Omar Anderson, Freelance Writer
SHOPPERS ARE picking up the tab for the costs of the continuing extortion racket, which the police say many fearful entrepreneurs have now embraced instead of turning to the law.
And those entrepreneurs who have not passed the extortion bill to shoppers have absorbed it as part of their operational costs.
Last week, The Sunday Gleaner spoke to a number of downtown Kingston business owners who agreed that while paying "protection money" in the busy commercial district is not new, many entrepreneurs have fearfully accepted the informal and illegal taxation, and are factoring the extortion costs in their mark-ups.
"Just like how you have water, light, and telephone bills, it's (extortion money) part of the operational expenses," one businessman said, adding that the additional cost of extortion is not easily noticed. "Business is way down in downtown Kingston and some people (business operators) are trying to absorb as much as they can."
According to the businessman, last week Saturday's killing of five persons in downtown Kingston was directly related to the informal revenue-collection system.President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Michael Ammar, acknowledged last week that most of the extortion occurs in the western section of downtown Kingston where there are mostly newcomers in the business. However, he said he doesn't necessarily think business interests are passing on this cost to shoppers.
"The wholesale haberdashery of foods, shoes, etc., in downtown is so cut-throat that not even devaluation of the dollar has caused prices to rise," he said.
He said it is more likely that business owners who pay protection money are absorbing these costs as part of their operations. "They put it as a cost of doing business and absorb it in their bottomline," Mr. Ammar said, adding that retail prices this year are set to be lower than last year.
He said vendors are most likely to include the cost of paying protection money in their mark-ups, as he said paying protection to them is regarded as "paying rent".
Meanwhile, Mr. Ammar is urging downtown business interests to desist paying protection money and report any such overtures to the JCC or the police whose lack of presence in the commercial district helps to foster protectionism."
When they allowed the streets of downtown Kingston to become overrun with vendors, that's when they lost control," he said.
For his part, Laurence Heffes, owner of Heffes Sales and chairman of the Downtown Kingston Management District, said he has never paid protection money and consequently wouldn't have to factor it in his prices.
"It seems this exists, but the people who face it more than anyone else are those vending in the markets and on the streets," he said.
The Sunday Gleaner was unable to contact Dunstan Whittingham, president of the Jamaica Vendors, Higglers and Markets Association, for a response.
Meanwhile, Sunday Gleaner research has shown that protection payment can start at $500 weekly to at least $5,000. Gross revenue from the protection racket has been put at $400 million annually by downtown business interests.
ENCOURAGING EXTORTION
But the police believe that the business community is facilitating and encouraging extortion. They say they are not ineffective, but many entrepreneurs refuse to report incidents of extortion out of fear.
Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams, head of the Crime Management Unit (CMU) which has been mandated to break the back of extortion, supports that view.
"The business people love it and are happy with it and they want it to be put in the whole scheme of things," he explained, accusing the entrepreneurs of seeking to legitimise the extortion racket. "All they do is pay extortion money and put it in their mark-up, so they don't lose, the consumer pays for it."
"We (police) were quite pro--active and pre-emptive but no one is running to us with any complaints," he said. "We did everything in our power to let people (business owners) know we are willing and ready to deal with it."
He feels that extortion is behind last week's blood-letting."A man went and touched another man's turf and it caused a conflict and this time it led to war," he said.
Another businessman with whom The Sunday Gleaner spoke last week said the vending issue and extortion rackets in downtown Kingston have disgusted him so much that he's looking soon to close shop and migrate.
He said he was not blaming the police for the continuing extortion racket, but his own colleagues whom he criticised for not playing a more active role to fight extortion.
"The dons are in control and if the vendors issue is not dealt with, law and order will never return downtown," he told The Sunday Gleaner.
Meanwhile, police sources in the St. Andrew North police division have said that extortion in the Red Hills Road area is virtually non-existent and that businesses in the community are thriving again.
It has also been theorised that the recent frequent eruptions in Spanish Town have been linked to extortion being carried out by persons from the two major political parties, who have been competing to seize lucrative turfs to practise their trade.
