Review of Sexual Offences Act ..................

The Joint Select Committee (JSC), which has been completing the review of the Sexual Offences Acts, will resume meeting on Tuesday morning at Gordon House.

The new JSC was established in December 2016 by the Government, with current chairman being Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck, replacing his predecessor Senator Mark Golding.

It has met twice, including in February when Police Superintendent Enid Ross-Stewart, head of the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), landed a shocker when she informed the committee that clergymen and policemen were the most consistent "high-profile" people being arrested for having sex with girls under the age of 16.

Superintendent Ross-Stewart’s declaration, coming on the heels of the media exposure of two leaders of the Moravian Church community, former President Dr Paul Gardner and his former deputy, Jermaine Gibson, being arrested on charges of carnal abuse and indecent assault in January, was a major news issue then.

Ross Stewart added that CISOCA’s arrest of a number of ministers of religion recently on similar charges was nothing new.

However, while the previous committee headed by Senator Golding did quite a bit of work on the review, it was haunted by the fact that the local gay committee, buoyed by a promise from former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller prior to the 2011 General Election, that she would address their claims of discriminatory anti-buggery legislation, were making some noise about the buggery legislation.

One gay activist, lawyer Maurice Tomlinson, actually accused Simpson Miller of a "blatant betrayal" for refusing to abolish Jamaica’s buggery legislation. But, a church group, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), led by Dr Wayne West, strongly opposed any reform of buggery legislation in the process.

Senator Golding said he would not be surprised if the contending parties used the opportunity provided by the review to make their cases for and against repealing the buggery legislation. But he made it clear that this should not be seen as the aim of the exercise. At that time, then Opposition Leader Andrew Holness suggested a referendum to decide the issue, contending that a conscience vote in Parliament would not be effective.

New chairman Delroy Chuck insists that he is open to a discussion on all the issues surrounding the Acts involved and the role of the committee, which is to consider and rev existing legislation which purport to, among other things, protect women, children, the disabled and the elderly from violence and abuse, including the Sexual Offences Act, the Offences Against the Person Act, the Domestic Violence Act and the Child Care and Protection Act.

The committee will eventually make recommendations for legislative amendment, not restricted to the stated legislation under review, for the better administration of justice and the effective protection of these special groups, as it deems necessary.

The committee comprises: Chuck (Chairman); Senator Golding; Minister of Culture, Gender Affairs, Entertainment and Sport Olivia "Babsy" Grange; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator, Kamina Johnson Smith; minister of state (education, youth and information, Floyd Green; Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert (Trelawny Southern); Lisa Hanna (St Ann South Eastern); Dr Lynvale Bloomfield (Portland Eastern); Denise Daley (St Catherine Eastern); Senator Ransford Braham; Senator Saphire Longmore; and Senator Sophia Frazer-Binns.

*** The two Bills completing the Property Tax implementation process — the Property Tax (Amendment) (No 2) 2007, and the Property tax (Validation and Indemnity Act — were approved in the Senate Friday, after a lengthy debate which sounded more like the State of the Nation.

Opposition Senators took the position that the increases were unnecessary, as they claimed they resulted from the $1.5-million tax threshold benefit introduced by the Government on April 1 to fulfil its election campaign promise. They also claimed that the increase to $1.5 million of the income tax threshold (moving from just below $600 million) did not benefit the workers, who would be paying more taxes in other areas due to inflation, and that the reduced rates announced last week were still too high.

The Government responded that the tax package introduced in the 2017/18 Budget Debate had already covered the $13.5-million gap created by the increased threshold and did not provide any additional tax revenue, as it was revenue neutral, as confirmed by the International Monetary Fund. They also pointed out that the tax revenues from property tax were specifically meant fo road maintenance, streetlights and garbage collection by the parish municipal corporations and could not be lodged into the Consolidated Fund.

The Government also noted that the significant increases in property tax experienced this time was due to the former Government’s failure to evaluate and implement property values on time, including implementing the re-evaulation which was done in 2013.

But what was most interesting about the exchange was Government Senator Lambert Brown’s explanation of why the new rates were not implemented in 2013.

According to him:

"The reality is that we applied wisdom. We chose not to pressure the people. But you now come in and decide, as I said earlier, that the people must pay more taxes, as if that is a good thing. I don’t share it, that taxing the people is a good thing, especially when those taxes can be avoided," Brown said.

Government members reminded Senator Brown that they could not be avoided because they are a legal requirement every five years, and the money collected goes from the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to the Parish Councils/Municipal Corporations to pay for their responsibilities and not into the Consolidated Fund.

This week’s Gordon House schedule:

• Tuesday, April 25, 2:00 pm — Siitting of the House of Representatives (Sectoral Debate);

• Wednesday, April 26, 10:00 am — Public Administration & Appropriations Committee;

2:00 pm — Sitting of the House of Representatives (Sectoral Debate)

• Friday, April 28, 9:00 am — Sitting of the Senate.

Will Desmond’s McKenzie’s $515M allocation per MP announcement include MSM/transgender homeless?

So the grandstanding in parliament continues, during the sectoral debate Minster Desmond McKenzie announced with some stridency that all members’ of parliament will effectively receive some $515M or $90M per constituency. The money is to supposedly help with funeral grants (recently raised from $70,000 to $80,000) a benefit that is already available from the National Insurance Scheme, NIS, aiding the indigent with housing and the elderly, what about the poor relief funds, are they being managed properly that it would require this additional half a billion tranche; it seems totally unnecessary one to me is the purchase of tablets for ministers, why oh why is that relevant to be bought by taxpayers’ money when Ministers earn millions and can purchase their own devices alongside the already owned smartphones, lest we forget the phone bill scandal where the ministry phones were abused and overused running into millions of dollars. In the previous PNP administration we saw the same nonsense at that time the then minister claimed that monies would have been pulled from the National Housing Trust, HNT to aid the general homeless populations. To date no such evidence has come forth that this has been done or the excuse may be that the administration changed so those ideas would have been scrapped; the usual lack of continuity continue as ministers want the credit instead of simply doing what is right.

