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Ruel Reid-JC saga... a welcome endWord late yesterday that Ruel Reid stepped down as principal of Jamaica College (JC) was the kind of welcome news that many wanted to hear.Before then, nobody seemed capable of suggesting to Reid just which section of the Caribbean Sea he should take a dive, until the board of JC initially offered him what seemed like a swimming pool and massage package over another five years, something that - happily - was rejected by the Ministry of Education.JC's Board Chairman Michael Bernard is a fine man. A distinguished Jamaican - one I love in such a way that a man could love another and remain a true man. From a personal perspective, he and I made history as opening pair in the first night cricket match staged at Melbourne Oval years ago. So, for me, there exists a bias in my fondness of him.But the board that he led did not handle the matter well, leading up to Reid's decision to cut loose, under terms that we are still unaware of.Just for argument, had the principal of Yallahs High School been slapped with corruption-related charges, would we be seeing the same hand of seeming care being stretched in his direction?True, Reid is facing charges and has not been convicted. But, for the police to charge such a man, a minister and senator, while his administration is in power, and for the prime minister to subsequently fire him from the Cabinet the evidence must have been compelling, if not overwhelming.Let it be iterated that I have nothing personal against Reid. It's just that much of what has been happening seems totally wrong, and others so charged do not get similar treatment.The stand-in principal at JC, Wayne Robinson, the man some of us ironically call Crime Stop, must have been the most frustrated individual around, at least up to the point of Reid's decision to quit. The school should ensure that Robinson's work over the last five years, which has resulted in stellar achievements by, some would argue, the finest school that Jamaica has produced since the turn of the 20th century, will be truly saluted. Hopefully Robinson will now be confirmed in the job that he should have embraced as his own five years ago. State of emergency - another act of idiocy(Antony Anderson) Here we go again, another declaration of a state of emergency because the Government is clueless about how crime should be managed.So one more dose of gentian violet solution (purple lotion) has been applied to the hand of a patient suffering from cancer. That seems to be how the Government is trying to treat the greatest problem that has affected this country since its inception - crime.I had been getting messages about the Government's plan to declare a state of emergency days before it happened. A high-ranking member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, who is very much on the front line, even told me that a new police commissioner would be appointed soon, as many influential people were unhappy with the incumbent's performance.So, when the announcement came that a press conference was scheduled for Sunday morning, I immediately felt that Major General Antony Anderson would have been given the boot. No such luck, though. Instead, the army man said the same things that he uttered over a year ago at a similar function, joined by a prime minister and an attorney general who want people to meet them at echo valley.Nasty, too, as it would appear that the Government could not have at least given the Court of Appeal time to hand down its decision in respect of a related matter. But then, just ask who the Government's chief legal advisor is and there would be no doubt as to why the wait was cancelled.So what will we achieve with another state of emergency declared one month before the official start of the winter tourist season - the only industry that is keeping the Jamaica economy afloat? Nothing... except for more heartache, suffering, and pain.Crime has been setting back this country for too long. The people of Jamaica must demand that those who are paid to defend and protect them do so or pack up and go. No more states of emergency.Things have got so bad that nowadays whenever I drive in the Corporate Area, especially at night, and a biker for example comes alongside me, I anticipate that shots will start firing. When people get home they have to be looking around, as if searching for a valuable item, to determine if anyone is lying in wait to carry out an ambush. Come on man, its time the people in whom we have placed our trust protect us and stop depending on states of emergency.Apart from the prime minister, will anyone else ever be able to sleep with their windows and doors open?Jeffrey Dujon 40 years after his Test debutNext month will mark 40 years since Peter Jeffrey Leroy Dujon made his debut for the West Indies against Australia on that continent.It was the Boxing Day Test match, and it would mark a glittering career by a wicketkeeper/batsman, whose Test match statistics are better than most in his category.Dujon, a Wolmerian by schooling, was one of the most elegant batsmen that I have seen, perhaps even the most. And yes, people always mention Lawrence Rowe's name - his image is still not on the Sabina Park mural - when it comes to elegance, but Dujon was special.His ability as a wicketkeeper is without question, particularly to fast bowling. Any man who consistently collected missiles sent down by Andy Roberts, Patrick Patterson, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Wayne Daniel, and Courtney Walsh must either be mad or the bravest of them all. Dujon was the latter.The only move I regret about Dujon is his leading Wolmer's to victory over Kingston College (KC) in the Sunlight Cup final when I was in first form. As far as I remember, KC made around under 150 runs in the match at Sabina Park and Wolmer's knocked it off, losing just a couple of wickets in the process, one of which was Dujon for 22, caught off the bowling of left-arm quick Ivor Lodge. But Wolmer's were so strong, and Fitz Lee and a fellow I can only remember as Sewell knocked off the runs.After his retirement from international cricket, Dujon became a cricket commentator and part-time coach. But my admiration for him never ended. One day in the 1990s during a Test visit by England, there was a match between a local media team vs international media during the rest day of the Sabina Park Test.Dujon and I were among those selected on the local media team. We batted first and after losing three wickets, Dujon and I met at the pitch. I batted at number four, he at five. I was over the moon...my idol in batting occupying the crease with me. Early into the innings, Dujon played the finest cover drive you could imagine. Within seconds I heard someone say, "You naa run," and turned around to see him down at my end while I stood there mesmerised by the stroke and watching it go close to the boundary. I eventually made it safely to the other end. We put on 52 that day, he making 24 and I, 26, but, to me, runs did not matter - being treated to sheer elegance, even in his latter cricket years, did.Maroons need some cooling downJust when did the Maroons gain so much power and authority that they can run a Government within a Government?What has been happening in Accompong Town, St Elizabeth, of late is intolerable. Yet we hear very little, if anything, from the Government, which should be telling the disorganised, feuding few that they should cool it and integrate themselves in the real society and conform to its rules and regulations.What we are seeing in the Accompong Town dispute must have been what the Maroons were doing when they were selling out their own to the British many years ago.The Maroons, by definition, are descendants of runaway slaves. That means that I qualify as a Maroon, and perhaps about another 90 per cent of Jamaicans too. But you don't see some of us jumping all over the place like headless chickens pushing any Maroon agenda, because, let's face it, the history of the Maroons is not something to jump and shout about.We are hearing all kinds of stories about thuggery and the embracing of criminals by some in Accompong Town. If there is merit to those, the police, not any 'fool-fool' Maroon committee, must deal with the matter decisively. Even recently, one so-called Maroon tried to prevent a Jamaica Observer news team from entering Accompong.We are living in a modern world. Those stories of heroine Nanny of the Maroons catching bullets with her buttocks are mere fictitious ones that have no bearing on current-day realities.The Maroons of Accompong Town should get real, behave themselves, and adhere to Jamaican laws instead of running around as if they are on their own. If they do not know how to do that, they should be told how to, in no uncertain manner.