Kartel, Deva Bratt at odds - Deejays claim rights to 'Portmore Empire'

( L - R ) Deva Bratt, Vybz Kartel - File

Incarcerated deejay Deva Bratt has verbally lashed out at fellow deejay Vybz Kartel, accusing the artiste of stealing his 'Portmore Empire'.

In February of this year Deva Bratt, real name Sheldon Smith, was taken into custody in connection with an alleged case of carnal abuse, committed against a 14-year-old girl. He was picked up by police from his home in Westchester, Portmore.

After being given bail for this incident the deejay was accused of raping another girl. He was again taken in custody and the two cases are still before the court.

Felt betrayed and belittled

In an interview published yesterday on the popular Dancehallmuzik.com website, Deva Bratt who spoke from the Greater Portmore police lock-up claimed that he felt betrayed and belittled. He said that he has been left to rot in jail by fellow deejay Vybz Kartel.

He is quoted as saying; "... A hear mi hear Kartel a seh mi not in (Portmore) Empire, but mi neva tek dat serious, cause me a think how mi fi get kick out a Empire when I am Empire? Is me start Empire years ago; yes Kartel buss di ting bigger, but how yuh fi go behind di founder back an register company in your name one?"

Get kick out

He continued; "...him go announce seh me get kick out, and now a throw word against him fren who inna jail? An yuh wonder why dem call him Judas?"

The artiste also said that Kartel along with Munga 'Honourebel' have lyrically thrown words at him with Munga referring to him as a 'pedophile.' Bratt pointed to Kartel's Never Tun A Raper on the Stimulant Rhythm as lashing out at him.

The song states, "when yuh see di gal dem, nuh hold down/ low har nuh/ nuh drape up/ let har go/ nuh bodda fi... I coulda neva tun a rapah/ bun a rapah ... mi nuh tek if yuh nuh gimme though... swear to God mi nah go a court pan no rape charge ... "

Registered trademark

THE STAR was unable to get in touch with Vybz Kartel, however in a release sent to us from his publicist, the deejay is quoted as saying, "the Portmore Empire is a registered trademark of Adidjaheim Records and was registered almost two years ago with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO). All Portmore Empire artistes are signed to Adidjaheim Records, and only signed artistes are allowed certain privileges or afforded access to certain resources as it relates to expenditures or liabilities incurred by said artistes."

The release further stated that the Portmore Empire does not associate itself with anyone who is involved with any case of carnal abuse or exploitation of women.

In the meantime, Deva Bratt in his interview said that his lawyers are working on getting bail and he was hoping to be released by Christmas.

'Portmore Empire does not associate itself with anyone who is involved with any case of carnal abuse or exploitation of women'

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SPOUSE SHOOTS COP IN NECK - Man was playing with girlfriend's service firearm

A policewoman was admitted to hospital last Friday after she was accidentally shot by her boyfriend who was playing with her service firearm, police told THE STAR yesterday.

The incident happened at the common-law couple's Toronto Avenue home off Molynes Road in St Andrew, police say. Up to yesterday, the 23-year-old constable, who works at the Community Safety and Security branch on Oxford Road, St Andrew, was still in hospital in stable condition.

Man arrested

The boyfriend, Ian Wallace, 35, a tour driver, has since been arrested and charged with shooting with intent, wounding with intent and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. Police say he is to appear in court next Friday.

Reports reaching THE STAR, are that about 10:30 p.m., the couple, who has been living together for the past four years, was in bed when the policewoman got up to use the bathroom.

While she was in the bathroom, the boyfriend, police say, went into her handbag and took out her 9mm Glock service pistol which had a magazine with 15 rounds. He ejected a round from the breach of the weapon and released the magazine, police say.

But apparently not knowing that another bullet had gone into the breach when he ejected the first one, he pointed the gun at the policewoman.

Police say he was warned twice to put the firearm down, but refused and pulled the trigger, shooting the constable in her neck. The police were called and she was rushed to the hospital where she was admitted, while Wallace was taken in to custody.

Following investigations, he was arrested and charged by Detective Sergeant Quincy Sterling from the Half-Way Tree CIB.

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Bail for cop charged with colleague's rape

published: Saturday | September 27, 2008

A policeman who is accused of raping a policewoman at her home on August 18, appeared in the Home Circuit Court yesterday.

He is 22-year-old Detective Constable Adrian Johnson.

He has been granted bail in the sum of $400,000 with a surety to return to court on October 24.

It is being alleged that, on August 18, the policewoman asked the accused to transport her home. While he was at the policewoman's house, the accused allegedly committed the offences of rape and indecent assault. A report was made to the police that same day.

Statements were collected and submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who ruled that the policeman must be charged with rape and indecent assault.

The policeman was charged yesterday morning and taken before the court.

Attorney-at-law Carolyn Reid-Cameron, in making the bail application, said the accused did not rape the policewoman. She said the complainant and the accused were lovers.