Commendable that he announced (added to my annoucementitis) a drop centre in Hanover and or a homeless shelter in Westmoreland alongside earlier announcements of infirmaries in rural Jamaica and golden age homes to be spruced up but the goodly minsters seems not to be interested or is aware of previous administrations that have also made such announcements as evidenced in the photos below.

That space on upper King Street nearing the York Park Fire station designated as a drop in and homeless shelter mix, I guess because it was done under the PNP government it won’t get the follow-up as it should be, what also is concerning is on the very sign are the logos of international agencies in support and it begs the question whether or not these agencies follow up on these things to make sure that the respective projects are carried through albeit their names are attached. Who cares really? If we cannot deal with homelessness generally maybe it may be a near waste of time to ask for the decent things to happen.

Minister's McKenzie's speech said in part:

"I wish to announce that:

• J$400 million will be made available for Indigent Housing, Social Assistance,

 Education and Funeral Grants.

• J$115 million will be devoted to a special fund to assist Councillors to respond decisively to victims of fire in their Divisions, and there will also be allocations to Councillors to assist with the establishment of official offices in their Divisions.

• We will also provide all Councillors and the Mayor of Portmore with a tablet to enhance the execution of their duties.

• Let me break it down, Mr. Speaker. Each Councillor will be able to access

 J$500,000 per year, to provide needy constituents with Housing Assistance Grants.

• J$90 million will be made available to care for those who live in indigent houses across Jamaica.

• An additional J$1.7 million will be made available to each Local Authority to assist with Educational Grants.

• An additional J$1.5 million will be made available to each Local Authority for the provision of Funeral Grants.

• There are homes that take in and care for homeless persons, Mr. Speaker. We are going to provide financial assistance to these homes, in amounts relative to their size and the number of people they serve.

• The processing of applications for all these benefits will be managed by the Poor Relief Departments of the Municipal Corporations, to ensure that all verification and compliance requirements are adhered to.

• Mr. Speaker, this is a new day in Local Government. I have been in the system for 39 years, and I know the challenges elected and administrative officials face.

 In meeting with them since my appointment as Minister, I have heard the cry across the political divide, for something new and lasting to happen in Local Government.

• It is happening now, Mr. Speaker. The Councillors are seeing the change. The staff of the Local Authorities are seeing the change. There are Members of Parliament who served in Local Government, such as the Member from South-Western St. Andrew, the Minister of Science, Energy and Technology read the rest HERE

With the heavy rains hitting the island we all know how the cycle goes year in year out, monies have to be diverted from elsewhere barring the Finance Ministry aiding as well to repair flooded areas, damaged homes and lost cattle especially in deep rural communities.

In addition the Social Development Commission SDC is also to receive some millions as well that is yet to be announcement probably at the post debate press conference yet administration after administration makes these grandiose announcements supposedly to appease the poor and the usual follow-up issues come up. Very little improvement seems forthcoming in troubled communities, prisons, places of safety are bursting at the seams and identified spaces for general homelessness interventions just stand unused complete with a sign albeit with a sign listed all the sponsors which read as a who’s who of ‘human rights’ and donor organizations which calls into question what is there purpose really? It seems more like a grand show and administrative rape for the least amongst us to look good. Don’t they ask questions of these beneficiaries outside of elegant statistics? As for powerful monied churches save and except for a few selfless ones who seem to care more about their own piety and survival linking themselves to political parties but check the streets generally and what do you see?

Aren’t members of parliament already in the receipt of dispersements of constituency funds and can they not call on the Ministry of Finance if it comes to the test for fires, unexpected disasters and other emergencies. Why not use the already available state systems and channels, I get very nervous when members’ of parliament are allowed or are perceived to be handling state funds with a near free hand under the guise of helping the less fortunate, if we cannot seem to solve the well known corruption in the first place as some cover their tracks quite nicely then why shouldn’t this latest money bag gift be not another outlet for dipping into. Contractor General Reports after reports have shown us that some simply cannot be trusted yet no one except J.A.G Smith way back in the day under the JLP was imprisoned. We all saw what happened with the Cuban light bulb scandal with one Spencer.

Julian Robinson MP and PNP General Secretary is the representative in the problem plagued New Kingston business district also had said he wanted to supposedly assist the homeless MSM/trans yet to date very little help has even trickled and or the usual tokenism comes to mind despite several media reports of challenges and previous blog posts. Minister McKenzie has not proven to me he has evolved on homosexuality; remember this one from the 2011 electioneering in Montego Bay?

Also see:

The PNP won some say as they supposedly promised a conscience vote which ever materialised. Not that the elderly are not due assistance but the homeless MSM/trans have been on the radar for decades overall but more so within the last eight years or so, so much so that they have made international news time and time again while others just use them for all kinds of reasons. There is no state operated housing to meet some of the challenges from the consequences of forced evictions or self imposed exile due to homophobia wrapped up sometimes in violence. In a previous post the impacted individual still is by me as he tries to get a job in one of the call centres around for now.

Within the last two weeks alone clashes with members of the public continue with the homeless persons in the Shoemaker/Kencot gullies, not to mention the previous CISOCA operation to remove a fourteen year old from the batch which in turn suggests the age cohort is getting younger again as in times past; commensurately in western Jamaica by Dump Up beach yet again as that side of the country where some of the MSM/trans get involved in commercial sex work the occasional accident or clash occurs.

