Dexta Daps Wants Jamaican Government To Implement Social Distancing Measures In Jail
Dancehall artiste Dexta Daps is generally pleased with how the Jamaican government has approached the coronavirus pandemic. But if there is one suggestion he would make to help further curtail the virus, it would be to enforce social distancing behind bars.
“Just mek sure seh a nuh so much people inna one cell. It was crazy fi know seh we have social distancing and still have eight, nine, people inna one cell,” the Seaview-bred artiste said this morning during an Instagram live.
His suggestion comes after he was taken into police custody for questioning on April 8 with regards to gang-related activity in the St Andrew South Police Division. The entertainer was detained at the Hunt’s Bay Police Station until his release on April 30 and commended Prime Minister Andrew Holness for implementing COVID-19 safety procedures at the facility.
“Unfortunately, when it (COVID-19) just started I was in jail so I didn’t know much about what was going on on the outside,” he said.
“On the inside now, I think he (PM Holness) did well to some extent. Him gwaan good to me cause him mek sure seh everybody weh come inna di cell get checked from another place. Before yuh come inna di cell yuh haffi get checked out at Duhaney Park or something… There’s always room for improvement but you can’t just tell a man seh him nah do good and him a do so much,” the Breaking News singer added.
During the live, which was broadcast after his appearance on the morning show CVM at Sunrise, Daps also shared his thoughts on the ongoing protests in the United States against racial injustice and police brutality. The protests, triggered by the recent death of George Floyd, who was killed after a white police officer (Derek Chauvin) knelt on his neck for several minutes, have also accompanied fires and looting.
“I think the point is getting across regardless of what is going on, so I can’t say I regret anything that’s going on,” he said.
“Obviously you expected looting in demonstration… Looting is personal, that is not demonstrating. People just get crazy so that is gonna be in demonstrations but I’m pretty pleased with the demonstration. In France, the mount a people mi see. The streets full, mi cya see nothing else. Yuh cya even see the streets, organised demonstration. How nobody a go tell dem fi move? Yuh cya tell so much people fi move. That is getting the point across you know.”
As he commended people for taking a public stand against racial inequality, he also shared his experience with racism when he lived in the United States some years ago.
“I’ve had racial encounters numerous times in America; people just see you come in a gas station and deal with you different and you can see it cause other people’s in there,” he said. “(This happens) All the time. Even when I’m on the road sometimes performing, certain places weh yuh go. Go a Germany one time, go down inna train station, man stop all four a we and bare people a walk pass we suh. Mi a seh a wah dis, mi look pon we colour and mi see it… Dem deh deh a talk to we until dem finish now and decide fi let we go.”
Daps added that he reached to touch the gentleman’s shoulder as a symbol of peace, but said the man jumped back.
“Coming like one piece a filth a touch him,” the artiste recalled. “Mi just walk weh cause mi nuh want him flip pon me. It’s not my country, and my brain can’t process it to this day.”