THE CLOCK is ticking and with every passing second, the chance to halt or reverse the devastating and persistent effects of organised crime and corruption in Jamaica appears to be waning.

Professor Trevor Munroe, director of the National Integrity Action Forum (NIAF), says the country needs a countervailing coalition of integrity at this time to combat corruption and organised crime in the country.

"The countervailing coalition, acting decisively and courageously, can help and slay the monster but we don't have a lot of time," he says.

Coalition composition

The composition of the coalition would include professionals in the criminal justice system such as prosecutors, the hierarchy of the police force and judges. "They are going to have to play a bigger role and take a heavier burden," Munroe says, adding that civil society and the media also have a critical role to play in counteracting the forces of organised crime and corruption.

While lawmakers have an important role in terms of laying the legislative framework and plugging loopholes, such as anti-gang and plea-bargaining laws, they, as a group, cannot provide leadership in the way they did up to the late 1990s, opines the NIAF director.

And Munroe believes that there is a role for Jamaica's overseas partners. "The international partners have got to make it very clear that they want to partner with a democratic State, which Jamaica is up until now, and they would wish not to partner with a State captured by criminals or by the corrupt," Munroe says in an interview with The Gleaner.

Striking revelations

At a recent seminar sponsored by the European Commission and the Jamaican Government, Munroe made a presentation on the topic 'The Emergence and Evolution of Organised Crime in Jamaica'.

He drew on striking and telling revelations by two prominent former politicians who spoke of the challenges they faced as MPs, more than a decade ago, from alleged gangs in their constituencies.

In 1994, Edward Seaga, then opposition leader, and in 1995 Heather Robinson, then member of parliament for South Central St Catherine, made headlines when they went public exposing alleged criminal activities in their constituencies.

Seaga's interview on the 'Breakfast Club' was later published in The Gleaner with a gripping headline titled: 'Putting my life and career on the line'.

Seaga had submitted a list of 13 names to then commissioner of police Colonel Trevor MacMillan, calling for decisive action against known persons who were terrorising Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town.

Topping the controversial list was West Kingston strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke who American law enforcement authorities now want extradited to answer charges associated with the trafficking of illegal drugs and firearms.

The list of names ignited a fiery debate 15 years ago, but today, MacMillan is insisting that Seaga had only presented, through an emissary, a "piece of dirty paper" with the names of the men.

He tells The Gleaner, Seaga did not furnish substantial evidence on which he could act. "Absolutely not, it was just a piece of dirty paper that Desmond McKenzie handed me with names on it.

"We got a list of names, we got no evidence, nobody came forward and said that this one (has) done this and certify and give a statement," he contends.

But Seaga in the 1994 interview told the Breakfast Club that MacMillan would not get the evidence until he had detained the men. "Because people are afraid to give evidence unless he has them in custody and this is the reason why he has gotten the list so that once those men are in custody, the evidence will come forward."

Munroe says while he cannot contradict the claim by MacMillan that no evidence was brought before him to take action against any person on the list of 13, it was clear that the Americans between 1994 and 2007 had gathered information and evidence on Coke over a period of 13 years.

"If we can't gather the evidence, then others may and others can and others will," he adds.

Forgotten but insightful

Munroe says Seaga's pronouncements in the 1994 radio interview were often "forgotten" but were "insightful".

"Seaga stepped forward and as he said put his career and life on the line in seeking to break the link and Heather Robinson equally, to break that link."

The NIAF and its multi-agency task force of anti-corruption agencies have been endorsed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller.

Contractor General Greg Christie, in his annual report, hailed the establishment of the NIAF and gave the assurance the his agency would support the group in pursuing its objectives.