NGOs seem not interested in any full response yet still even as they ask for ‘equality’ lest we forget or do not know equality does not mean justice. Only in this week there was an alleged altercation with members of the Kingston group and members of the public.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

And MSM continue to be ready material for data collection ..... what about the interventions? 

Shelter Coming For Homeless Gays reports the Gleaner 

Housing Minister seeks funds for Shelter from NHT Money ....... Will the LGBT Homeless be Assisted?

Battyman bashing while ‘cakes’ are out ..........

a sagging example

I often asked why is it that despite the continued homophobia and fear of the feminine in certain types of hypermasculine men those men even while dressed with their pants and boxers advertising their own ‘cakes’ that they are off limits or firm round mounds they don’t realise what there are actually doing. Some men go as far as to deliberately or not allow the top of the crack to show as well in supposed homophobic Jamaica. How on one hand men bash each other sometimes out of the slightest argument in public by calling their opponents a faggot, fish, battyman and so on in the ever extending list of names and rehashing old ones such as “He’she” given the visibility of transgender persons in Jamaica; the accuser is showing the very anatomy of the body (the batty or batty jaw) to the world which often attract the straying eye of others either in revolt or quiet attraction especially by men on the down low. The matter came home for me on the extended eater weekend as I entered and subsequently exited the Tastee patty store in Spanish Town.

Upon entering the establishment outside of the juice ladies by the door asking for patronage when leaving the store, a heated argument was in action involving the DVD men and others. The usual battyman calling reductive power reducing narrative occurred as part of the public projection of strength and or enhancing bravado. The accuser making the burning out remarks was wearing a rather tight skin fight black leggings of sorts with the waist in the presently typical popular below the ass cheeks position and was in a blue also close fitting boxers and his cakes were nicely firm looking. The accused ‘battyman’ was not so dressed in terms of his jean being below the ass or buttocks lining and he responded by rebutting that the accused is the ‘more bigger battyman’ implying his mode of dress says he is gay and advertising his ass to other downlow gays. 

I have witnessed the low wearing pants types engaged in quarrels who accused other men of being gay but not the response of throwing back a response using profiling and aesthetics o effectively. I was lucky to catch that part after exiting the store and found it funny while curious. The laughter was also telling from the juice sellers by the door, the DVD vendors and other passers-by who heard the exchange.

The clearly embarrassed low pants wearing man rebutted by accusing the accuser of having AIDS and performing oral sex on women, two other masculine reduction narratives in public spats when the persons want to shift the argument in question by adding other embarrassing elements to project strength; what makes it more unique is that he was not able to pull his pants up to cover up the nice firm cakes so as not to effectively conform their accusation just by his aesthetics, he was also lightly bleached with numerous tattoos. Strangely the anti tight pants wearing men narrative as part of the homophobic and murder music narrative is still alive even as the practice has become a cultural phenomenon with some large acceptance driven by the same main protagonists being the dancehall artists mostly the older ones were vehemently opposed to the practice in the first place; strange that celebrity names such as Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and the monster Shock Crew who voiced songs using modes of dress to profile and stereotype gay men alongside effeminacy now wear the very tight pants, leggings and sometimes well below the buttocks clothes with often bright coloured boxers a practice supposedly derived by the American prison systems and African American thug culture. Several rappers have incorporated the ass showing look and it is seek as a marker of being high on the thuggery social pecking order. 

Monster Shack in 1997 braking the hypermasculine presentation rules in dancehall

The monster Shack crew were a walking contradiction in terms of their group image; even as while they coloured their hair which was not so a popular thing to do in their heyday they could be credited for slowly pushing the tight pants phenomena in men long before Vybz Kartel used his image change to the ‘Gay look’ and carrying his legions of fans with him mimicking him. 

The supposed 'Gay Look' Kartel was raked over the coals for

Other acts all have joined in a recent photo of an aging Babycham struck me given his position on gays, Beenieman and others as well, the younger dancehall acts for them it is normative despite in musical clashes the stereotype is used as ammunition to belittle musical their opponents even while dressed in the mode on stage, contradiction right before our eyes!

In a previous post (The low wearing pants issue ...) I had addressed the below the buttocks dressing as at the time legislators wanted to make it illegal.

Here is an excerpt:

The government these days feel it can just become judge juror and lawmaker for every god damn thing these days, Jamaica in my estimation does not have a lot of men wearing low cut pants anymore that style has died from last year 2009, most jeans nowadays are straight tight jeans in brands like Gucci that have very straight cut leg lengths and maybe wider waists for hip hugging.

The jeans itself just sits at the hip not below to show butt cheeks as said by many commentators and in fact the tight jeans being worn now if they were worn in let’s say three or four years ago a man would have been beaten or attacked for being gay. The notion of a man so well put together then he is considered gay or his sexuality comes into question.

This is a social issue I think and there shouldn’t be interference by the legislators on everything. This one should just play itself out but the police are already using the public decency act to arrest men coming from dancehall events especially who are well dressed. What about the events coming up like carnival where persons are scantily dressed in tights or butt showing attire, what about the dancehall outdoor events where live sex has occurred those haven’t been deemed out of place yet or we should wait until the administration decides to go there to lock up people.

Will lesbians who dress supposedly masculine in low pants as well be arrested too?

Freedom of choice in the Charter of Rights I thought was a right and why is it the lawmakers must just go around and make laws for everything to drown persons’ freedoms?

ENDS

One wonders if changing aesthetics may also playing a role in softening multi-generational stereotyping and homophobia via social media; as visibility is raised and old belief that one can easily tell one is gay by looking that is being debunked as persons from all classes and appearance and coming out gay or bisexual. Jamaica is a paradox indeed.

from 2009:

from the now defunct Observer chat

Peace & tolerance

H

Another sex tape another fall

Another Sex Tape another Fall, how many of these I can’t recall, I’ve lost count with so much out there but should we care?