Justice Carol Beswick granted the policeman bail and ordered him to report to the Constant Spring Police Station on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

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PM wants new designation for Caricom states Points to peculiar needs, exposure to natural disasters

Saturday, September 27, 2008

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding yesterday called for Jamaica and other Caricom states to be recognised as "small vulnerable and highly Indebted middle-income countries", instead of their current international ranking as "middle income developing countries".

Golding told the United Nations that Jamaica and its Caricom (Caribbean Community) partners were proposing the new designation as a special category of international recognition because of the difficulties created by their peculiar needs, as well as their exposure to natural disasters.

"We call on the international community to devise strategic programmes to address the peculiar needs of middle-income countries with deep pockets of poverty," Golding said.

The prime minister was addressing the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said that the focus of development co-operation cannot be too narrowly defined.

Said Golding: "The varied economic and social profiles of developing countries require a more flexible response that recognises investment in human capital, infrastructure and the transfer of technology as critical elements in reducing poverty in a sustained way.

"This is particularly important to developing countries that are classified, based on per capita income, as middle-income countries," the prime minister said.

"This classification deprives them of access to concessionary financing and creative measures to reduce the crippling debt burden that afflicts so many of them. If we are to reduce poverty, the peculiar circumstances of these countries cannot be ignored, since that is where more than one-third of the world's poor are to be found," he added.

Turning to the UN's millennium development goals (MDGs), Golding said that although the process was halfway to the 2015 deadline, it was behind schedule.

"It is time to take stock to see where we are falling behind, who is falling behind and what must be done to make up lost ground," the Jamaican prime minister told the UN.

A critical success factor, he suggested, must be the partnership between developed and developing countries, as defined in the 2002 Monterey Consensus on Financing for Development, integrating aid, debt relief, market access, good governance and foreign direct investment.

"These initiatives were carefully calibrated. Proceeding with some elements without the others will not achieve the goals we have set. Indeed, it might make it worse," he said.

The prime minister said that developing countries must all pull up their socks, if they are to reverse the slippage they have suffered.

"Developing countries must ensure that their priorities are properly structured. Developed countries must live up to their commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of their GDP to official development assistance. This is a modest amount yet, only five countries have to date done so," the prime minister pointed out.

On the issue of global economic governance, Golding said that in 60 years very little change has been made to its governance structure and practices, and he called for a re-engineering of the global financial system.

He said that Jamaica supported the call for reform of the existing financial infrastructure, to reflect the new global realities and make it more proactive and responsive to the needs of the entire world community.

"But, it must involve more than merely expanding the membership of an exclusive club. It must be development-driven, recognising that poverty anywhere, is a threat to prosperity elsewhere," he said.

The crisis currently rocking the world's financial markets reflects the inadequacy of the regulatory structures that are essential to the effective functioning of any market, Golding said. But he said it also represented the failure on the part of the international financial system to facilitate the flow of resources into areas where they can produce real wealth.

"The world is not short of capital. What it lacks are the mechanisms to ensure the efficient utilisation o

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More than $48 m spent on school furniture

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Chief procurement officer in the Ministry of Education, Leon Fraser, has disclosed that more than $48 million has so far been spent on the issuance of contracts to manufacture school furniture, some of which are already being delivered.

"To date, we have ordered furniture in the region of $48 million, and that dollar value will increase as we order more furniture as we go along. Furniture is being distributed to all regions," Fraser disclosed.

But the chief procurement officer said there was a challenge accessing the eastern end of the island with the destruction of the Harbour View bridge.

"There is a challenge with the eastern end of the country, because the bridge at Harbour View was washed out and the ford that was supposed to be built was also washed out.
When the temporary ford was put in place, we managed to get some furniture out to Yallahs and to Seaforth High, and the plan was to get to other schools in that section of the island. But again, we have suffered a setback because the ford was washed out," he said.

He said the ministry was looking at other ways to get the furniture to the affected schools.

"We are hopeful that we can find some alternative route to the ford, we don't know how, but that is the major drawback right now, because we would have really addressed that situation already," he said.

"We don't know how quickly it [the ford] will be repaired so that we can resume deliveries, because we have furniture in production and we are delivering them as they come off the production line. So it's just a matter for us to really get access to the schools," he added.

Fraser said the Ministry had delivered 14,302 pieces of furniture to schools across the island up until Friday, September 19 and deliveries would continue throughout the school year "because we get requests from the regions in an ongoing manner".

"It is very expensive to supply furniture to schools. A set of desks and chairs costs over $4,000, so we need the school management and the students to actually take care of the furniture that is being supplied to the schools. I don't think a lot of them are aware of just how expensive it is, not only to manufacture the furniture ,but to deliver it," he said.

The haulage costs are also high and we want to ensure that all the stakeholders really take care of the furniture, It's one thing to ask us to provide it, but you also need to play your part," he added.

Last year the ministry delivered more than 124, 000 pieces of furniture to schools across the island.

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