Peaches White lived through the frightening experience of seeing her community, Tivoli Gardens, being pounded by the military last year. But eight months later she is still in fear for her life after losing over $800,000 during the incursion.
As tears rolled down her cheeks, the 44-year-old White recently recalled the events of the days during the military incursion of the west Kingston community, and how she is now left to wonder how she can come up with such an exorbitant amount of money to repay persons who were involved in three partner plans for which she was the banker.
"Mi a tell di God Almighty truth, mi deh pon mi last now, Mi have a boy weh have cancer and mi affi tek care a him. Mi nuh know wah fi do fi get back di people dem money, mi try fi do it di right way and is like dem a go roun' mi," an emotional White told THE STAR on Monday.
"Right now my life and mi son life at risk. Di people a send threat seh dem want back dem money or dem a go do mi things. See it deh, a war cause this ova di money," White said as she pointed to a scar on her hand.
According to her, the money went missing while the security forces carried out their operations in the community. The money she says was kept in a shop which she operates at her home on Dreckett Place in Tivoli Gardens.
She explained to THE STAR that on May 27, the day the money supposedly went missing, she asked permission from a group of soldiers who were camping inside her home to go and get food items to make a pot of porridge.
While putting the food items together, she says it occurred to her to make a check on the money which she had put on top of a refrigerator, and which was there at least two days earlier.
"One mind jus' tell mi fi check if mi see di money. When mi spin roun', a one bag mi see and a two bag suppose to deh pon di fridge, one wid sweetie and one wid money," she explained. "Mi seh to miself please mek a di sweetie dem gone wid but when mi go look a di sweetie bag lef, and di money bag gone."
Asked if she had any idea where the money could have gone or who could have been responsible for taking it, White said a group of soldiers had searched the shop earlier that day.
White also said she immediately sought the help of a soldier who introduced her to a major who promised to launch an investigation.
However, White claims that after being called to meetings including one at the Office of the Prime Minister, and even being told by personnel from the Jamaica Defence Force that she would have to do a lie detector test, she is even more confused than she was the day the money went missing.
"Last week Wednesday, when dem call mi up a Camp mi walk out lef' dem inna di office, 'cause is like dem waa shove things down my throat and nuh mek me get di people dem money ... Dem call mi fi sign a statement and next thing mi hear dem a say man a go question mi. Mi tell dem not without a lawyer," she said.
When contacted yesterday Captain Basil Jarrett, head of the Civil Military Affairs arm of the JDF made checks and later confirmed that investigations into the woman's claims were being conducted.
He said there was nothing White could do right now but await the outcome of the investigations.
Capt Jarrett did, however, say that it would be a surprise to him if the investigations unearth that the security forces had behaved in a negative manner.
"We take charges like this very seriously, discipline, integrity and honour are things we hold dearly in the JDF and I would be surprised if anything negative would be found in this incident," he explained.