Even as the remnants of the Tall Bottle Crew sex tape scandal and leaked videos earlier this year in what seemed a healthy anal penetration scene another such report from two other gay men has come to hand. The Bottle crew is still feeling the after effects of that slip up as they are easily recognised due to high visibility in the dancehall and find it hard to be out in public and threats have been sent their way personally and on various platforms, especially Instagram since then unofficially two cases of a similar nature occurred but details are sketchy. One thing is clear to me is that more and more persons are deliberately capturing their sex but not with a view for spillage I imagine; leakages are the collateral damage consequence.

To think this latest case came on of all seasons Easter on Holy Thursday at that; one party had apparently arranged a hook up with the other party but a third player was in the space and whipped out his phone to see the supposed dick down.

In previous posts I had highlighted the fallouts and unintended outings by way of social media as LGBT visibility grew by leaps and bounds, so by virtue of that accidents were bound to happen as social media skills would have been extremely low especially on Facebook at first. This recent case however started on Instagram where it was announced by a younger gay user, the demographic attracted to that platform; which eventually sent persons scampering to a certain porn site for to see the session between the two men. Problem was that the clip was effectively hacked by some smart whiz kid and thus the viral element was exacted shared all over the place.

A copy was sent my way which is how I came into knowledge of the latest drama, there is never a dull day but one of the parties involved has since been forced into self imposed exile similarly to the aforementioned Tall Bottle Crew members and talk of seeking asylum are floating around, I am not so sure they have an easy ride given the genesis of the troubles. Just a day or so after the guys involved are meeting up on all kinds of issues despite their popularity was not like the Tall Bottle Crew. 

Threats on Instagram, voice notes/WhatsAPP videos also with threats and has gotten to the point where the guys had to relocate to another friend’s house. One of the parties involved is from deep rural Jamaica so he is able to escape some of the nonsense, the supposed ‘cameraman’ had since been in hiding as he is blamed for the leak by the other two and their friends; it may not be as simple as they think. Videos and data on smartphone can be hacked if one does not make the settings work for them. It gets worse the smartphone security software are not installed or the firewalls as in place to offer some protection.

Other privacy settings too may not have been in place but with Donald Trump’s executive order on privacy thus leaving all being exposed to advertisers and hackers alike to see your location or even hack passwords and break into the phone storage. The ‘cameraman’ is on the run and a planned beat down is being planned if he is caught as punishment. Facebook fallouts are also still happing just by a cursory unscientific poll I ran prior to the preparation of this post. The latest on was a Clarendonian youngster in his early twenties and another case in St James. One can conclude that these latest errors may be teething pains for an LGBT community that once was not so visible but one would have expected older persons like myself to be making mistakes more so that the millennials.

Some suggestions and tips

If one is going to document ones frolic one should secure the material as best as possible which could include passwording the file(s) in question or lock them away in a secure folder, also check whether or not one may have inadvertently left the Bluetooth on by mistake or by choosing where one shares the materials as newer APPS are now out there to simply rip the shared or played footage without the owners’ knowledge only to see it all over the place. It is all too easy to hack into or end up with leaks so steps must be taken to handle sensitive materials in storage. Platform settings also are a key component as well in terms of profile settings and such which can help to mitigate the possibility of accidents occurring.

Why oh why would persons capture and save repeatedly sex scenes or orgies, is it a part of the new narcissistic psychology linked to social media? All this happening when the very social media is facilitating a couch potato mentality and less contact in person with others. Normally the whole sex tape phenomenon was seen as an American phenomenon in the world of celebrities, locally there was the infamous early revenge porn case of a former female banking employee whose scorned lover deliberately shared the videos and photos but hardly any legal action could have been taken by her as revenge porn legislation is not on the books but defamation legislation is here however. She has since relocated to the United States. Another two gay men found themselves in some major trouble after a leak in 2015, a family member of one of the parties had to be moving about here and there bordering on homelessness but he was able to settle, his face was in full view of the clip at the time which made his defence it wasn’t him fall on disbelieving ears. One has to be so careful and personally that damned phone has to be off and or not in your hand if we are going to hookup; I will definitely not agree to any shooting of footage during the game only for it to reach in the public domain.

Meanwhile

Unconfirmed reports revealed since this latest case also suggests that a blackmail attempt matter carried over from 2016 has been ongoing given a previously stolen phone with sensitive content is being used as a dangling carrot by the thieves to get money from the phone’s owner who is said to be a businessman. He has not made any payments we are told but frankly I don’t believe that. The extortion attempt is said to be linked to a ring of gay phone stealers who are in cahoots with heterosexual miscreants as well who want some $150,000.00 in return for the instrument. The implications for a leak like that can be grave to include loss of reputation, business downturn as clients see the clips that can go viral in a few minutes. The businessman is said to be reluctant to report the matter to the cops as they would have to open the phone or get passwords to verify its ownership and may have legal implications given the buggery law.

Finally while I cannot tell consenting adults what to do may I suggest persons be ultra careful with the use of smartphones, sex and safety.

Happy hunting

Peace & tolerance

H

Assault under the guise of assistance

In previous posts I had attempted to address the business of the ‘couch surfing’ as temporary solutions that go bad or a hidden agenda revealing itself. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month here and on sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica and while I started off on a more biblical note this year often used as justification for pastoral abuse or children other forms of assault are unfortunately ongoing. It gets more complicated when it has men who have sex men involved either as the impacted individual or the perpetrator. 

