BENDING ON BAD WORDS

Political commentator Lloyd B. Smith is urging Jamaican lawmakers to prioritise a revision of the 1843 Towns and Communities Act which makes it a crime to use profane, indecent or obscene language in public spaces.

His statement follows recent utterances by People’s National Party President Mark Golding, and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament (MP) Everald Warmington.

“It (law) needs to be revised and be brought into modern-day reality, because in Jamaica, certain words like the one he (Golding) used is part and parcel of our country,” Smith told The Gleaner.

Golding was caught on camera using an expletive after experiencing microphone issues during a PNP meeting in St Ann South Western on Friday.

“Yow, yow, yow,” he said while testing the microphone. “Well yuh look like yuh ready, yuh soun’ like yuh ready, yuh feel like yuh ready,” he continued before tapping the equipment again. “And, even though the mic nuh ready, and even though the mic, blood…,” he added with more taps as the mic continued to malfunction.

The incident comes just two weeks after Warmington’s expletive-laced speech during a party meeting in Westmoreland on June 29, as he appealed to supporters to vote for Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness in the upcoming general election, regardless of how they may feel about their local candidate.

PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell had called for the controversial MP to be prosecuted.

Both Golding and Warmington have since apologised. Golding said he intended no disrespect to the Jamaican people, while Warmington acknowledged his comments were inappropriate and expressed regret for any offence caused.

However, until the law is amended, Smith believes “everybody will use a ‘bad word’ and then apologise”.

POLITICIANS AND EXPLETIVES

“Politicians are quite famous over the years, one can go way back from Independence, where politicians on both sides of the aisle have used expletives to their followers, to their counterparts – it has almost become par for the course,” he said.

Under Section 9C of the Towns and Communities Act, a person who uses any profane, indecent or obscene language publicly shall be subjected to penalty not exceeding $1,500 or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding 30 days.

Smith believes that since Golding “slipped and fell in this regard”, he should commit to addressing this law should his party form the next government after the general election expected by September.

“It’s good that he has apologised, but more needs to be done,” he said.

While emphasising that he has never used profanity on the political platform during his almost four decades in representational politics, Derrick Smith, former MP for St Andrew North Western, said such language is inappropriate. He, however, added that the controversy was unnecessary fuss.

“We’re dealing with human beings, we’re dealing with Jamaicans, they are exposed every day to this sort of loose expression. So whenever you are on the platform when you’re under pressure, and sometimes, perhaps, if you’re speaking after having a couple of drinks, anything is possible,” he told The Gleaner.

He said he is very “sympathetic to persons who make that mistake”, but commends them for apologising promptly.

“Both wrong, they both accepted that they were wrong, and they both apologised,” he said, adding that that should be enough.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com