once famously described it as “the mother of all garrisons”.
Over time also, it came to be thought of as a citadel of sorts;
the seat of an infamous cross-border crime syndicate named
the “Shower Posse”, the reputed head of which was
Christopher Coke, “Dudus”, “the President”. He grew up
there.” – See also Prof. Harriott p.238.
The Presidential Click and the Shower Posse
2.31.
CoP Ellington spoke in evidence about the Presidential Click. He
said that it was classified by the JCF as “a third generation gang”.
“It was a very, very large criminal gang involved in
enterprise activities and it made significant social investment
in the community and even the loyalty of a large number of
persons in various communities. It was a gang that resisted
any attempt by the security forces to enforce laws in the
space they occupied….
The Presidential Click presented themselves as a kind of
surrogate government within the community providing
goods and services. They even prevented the utility
companies from coming in and collecting revenue for water