There are still reports of persons supposedly ‘kotching’ or crashing by a ‘friend’ or stranger who opened up their doors seemingly being honest only to abuse persons by playing on their vulnerability and the need they may have at the time. Co-dependency liaisons also can drive some of the nonsense as a privileged man who may be alone or lonely who turn his lesser powered male co-habiter into a house slave of sorts or sex slave demanding sex on call and if the lesser powered man refuses it can turn violent until the latter is able to run away from the crap.

Legal implications

One cannot simply just walk into a police station and report that he was raped or sexually assaulted as the buggery law or other legislation might kick in which may also see the ‘victims’ finding themselves detained. The laughter alone from personnel is enough and or dismissals and humiliation in the precinct can be a major turn off. That would also depend on what is unearthed in the investigations and what content the reporting party placed in the police report. Any hint of anal penetration whether by an object or penis or a fingers (grievous sexual assault charge) can be problematic on many fronts; on the part of the police suspected illegality cannot go un-responded to in the precinct of a police station at that; then there is the business of gathering the evidence for the case by way of the physical examination of the parties which can get sticky if there was shower taken or any other anal health or hygienic course by the receptive partner in particular to raise the suspicion on penetration. If there was no strong tearing or scarring of the area or the sphincter then the level of suspicion will be lesser still or if things such as Preparation H creams or PH adjusting enema or fleet product were used after the act to cool down burning or itching after the fact.

How many stories one has heard of persons sleeping at night only to find themselves with a ‘heavy weight’ on top of them; tabloids such as the Star News and the now defunct XNews were good at that and some sort of non-consensual sex occurs, from the non penetrative or missionary sex or partnered masturbation to the perpetrators pleasure or full on anal rape. The misguided or sensational tabloid reporting may be a function of ignorance of MSM relational matters I suppose. Some have actually argued that non-penetrative sex acts albeit without consent such as intercrural sex cannot be seen as assault or abuse but often such persons leave out the non consent component. It is as if there is a hierarchy for tolerated abuse or it may be justified as a form of payment for whatever the assistance that is being offered. 

The impacted party will never be comfortable psychologically during the act as far as I am concerned; to simply lay there like a dead log and the man presses his penis under the crotch between the testicles and legs of the ‘victim’ often with psychical restraint is still abuse. Once there is no consent whatever the act may end up as it is rape simply put; psychological rape if you will, some may see male rape by another male as simply the act of forced anal penetration experience but they are wrong. Obviously forcing persons to perform oral sex as well undress pain of eviction or other threats including at gunpoint as a case in 2013 is wrong and shows how far some perpetrators will go to knowing that they may not be caught or prosecuted that easily if any.

Unless the aggrieved party is prepared to go all the way with the case despite the challenges then like others before they will simply retreat often into silence or with knowledge of a few close friends. Psycho-sexual interventions can be sought by referrals but the legal side of it all is a problem yet still; the attempts to have the buggery law decriminalised to include the rape component linked to non-consent and ages of consent is still stalling despite the middle of the road sensible suggestion. The question therefore is how many MSM have been assaulted by more privileged men who exploit their vulnerabilities?
 Those power differentials are a main factor for abused to continue to get abuse and apart from some physical retaliation or running from the situation as mentioned above the former can and has led to murders within the MSM community. A few such murders have been seen as ‘crimes of passion’ more so by misguided antigay groups/activists to justify their hate campaigns without understanding or seeking to enlighten themselves or the social constructs in our world; they pray on the national ignorance nationally on male homosexuality in particular.

It is the retaliation of such abuse sometimes outside of robberies, so called crimes of passion and or jealousies between lovers and genuine homophobic cases that have led to some public murders in times past which further colours the whole affair of public perception of male homosexual life.

The business of consent is crucial in the shelter assistance gift being used as a guise to assault persons, if it were a case of the parties consenting and the soon to be assisted or even during the aid one is approached and there is agreement then we are dealing with a horse of a different colour. But to allow persons to relatively get comfortable and then seek to abuse them is just plain wrong whether there is anal penetration is involved; it is the principle of the thing that is important. But what to do about those who prey on weaker or desperate men for purposes of control? To bring them to book when it involves adults is difficult; obviously with a minor there are adequate laws including the Child Care & Protections Act and Carnal Abuse legislation.

More to come

Peace & tolerance

H

The importance of arraignment in a criminal court .............

An attorney has sought to provide some guidance on the issue of judges ruling in the parish courts without a lawyer or a changed plea from guilty to not guilty involving the sometimes controversial Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey.

There was an unfortunate news item in the media last week about a lady who went before a parish court judge and was convicted without a trial or hearing. 

The case came to public attention after a ruling from the Court of Appeal, which was followed by a front-page article in the Daily Gleaner with comments from former Justice Minister Mark Golding, and thereafter a stinging criticism from the Director of Public Prosecutions. The saga is unfortunate.

In all of this, it seems as if the full 'story' is still unfolding, as last week a Queen’s Counsel was on radio saying that he was present in court, and in fact heard when the lady in question pleaded guilty. 

That is interesting and adds to the intrigue.

The starting point in the criminal justice system is Section 16 of the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Act 2011, which provides that a person charged should be afforded a fair hearing.
Arraignment

STEP 1: A critically important part of the due process expected in criminal cases is the arraignment process. This happens, on most occasions, on the first appearance in court. The procedure requires the clerk to announce to the parish judge that the next matter is say 'R v. John Brown for larceny'. If Mr Brown is already in the dock, upon his name being called he stands so that the judge identifies him, especially since other persons are seated in the dock. At the same time, the judge ensures that he finds John Brown’s name on the court sheet. If the matter were coming before the court for the first time, the judge would ask the clerk to outline the allegations against Mr Brown.

What happens next is critically important.

