Fifty-six years after the Coral Gardens incident in St James, where police and soldiers detained Rastafarians, the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport has signed a deed that will establish a trust fund for the benefit of victims.
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| Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange (second right) hands over a copy of the deed for the Coral Gardens Trust Fund to members of the Rastafarian Coral Gardens Benevolent Society and victims of the Coral Gardens incident yesterday at her ministry's offices on Trafalgar Road in Kingston. Sharing the moment are permanent secretary in the ministry, Denzil Thorpe (back row, second right), and cultural liaison in the ministry, Barbara Blake Hannah (right). (Photo: JIS) |
The deed was signed at the ministry's offices located on Trafalgar Road in Kingston yesterday.
In April 2017, Prime Minister Andrew Holness apologised for what took place, on behalf of the Government.
Included in the prime minister's apology was the commitment to establish a trust fund of no less than $10 million for victims of the Coral Gardens incident. The amount was recommended by the Office of the Public Defender, which started an investigation into the incident in May 2011.
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange said signing the deed is the Government's way of making right to a wrong.
“We [the Government] acknowledge that for 56 years, you, our Rastafarian brothers and sisters, have lived with the physical, psychological and emotional scars of that incident at Coral Gardens and the atrocities that you experienced over the years, so we are taking steps to change that,” Grange said. more
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