Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
SENIOR MEMBERS of the security team in Tivoli Gardens and its environs are contending that their efforts to restore order to the besieged area are being severely thwarted by strong countervailing forces that have been called in by the State to assist in the investigative process.
The Sunday Gleaner was told that compact discs containing graphic images of victims, among other things, which were in the possession of senior security officials and turned over to a select group of persons, are being seen on hundreds of cellular phone screens, locally and internationally.
A senior official, who asked that his identity be withheld, said he believed that a calculated plot had been hatched to disrupt the process by inciting already grief-stricken relatives, as well as ordinary Jamaicans, against the security operations.
"The struggle to restore normality in the aftermath of the upheaval is as tough as the all-out combat with gunmen. Now we are up against a different force," a senior official told The Sunday Gleaner.
"The process should not be thwarted by those who should be assisting in the efforts," the security official said.
"It is frightening that Jamaicans who claim to be so caring and humanitarian in one breath can be so cruel in the next, without giving a second thought to their action," he declared.
The police moved another step yesterday by opening a police post in the community for the first time.
National Security Minister Dwight Nelson also signalled that it was time that the security forces moved on to tackle the challenges in other areas.
Working to reveal truth
The members of the security forces say, given the sensitive nature of the operation at this stage when people are struggling to cope, they are willing to work with all parties to ensure that the truth is revealed.
Asked whether there was any way that the source of the leaked images could be traced to prevent suspicion to all parties involved, the security official said this would be difficult, as they were on so many phones and the images continued to be transmitted.
He would not name all the persons who were given compact discs of the images, but indicated that the police had a strong suspicion as to the source of the leak.
The Sunday Gleaner was taken to the area where relatives are allowed to identify the bodies of the victims.
Police personnel were keen to point out that the body of the woman who allegedly had been gnawed by dogs was still intact.
Even a wig that was worn by the victim, Petrina Edwards, was in place, if somewhat askew.
There were no visible bite marks to support the claim that the woman's body had been mutilated by dogs.
"One, two, three, four, five," declared an officer monitoring the exercise, carefully demonstrating that all fingers and limbs were intact.
Documents showed that the body was identified on Wednesday.
"The lies and half-truths do not help any of us at this stage," declared a police officer.
In the meantime, the Ministry of National Security has disclosed that 47 of the 73 bodies had been identified up to late Friday and that the identification process would continue at the Tivoli Gardens Community Centre and the Denham Town Police Station on Monday
SENIOR MEMBERS of the security team in Tivoli Gardens and its environs are contending that their efforts to restore order to the besieged area are being severely thwarted by strong countervailing forces that have been called in by the State to assist in the investigative process.
The Sunday Gleaner was told that compact discs containing graphic images of victims, among other things, which were in the possession of senior security officials and turned over to a select group of persons, are being seen on hundreds of cellular phone screens, locally and internationally.
A senior official, who asked that his identity be withheld, said he believed that a calculated plot had been hatched to disrupt the process by inciting already grief-stricken relatives, as well as ordinary Jamaicans, against the security operations.
"The struggle to restore normality in the aftermath of the upheaval is as tough as the all-out combat with gunmen. Now we are up against a different force," a senior official told The Sunday Gleaner.
"The process should not be thwarted by those who should be assisting in the efforts," the security official said.
"It is frightening that Jamaicans who claim to be so caring and humanitarian in one breath can be so cruel in the next, without giving a second thought to their action," he declared.
The police moved another step yesterday by opening a police post in the community for the first time.
National Security Minister Dwight Nelson also signalled that it was time that the security forces moved on to tackle the challenges in other areas.
Working to reveal truth
The members of the security forces say, given the sensitive nature of the operation at this stage when people are struggling to cope, they are willing to work with all parties to ensure that the truth is revealed.
Asked whether there was any way that the source of the leaked images could be traced to prevent suspicion to all parties involved, the security official said this would be difficult, as they were on so many phones and the images continued to be transmitted.
He would not name all the persons who were given compact discs of the images, but indicated that the police had a strong suspicion as to the source of the leak.
The Sunday Gleaner was taken to the area where relatives are allowed to identify the bodies of the victims.
Police personnel were keen to point out that the body of the woman who allegedly had been gnawed by dogs was still intact.
Even a wig that was worn by the victim, Petrina Edwards, was in place, if somewhat askew.
There were no visible bite marks to support the claim that the woman's body had been mutilated by dogs.
"One, two, three, four, five," declared an officer monitoring the exercise, carefully demonstrating that all fingers and limbs were intact.
Documents showed that the body was identified on Wednesday.
"The lies and half-truths do not help any of us at this stage," declared a police officer.
In the meantime, the Ministry of National Security has disclosed that 47 of the 73 bodies had been identified up to late Friday and that the identification process would continue at the Tivoli Gardens Community Centre and the Denham Town Police Station on Monday
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