STEP 2: At this stage, if a lawyer does not represent Mr Brown, the judge would ask him if he has a lawyer. If the answer is yes and the judge forms the view that the lawyer is just running a little late for court, the matter is sometimes stood down to await the arrival of the lawyer. If the answer is no, on some occasions, the accused is asked if he can afford to retain a lawyer. If the answer to the judge is yes, the accused might be given time to do so. If the answer from the accused man is no, the judge would seek to assign a lawyer under the legal aid system, if the case is not drug related.

STEP 3: Depending on the circumstances, the clerk may proceed to read the criminal charges against Mr Brown, and thereafter ask him if he is guilty or not guilty. If the answer given is not clear or Mr Brown says guilty with explanation, the judge will intervene to hear the explanation or seek clarification and ensure that the answer given is a direct response to the question posed by the clerk and most importantly that Mr Brown understands the nature of the charge.

STEP 4: If the accused pleads guilty, the judge is most likely to order a social enquiry report and set a date for sentence as well as to determine the status of the Mr Brown with respect to bail.

STEP 5: If it is a not guilty plea, the judge is likely to make enquires as to the status of the file, give a date for disclosure on Mr Brown or his lawyer, determine the status of Mr Brown with respect to bail and set a mention date for Mr Brown to return to court.

It seems as if it was the absence of the steps above, which caused the complaint to the Court of Appeal.

The reality is that if an accused person is not arraigned but was deemed by a judge to be guilty and sentenced, it is very like that the aggrieved convicted person could successfully complain to the Court of Appeal that he did not get a fair trial for want of due process. The case in the media highlights the importance of the arraignment in the criminal justice system. It should never be ignored or circumvented.

- Keith N. Bishop is an attorney-at-law and senior partner in the law firm of Bishop & Partners. He may be contacted at knbishop@gmail.com or by WhatsApp at 876-460-8231.

Sodom & Gomorrah, Lot, Daughters & Abuse

In the continuing series of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April on this and sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica I have taken a more biblical approach this year to looking at some of the current issues. Some of the biblical texts being examined are often not preached or are avoided by the pulpit. The rapid succession of rather disturbing allegations and indeed convictions of pastors for sexual assault and rape of congregants and even children as a recent case showed is disturbing to say the least. In one case which was dealt with rather quickly given our court system, the little brother of the female victim witnessed the ordeal as the pastor lured them in his car and used snacks to try to divert his attention after taking the children supposedly without the mother’s permission to his home under the guise of caregiver for the time he had them; the pastor then tried to convince the little boy not to spill the beans but he did tell his mother. That little one is to praised for exposing the freakish pastor; I can only imagine the little one rehashing the awful sequence of events. The mother took the needed action by reporting it and the bastard of a Pentecostal pastor was arrested, tried and found guilty where he got a twenty years sentence, however the mother who obviously thought she did the right thing has been threatened, vilified and told to leave the church much to her dismay and by extension forced to leave her home by other congregants as she is said to have disrupted the church as some seem not to believe the allegations. The awful remarks outside the courtroom were enough. Isolated by people of the church when the very church is supposed to be a place of welcome and to throw out their own after she did the right thing is telling of the mindset.

Just a basic media scan since the rapid succession of accusations of pastoral abuse to include the popular televangelists and stations such as The Breath of Change, TBC hardly any discourse has come on the subject save and except for generalised commentary and the usual antigay narrative from the latter radio station. It just goes to show what we are up against with some of the churches who are more in using their power to condemn instead of embracing others and becoming so drunk with said power that we have the current issues. Of note twice convicted and antigay Reverend Al Miller who has been making a comeback slowly on television hardly has said a word but of course he was also been selective on sins and especially on homosexuality.

two of the accused Pastors from the Moravian Church (Gleaner photo)

The two other ongoing major matters involving the two Moravian pastors in court and carry over from older cases seem to be stalling where one of the Moravian matters is to be moved to the circuit court in another parish as there are jurisdiction concerns while the other can’t seem to move from the preliminary hearing stage. Even in those cases a similar obsessive supportive narrative from die hard congregants who can see no wrong in their leader which is another matter I may need to do a post on. What is even more egregious even frightening and somewhat deceptive by some is there is hardly any serious condemnation not to create outcasts but towards healing coming from places one would have expected. Coughed up press releases well after the height of the accusations is so hypocritical it is not funny, the stridency is another matter as if we were talking about homosexuality those church organizations and misguided antigay outfits would have been all over it like white on rice. The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS for example are the chief hypocrites involved, they did put out a weak press release similarly to the Umbrella group of churches but the consistency is not there. Instead a generalised strategy is used to obviously deflect the spotlight on long suspected clerical and pastoral abuse yet it is the same church overall that condemns everything else. This blog has carried previous arrests and convictions of clerical and pastoral abuse yet not a word comes from the cherry picking fanatics and all this happens while more sensible religious leaders say virtually nothing either as they are afraid or try to avoid being shouted out of the room by outfits like JCHS, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and the never Lovemarch.

Marches and stands condemning national sex crimes and other atrocities are commendable but where is the introspection, where are these groups on crime for example? Church groups trying in the late stage of the game presenting themselves as bastions of piety is so hypocritical. Now let us look at the Lot incest story with Lot and his daughters. The usual frame of reference from Genesis 19: 13 -38 in the liturgy or sermon is that the angels went to the Sodom & Gomorrah to supposedly find the pure in heart after the reported ‘wickedness’ there namely homosexuality for most pastors locally. But the first notion in the story of the somewhat abuse of females was when the soldiers came to Lot’s house he offered his daughters thinking the guards wanted sex; Genesis 19:8 (also see Judges 19-24) is clear:

“Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they came under the shadow of my roof.”

