Butu Baroque and Ghettofabulous

The Butufication of Kingston and St. Andrew

Forget Goat Island because it is Kingston and St. Andrew that is in great need of environmental help. Kingston and St. Andrew is beginning to look like a concrete townhouse congested Jungle and I wonder why the Environmental Groups are going crazy over Goat Island, predicting Environmental doom but are completely silent on the destruction of Kingston and St. Andrew at the hands of unscrupulous developers.

Every piece of empty land in and around Kingston and St. Andrew is being converted into some tacky over the top Florida style townhouse complex compound with big tacky slow moving electric gates bigger than Gods own pearly Gates. This to me is a catastrophic environmental disaster because where there was once a nice house in a big lovely green yard or a nice piece of open land, full of trees, birds, various wildlife and a flourishing eco-system, now sits a tacky looking oversize hideous townhouse complex that is almost invading the blasted sidewalk, squeezing every square inch out of the yard and causing an eye sore to all.

Slow Moving Electric Pearly Gates

We need a freeze on these developments until we can put in place a proper urban development plan in relation to projected population growth and the environment. Green space is a vital requirement, Kingston and St. Andrew is supposed to be a green city but removing the natural green space is causing an increase in temperatures with smog conditions that can be seen from miles around. Trees and other plants help cool the environment, making vegetation a simple and effective way to reduce urban heat. Trees and vegetation lower surface and air temperatures by providing shade and through evapotranspiration.

The use of trees and vegetation in the urban environment brings benefits beyond mitigating urban heat islands including:

• Reduced energy use: Trees and vegetation that directly shade buildings decrease demand for air conditioning.
• Improved air quality and lower greenhouse gas emissions: By reducing energy demand, trees and vegetation decrease the production of associated air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. They also remove air pollutants and store and sequester carbon dioxide.
• Enhanced stormwater management and water quality: Vegetation reduces runoff and improves water quality by absorbing and filtering rainwater.
• Reduced pavement maintenance: Tree shade can slow deterioration of street pavement, decreasing the amount of maintenance needed.
• Improved quality of life: Trees and vegetation provide aesthetic value, habitat for many species, and can reduce noise.
• Trees remove gaseous air pollution primarily by uptake via leaf stomata, though some gases are removed by the plant surface. Once inside the leaf, gases diffuse into intercellular spaces and may be absorbed by water films to form acids or react with inner leaf surface

It is no wonder that we are feeling hotter and finding it more difficult to breathe. The poor wildlife is converging on what little green space we have left, too small to sustain life and my yard seems to be over run with birds, lizards and various other animals fighting for space simply because their habitats are slowly being taken away from them to build ugly Townhouse compounds, for vision-less low class people.

Living With The Land - Natural Building 

The difference between a state like Florida and Jamaica is that Florida is a very large featureless/ugly swampy dumped up landmass and their Townhouse complexes are spread out over large distances, while in Jamaica we seem to mush these ugly townhouses together, destroying the natural features along the way…  It is also amazing that we can no longer get our fat “Wendy’s eating” asses out of our cars to open the blasted gates claiming security concerns but anyone who knows Jamaica knows that Security like poverty is the mother of all excuses to justify all manner of almshouse, not to mention sitting in your car waiting on very slow moving electric gates to open is a security disaster waiting to happen.

It is also getting lonely, opening and closing the gate to drive in and out of the yard, there was a time when a simple thing like opening ones gate to drive in or out was a social event because your neighbours would also be doing the same thing and this was the perfect opportunity to talk to each other, to say “hi how are you, how life? what is happening?”… This use to be normal get to know the people around you moment but these days the neighbors start pressing the open gate button as soon as they drive on the avenue, as they drive right into their car porch and slip into their houses, now you have no idea who lives around you..

Sustainable Architecture - Construction designed to have minimal negative Impact on the environment and one that promotes a healthy natural environment. The architecture that seeks to maintain and enrich the natural environment.  (Places & Spaces Vol 4. Page 74)

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 Andrew Holness's Butu Baroque and Ghettofabulous Compound

Early in the 1600s, an elaborate new style called Baroque lavished buildings with complex shapes, extravagant ornaments, opulent paintings, and bold contrasts.

