An Opposition Member of Parliament has warned of the possibility of a repeat of the 1937 uprising, claiming that many of the conditions that led to the disturbance nearly 80 years ago, still existed.
And MP for St Michael South East Santia Bradshaw warned that should there be a similar revolt, it could prove a lot more catastrophic than the first because of a massive influx of guns.
Santia Bradshaw
“I feel the pulse of the people if members on the other side do not. . . and the signals are there,” Bradshaw cautioned, while speaking on a resolution aimed at raising the profile of the anniversary date of the start of the 1937 disturbances in the House of Assembly this afternoon.
“I want you to understand in 1937 the labourers did not have guns; and our Attorney General is very quick to tell us in this country that the people have guns and he is very concerned with the crime rising in this country.
“So I want for us to be very sensitive and listen to what is happening across this country. We have to listen to the people because it is not business as usual,” Bradshaw advised.
The Opposition MP stressed that while a majority of the population believed that the country had made progress since the social uprising, poor social and working conditions of the labour class, inequality in society and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, meant that conditions were favourable for fresh upheavals.
“A number of those things still exist in society. A number of those things are still happening and a number of those things still concern our people.
“Not that they don’t believe we have made progress, but there is concern, particularly today, as we are in the midst of industrial action across the country, that a number of the issues which would have led to the same uprising in 1937, now still presents [themselves] in 2015,” Bradshaw contended.