Women were seen a just incubators for sperm seen as all of nascent life and or for servitude or social commodities in the social pecking order. No abuse occurred however and the soldiers were struck with blindness. The story continues to when the angels usher Lot, his wife and his two daughters with specific instructions to include not to look back. She breaks the rules and is turned into a pillar of salt suggesting the materialistic element of it all as losing all that wealth may have been too much. Lot is left with the girls and they make their way to a cave. There endeth the justification for the destruction of Sodom for ‘homosexuality’ even as the city was seen as ‘wicked’ and in the minds of some theologians doomed for destruction long before the two angels arrived. Bear in mind that these are supposed to be the same angels who came to prophecy to Abraham that his wife Sarah who was barren will become pregnant and Abraham was said to be in negotiations with God as to the fate of the cities. 

here is the Genesis chapter in question in full:

"1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

37 And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day."

ENDS

I am convinced that many pastors do not go on to the rest of the story in fear of losing the ‘fire breathing’ element of the sermon which may make the pastor appear too soft on male homosexuality in particular wherein the daughters are accused of making their father drunk pursuant to incest as they believed that there was no other male in the bloodline so they had an obligation but to have sex with Lot so to continue the generations, given the procreation supportive early Judaism.

Evidently Lot was not too drunk to have gained a strong enough erection as an older man and the girl’s father to impregnate them but the girls are blamed for the incest as he did not know what was happening, his inebriation as the text is presented which may be a function of translation from the Hebrew to Greek/Latin to English in context and which also raises the business of the ‘rape’ of a man. There is a section of the text that effectively tries to paint Lot as a participant but a victim in a sense but without knowledge, often times than not the narrative places the shame on the daughters while exonerating Lot, in other words Lot cannot be blamed. Lot has been seen as opportunistic in his orientation, capitalistic in his motives and privatistic with his ethics at the expense of everything else including his offering of his daughters to the soldiers for them to rape her in lieu of been arrested or worse.

The incest ended up having long term implications for the early Jewish people and their arrangements, the narrative says very little in terms of Lot as the shame that eventually attended the subsequent two nations of Moab or Moabites and Ammon and Ammonites came about and that the father had sex with his daughters versus the divine grace of the people of Hadrian or early Jewish people who feel they are more the chosen ones as opposed to the descendants of Lot. The latter saw themselves as the legitimate people of God and that rift went on for a long time to come; it may even have an impact on present day challenges between Israel and the Palestinians.

Some more conservative Jewish review of the text suggest that the elder daughter was commended for committing the incest supposedly as she continued the bloodline, part of this linked to the aforementioned Moabites and Ammonites birthed from the encounter for example Ruth the Moabite marrying an Ammonite linking the lineage to Jesus; then came Moab, Jessie hence to David while bearing in mind an Ammonite was also married to Solomon. David had his own matter by way of Bathsheeba and affair whilst ordering the murder of her husband to get rid of the competition. Also this entire Lot incest affair occurred prior to the Levitical or holiness codes via Leviticus 18 while many patriarchs were married to blood relatives, Abraham was married to his half sister, his son Isaac was married to his first cousin (a practice still accepted in some circles and in many monarchic arrangements such as present Queen Elizabeth II is married to her Dutch cousin Phillip) yet Leviticus came later to discontinue said relationship types by way of the holiness codes. There is a criticism that Lot went to Sodom and effectively became rich there while ditching his own value systems and he sought to offer his daughters to the soldiers at the door but ended up in a kind of ‘serve him right’ payback in terms of sex and lowered participant in the whole affair.

My understanding of the incest laws here is that the man is the main accused in terms of sentences for men who go with a sister, aunt, mother, daughter but cousins seem not to be so covered directly; while as far as women are concerned as perpetrators it is in the context of the women consenting to sex with a close related male relative and not necessarily as she being the aggressor as we have come to understand the issue of rape. There is another element as well where some believe that the soldiers who came to Lot’s door to inquire of him who were the two men (the angels) in a bid to supposedly commit anal rape on them as a form of humiliation. I am still on the fence with that one but research is ongoing. There is a similar issue of incest in the rape of Tamar by her brother Amnon that also is disturbing to say the least and is often times not openly discussed or presented from the pulpit. I dealt with it in my own way on this post on sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica: Amnon rapes Tamar ........

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:
Anti gay religious voices where are they? .... Pastor charged with sexual assault 

On pastoral abuse, celibacy, cover-ups & passing the buck 2017

Levitical imperatives in the age of ‘grace’ instead of ‘law

Clerical abuse ugliness revealed as antigay religious voices barely respond

Northern Caribbean University female Cheerleader Suspended After playing male role

Church Cherry Picking on Issues again, Western Jamaica Bain Protests .........

More Pastoral Inappropriateness & Under-aged Victims... Silence from The Selective

Another St Thomas Pastor Accused of Rape ........... Where are Anti Gay Religious Groups

I Bet Deafening Silence from Religious Anti Gay Voices ...... Preacher served summons for sexual assault

Tension at Riverton SDA Church board as member accused of sexual assault is still active

Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias

Silent on murders, vocal about gays

Is the pope serious about confronting child abuse? .... the question of the age

Woe unto you ye Pharisees, Saducees & Scribes & your righteous hypocrisy

Impossible to be gay & Christian?

I don’t want to peep in your bedroom ... oh really now

Reverend Al Miller has no moral authority (yet again) to speak on flags & correctness

Levitical imperatives in the age of ‘grace’ instead of ‘law’ & the new covenant

Anti gay pastor and restorative therapy advocate in trouble with the law again

Gay man fears death in lock-up

A  man pleaded guilty to three offences in the St Andrew Parish Court because he is tired of being physically abused in jail. He was suspected to be one of the persons robbing cruisers and other members of the public alike in a phone stealing ring. Sadly the other homeless/displaced MSM/transgender get the blame which is why many stay away from helping them apart from the neglect altogether by the NGOs outside of the usual tokenism.

