[sweetpeas]

5,000 PEOPLE CAN’T BE WRONG! CAMPAIGNERS TO DELIVER PETITION AND DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE JAMAICA EMBASSY,1-2 Prince Consort Road, Kensington, London, SW7, JULY 28, 2004,10-11.00 am. Our petition is now closed. Thanks to all those who signed on-line and apologies to those who could not. Your help is still needed. Stand with us outside the Jamaica High Commission and demonstrate against road deaths on the island. Last year, 15-year-old Londoner, Allison Beckford, was killed less than 24 hours after attending her uncle’s funeral in Jamaica. Allison, like so many, was the victim of a reckless drivers. Since then, the Allison Beckford Campaign (ABC) for safer roads in Jamaica has campaigned to reduce the numbers of road deaths on the island. The first year anniversary of Allison’s death will be marked by a demonstration outside the Jamaican High Commission, 1-2 Prince Consort Road, Kensington, London SW7, on Wednesday 28 July between 10 and 11 am. Please visit our website – http://www.allisonbeckford.com and keep up with developments. Use your voice. Join us outside the Jamaica High Commission and demonstrate your intolerance of the situation on Jamaican roads. Thank you. - together we can make a difference -
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[Fredblack]

@Sweetpea. There is something wrong with the electronic petition. Excellent idea. The issue of road deaths in the Caribbean is a national disgrace..Lack of regulation, lack of technology, lack of sufficient police officers in the various traffic/transport division.

Those guys get away with literal murder. Private drivers, but transport/bus drivers are the worse and don't give a damn about ordinary people's safety..

Feel very strong on this..Always glad to the JA people rally. Good work...

FB..

[sweetpeas]

Thanks for your comments and support. I've checked the web, it seems to be okay now. Tell all your friends to petition and, if you can, join us on Wednesday.

We're all tired of talking about the roads in Jamaica, now's the time to act. Check the website for further action by Allison Beckford Campaign (ABC) organisers.

[Bredder Tukoma]

Yes sweetpea road deaths in Jamaica are a disgrace. Everytime I have been there there is some major accident. That flatbridge is ridiculous. And in the rain? Damn.

And the public drivers do anything to earn a dollar a bit quicker. Overtaking on bends when you have people life in your hands. No wonder drivers have to flee the scene of accidents. They deserve a severe beating.

Good cause. I will sign it too.

[The Watcher]

Same thing in Zimbabawe...

The inter city roads are narrow (single lane) and bendy. Bus drivers always race full speed down these roads on both sides. They always crash and dozens die. its a disgrace! I saw the wreckage of such a crash once.... Never knew it was the same elsewhere.

Ill sign it

It wont let me! says something about wrong parametersconfused3

[Fredblack]

@Sweetpeas..Petition still not working..Sis You have my full commitment on this issue here and I intend to follow developments with great seriousness. Can I say in advance I will not attend the meeting as I have a policy of attending only a few meetings a year personally as I don't have the time.

One meeting invariably leads to another which is cool unless you have a heavy time table which requires great discipline in how you use your time. So I am encouraging those who have the time to give that kind of support.

But if it comes to having people at rallies of Caribbean government or whatever, I will assure I have people there. You can guarenteee that.

What I will do is to do what I can in terms of rallying people using our contacts, particulr our people from JA who I will crack the whip to get them out and active. I will also rally letters and that kind of thing which I can do by phone, PC etc and get the word to other black forums type things which I am aware of..

Can I suggest something and I will probably do myself but think it important to raise. While this issue is specific to Jamaica, it is Caribbean wide. To my knowledge apart from the really really small islands only Grenada, Barbados for obvious reasons and French Martinique which is a highly regualated place and Dominica do not have this problem.

This issue needs to be raised at the CARICOM level. I can guarentee we will get island wide support on this matter, because I have seen demonstrations on this matter on most islands. The support is there across the board and this will not only help Jamacian but all Caribbean people in terms of getting a higher and wider profile and discussion.

Also the campaign team needs to use the power of not only Jamaicans here which is very considerable, particularly financially as Jamicans abroad keep Jamaica from descending into civil war and keeps governments out of trouble, because people abroad contribute big time to the finances of the country, both directly in terms of money to family but constant visits and communication.

Moreover we need to use the tourist angle which these people are very very susceptible to, because they care more about foreigners and Jamaicans abroad than local people. Equally, Jamaicans here do not live in isolation to other Caribbeans who visit the place constantly. That is an important lever that must be used.

FB..Sis get somone on that site quickly. If you want to rally people the means has smooth and efficient and definitely effective. A person who just decide on the institnct to sign the petition may not come back if it is not working...So action stations on that ...

FBclp)

By the way good work to all the brothers who have responded positively on this most pressing issue to ordinary people..

[sweetpeas]

Hi Fredblack

We don't seem to have a problem with the web. We've checked it and tested it and it seems to be fine. Please ensure you fill out allthe fields, especially the email address, and it should work.

Thanks for your message of support. Once we've demonstrated we can start our next plan of action. Any help you can offer will be gratefully appreciated as, although we are fighting for change, support is not always forthcoming when things have to be done!

We will be following up on some of your suggestions. Keep looking on the web for more infor.

Wish us luck for tomorrow. Once again, thanks for your support.

Sweetpeas.

[The Watcher]

@ Sweetpeas

I put in all the info but still get the message about parameters...

[Bredder Tukoma]

Strange.I had no problems.

I got the confirmation email back as well.

[JONHNCROW234]

ME AS WELL EVERYTING WENT FINE.

[Kunjufu]

Sweetpea; sorry I'm ate to respond unfortunately I've been out of the country, I tried like Fred to sign the petition but I'm having problems too. I'll try again later.

On the issue of Allison's death, I would go further than fred and say that its a problem endemic to countrys with extreme poverty. Having been in Jamaica last year, Poor Allison death is no surprise as crashes (especially head on crashes), were a daily occurance. From my observation the issue is greatly ecomonically driven as much as culturally driven i canm say without fear of contradiction that the driven in Jamaica is the most reckless I have ever seen anywhere. The Jamaica authorities are taken overt measure (not enough in my view) to change this but in this respect unless there are some serious measures taken to break this dangerous driving practises (mainly by rival taxi's and dollar buses)there will be many many more needless deaths.

[Saint]

I can say the same thing happens in Nigeria, it is terrible and shocking. Many people die on Nigerian Roads, it is alarming, it has something to do with poverty. You can't force people with cars that are not road worthy off the road because there are just too many of them.The roads are in terrible condition, I also agree that reckless driving is also a major cause of accidents. When you put all this together +highway rules not been enforced,the result is high number ofaccident, and high number of fatalities. Even with thepoor condition of the Hospitals, few or no emergency service personnels, then you are expecting the worse.

[Demon]

i see..........blkwall

[Fredblack]

@All is it me...cos this thing aint working for me.....

Wil