Baroque: The word baroque means imperfect pearl, from the Portuguese word barroco. The baroque pearl became a favorite centerpiece for the ornate necklaces and ostentatious brooches popular in the 1600s. The trend toward flowery elaboration transcended jewelry into other art-forms, including painting, music, and architecture. Centuries later, when critics put a name to this extravagant time, the word Baroque was used mockingly. I now borrow the phrase I came across online “Butu Baroque”  to describe what is happening in and around Jamaica because it seems we have lost our damn minds.

Bling: Conspicuous Consumption of Low class People

The Rumour Mill Surrounding Holness, Digicel and Claro 

On approving the merger of Digicel and Claro in August 2011, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding insisted that Digicel must continue operating two separate networks. However Bruce Golding left office and Andrew Holness took over as Prime Minister of Jamaica. In the weeks leading up to the December 29 general election and some say after parliament was dissolved, the requirement for the two separate networks was dropped but was not made public until sometime after.

The Butu Mansion and The Butu Building it

Clovis Toons

The situation started a massive rumor that Andrew Holness got paid handsomely from Digicel for reversing the two-network requirement for the proposed Digicel/Claro merger.... however whether true or false, real or imaginary, Jamaicans have a saying that “if a no so it go then something must go so”….

Approaching The Monster Compound

Some time ago Andrew Holness started building the Mother of all Ghetto mansions, a compound to rival all compounds, one that would make the oil rich Sultan of Brunei green with envy and Tony Montana's scarface mansion look like a pigeon coop. Some people are calling it the Digicel Mansion because they are convinced it was paid for as a result of the merger, however I have no proof of that and cannot make that claim. This construction is Ghettofabulous at its very worst, a style that can only be described as Butu Baroque! Which leaves one to wonder just what message is this young leader of the opposition party is trying to send to the Jamaican people and what does this say about this man's personality, who would build something so tacky, over the top and ugly.

When dog have money, him buy cheese!!

Daniel Thwaites is an attorney-at-law .... "Actually, I didn't appreciate the blogs calling it 'ghetto fabulous' and 'buttu baroque'. I thought that was disrespectful."... Well sorry but I think the house itself is disrespectful and insulting to all well thinking Jamaicans with an ounce of class. 

No other Prime Minister or leader of a party would even think of such monstrosity, the Manley's lived in a modest family house in Drumblair and I am sure all the other Prime Ministers choose normal looking houses nothing this tacky and ugly because there is a huge difference between old money and new money in Jamaica. In a Gleaner article titled “Raping virgin territory” Carolyn Cooper said about the Butu Mansion: …..

“ARMAGEDDON MUST BE NIGH!!
Just ask the leader of the Opposition, Andrew Holness, and his wife Juliet who are building what appears to be a fortress in Beverly Hills. They seem to know something that the rest of us don't: Armageddon must be nigh. In the recent rains, an avalanche of stones from their property rolled downhill, propelled by the flood waters spewing from the Long Mountain Country Club into Beverly Hills and the Pines of Karachi”

Hon. Andrew Holness must be overcompensating for something that was missing from his childhood and upbringing and I suspect that it must be class, money, good taste and a sense of style, because this is beyond MTV cribs rapper bling.

I came across Warren's Blog a supporter of the JLP and Mr. Holness who when he had discovered the existence of the Ghetto Mansion and not knowing the true owner, wrote a blog post stating:  …. “There has been talk going around about a house which is being built for which the estimated cost is in the region of $300m.

Tongues have been wagging since the information was “dropped” sometime last week.  What is interesting is the media who obviously have more information that I do , have refused thus far to call the name of leader, leading to wide spread speculation that it belongs to the leader of the  ruling PNP administration the Rt Honuorable  poor people champion.

If the information that I have gleaned so far is in fact true, it would confirm the widely held belief we have as it relates to the country leaders.

It also begs the question as to why the assets of our elected leaders are not made public, why are we as a people refusing to hold our elected leaders accountable.”.......

Now he was ready to launch a full scale investigation and accused the media of being bias after speculating that the Ghetto mansion belonged to and I quote: “the leader of the ruling PNP administration the Rt Honuorable poor people champion” but when it was pointed out that the $300 Million Ghetto Mansion in question belonged to his Maximum Leader the Hon. Andrew Michael Holness and not the Maximum Leader for the opposing party (yes the Butu Dutty Black Gal, poor people champion) he went suspiciously silent. It is this partisan double standard that I find disgusting...