Samuel Martin pleaded guilty to larceny from a person, malicious destruction of property, and robbery with aggravation from November when he was arrested and subsequent preliminary hearings and entering his plea.

Martin said he pleaded guilty for the offences, not because he has committed the acts, but because he has sustained significant abuse at the Half-Way Tree Police Station lock-up.

"They don't like we because we are homosexuals, Your Honour," Martin said.

"Last night, a get three tump inna mi forehead," he told the judge.

The presiding judge told Martin that his reasons for pleading guilty were wrong.

"The only reason for you to plead guilty is if you do what you are accused of," the judge said.


CELL PHONE

Martin responded: "Your Honour, mi cyah tek di beating anymore. Mi just waan leave Half-Way Tree. Dem beat mi up dis morning."

As the court clerk read the charges, Martin shouted "Guilty".

He was charged for stealing a Samsung S7 Galaxy smartphone, damaging a van, and robbing a man of $10,000.

Martin said: "I'm a former hairdresser on Princess Street, downton. Dem a set mi up fi dead."

The judge remanded him until the December 2, 2018, when he will be sentenced.

"Yuh Honour, dem a go kill mi," Martin exclaimed, before being taken to lock-up.

Other incidents have come to hand and I carried a couple as well which strongly suggest something else is going on with other gay or not miscreants.

In 2011 'Gabriel' was featured in a Jamaica Observer video on men doing women's work, traditionally some jobs in Jamaica are not seen as 'men's work', but not to these men plying their trade as beauticians in downtown Kingston...

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Another phone thief held, forces victim at knifepoint to unlock phone

Man robbed of smartphone by homeless gays

Cruiser robbed of phone on Tom Redcom Avenue

Thug decoy targeting cruisers again, some take action

Anti Gay National Parents' Teachers Assc of Jamaica Owes Taxes!

In a previous post (NPTAJ And Anti-Gay Groups Want J-FLAG Kept Out Of Schools & deal with homelessness)
I had looked at the National Parents' Teachers Association of Jamaica, NPTJA's homophobic stance on teaching on sexual orientation in schools. They just showed up their ignorance and misguided thinking on many fronts. At the time, sadly on JFLAG's part it was the second time most publicly was told off to go and address homelessness by an outside entity and individual, the first major one being this one: Mutabaruka: JFLAG & gov’t should do more for homeless gays 

"The NPTAJ rejects totally, the offer made by J-FLAG to conduct counselling in schools," Hannam said. J-FLAG had said it is willing to help the education ministry and guidance counsellors improve their assistance to students who have problems with their sexuality. J-FLAG's offer of assistance came after news that some of the more than 800 guidance counsellors in the school system are refusing to help students identified as gay or lesbian. In a statement, the lobby group's executive director, Dane Lewis, said he is deeply concerned at the reports and is calling for the education ministry to intervene with strategies to equip counsellors to help students.

The national parent-teacher body has, however, viewed J-FLAG's offer with much suspicion, noting that the offer appears to be another attempt by J-FLAG to introduce elements of what was uprooted from a Home and Family Life (HFLE) curriculum early last year. The HFLE curriculum was the subject of much controversy after material highlighting homosexuality was discovered in a text book prescribed by the curriculum. Now with the issue of some guidance counselors allegedly refusing to offer counsel to lesbian and gay students igniting much public debate, the NPTAJ said it is rejecting any attempt by J-FLAG to offer counselling in schools.

Hannam argued that, "If JFLAG is serious about counselling, they can offer those services privately." He also called on the Ministry to reject the offer made by the gay-rights group. "Let the guidance counsellors do their job," he said.

now comes news of the entity NPTAJ OWES TAXES!, a group that is supposed to be wedded to Christian principles to include Christ's teaching on what is due unto to Caesar is due unto Caesar yet they have the gumption to chastise others.

meanwhile:

The National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica Ltd (NPTAJ) has been left embarrassed after the Registrar of Companies initiated court action to get annual returns that have not been submitted since the organisation was established in 2006.

A bill of $110,000 representing the accumulation of the yearly fees to file the returns plus penalties for not doing so has also been brought against the agency.

"Of course it is embarrassing," Everton Hannam, the president, told The Gleaner after being questioned about the impending Supreme Court trial. The application was filed last year.

Judith Ramlogan, the registrar of companies, said that the her agency was "constrained" to bring the lawsuit because the NPTAJ did not respond to notices sent to it.

Among the explanations given by the parent-teacher group was that the current executive did not know that the agency was expected to file returns.

The NPTAJ is a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation, and the president said: "We were not aware there were some returns that had to be filed annually. We don't pay persons; we don't have that kind of expenses."

"It was also due to the fact," he added, "that there needed to have been some changes with the directorship. A number of the initial directors would have migrated, and so that affected the transferring of information to the present team."

The registrar said that those reasons are the most common among delinquent entities. "When they (companies) register, we indicate to them what they need to do to stay current. That is largely ignored until a matter such as this arises."

The NPTAJ said that it is now pushing to settle the issue out of court, but because the issue is already before the Supreme Court, it will have to appear for the start of the trial to indicate its position to the judge.

... Looking at how to avoid filing returns
Going forward, however, Hannam said that the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica's structures would have to be reviewed. They have to examine how to avoid filing the returns.

But, according to Ramlogan, there's no provision to avoid filing annual returns. "I know the argument is that they don't earn any money, but once you form a company, you are constrained to file annual returns."

The annual return is a document that gives a snapshot of any changes in the company over the year. Ramlogan said that changes are coming, however, to make it easier for making reports if there are no changes. 

Getting a little sick and tired of the hypocritical piety by some yet their integrity cannot stand up to scrutiny, where oh where is the National Integrity Commission Action on this one?

Peace & tolerance

H