The fact is, if the Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, aka the Dutty Black Gal as the opposition love to class her, had built this disgusting Ghetto Mansion then I would have written this blog without changing anything except replace the name Andrew Holness with Portia Simpson, because it is the principle of the thing that disgusts me.

The Attack Dog

If it was Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, the JLP and their supporters would have lost their freaking minds and all hell would have broken loose by every member of that party including the Hon. Andrew Holness himself demanding various audits and inquiries. They would have reactivated their attack dog Delano Seiveright and remove the muzzle and leash from that labba mouth, allowing him to do what he does best, deliver everything disgusting and nasty as only he could. Pictures of the Ghetto Mansion would have been in all printed media and circulated on the internet coupled with YouTube videos showing the Ghetto Mansion along with the Hon. Dutty Black Gal in question ... because as  Warren's Blog stated …."If the information that I have gleaned so far is in fact true, it would confirm the widely held belief we have as it relates to the country leaders." However since it relates to the party he supports, nothing is said and nothing demanded.....

I would not be shocked if a Helipad was added for the new PM to bypass the traffic, H is not only for Helipad but also for Holness. 

In response to questions raised by Peter Philips to Holness regarding how he financed his mansion, Holness fired off a couple questions regarding the Philips financial assets.

The Modest house of Peter Philips

Dr. Peter Phillips
1989 - 2016
Minister of Finance and Planning
Minister of National Security
Minister of Transport and Works
Minister of Health
Minister of Special Projects in the Office of the Prime Minister
Senator and Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister  

• Holness: Dr Phillips, as a parliamentarian earning practically the same salary as the Leader of the Opposition, how did you afford the house you presently live in, which is valued at multiple times your salary?
• Philips: My house was purchased by me and my wife (a practicing attorney-at-law) on the open market on June 21, 1991 for J$1,500,000 with mortgage funding from Victoria Mutual Building Society repayable over 20 years and repaid via monthly payments over that period in accordance with the mortgage terms.
• Holness: Do you own or have a beneficial interest in a house in Beverly Hills?
  Philips: No.
• Holness: Will you declare any assets you have overseas?
• Philips: I have no assets overseas and all my assets (and the assets of my spouse) have been declared annually in accordance with the law since 1989.

Was Mr. Holness trying to recreate famous Acropolis of Greece?

Construction of the Acropolis

To drive past the compound and to look up at the wall is a daunting experience, the height of the wall alone makes you feel insignificant like looking up at the heavens and still not able to see anything thing. You can only observe this Ghetto Mansion from a far because you see nothing when you are up-close but the massive stone wall.

This is like a medieval castle and the only thing that is missing is an external moat. Maybe Mr. Holness will do a Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Annex the lands that surrounds this sick development in the name of personal security because ....ARMAGEDDON MUST BE NIGH!!!!   

Looking up from inside a Big Truck

Initially I was taken aback when I saw it but now I find it extremely funny, it has been a great source of laughter in my house as we reenact several Monty Python like medieval skits around it and now I actually pity the man and question his mental state and personality, which is bad because while I was hoping for innovation and imagination all I am getting now is common, Ghetto-fabulous and Butuism….

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The Manley’s Modest House "Regardless" at Drumblair

Outside Andrew Holness parent's home in Ensom City, St Catherine

Please Read: Holness Fortress!

Here is a blast from the past, regarding PJ Patterson's asset declaration, it must be noted that Patterson is much older and a Queen's Counsel Barristers with his own law firm of Rattray, Patterson, Rattray which was founded in 1981 and have been in politics before Holness was born. However the political class only knows how to behave one way, fill their already over flowing pockets with the contents of the public's purse.

PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson is considerably richer than he was a decade ago, with a current net worth of just under $30 million. The Prime Minister is expected to declare to Jamaica by the latest today that he has assets amounting to $33 million, plus US$37,000 for a total of $34.83 million. In 1992, he declared assets of $3.5 million.l

Politicians spending big, Gleaner Published: Thursday | October 17, 2013
Only in Jamaica: One politician builds his wife a kitchen valued at $7 million; another and his family take a vacation valued at $10 million; another builds a house for $120 million; and yet another is building one with a projected cost of $250 million.