Peace Day concert to boost positive change in central Kingston

"There can be absolutely no peace without justice" is one of the messages that led Dr Horace Chang's message yesterday at the Calabar Primary and Junior High and Infant School during a Peace Day Concert, hosted by PALS Jamaica.

"There can be no peace without justice as the two walk together, and what we have when we don't have the two going together is the violence that permeates too much of our society. This is not just a concert for our young kids who come together from across various communities in central Kingston, but a joint effort by a number of agencies to pull together to bring peace in the community ... to engage families in these areas in a manner that they can create vibrant dialogues," Chang said.

Earlier this year, commander for the Kingston Central Police Division, Superintendent Berrisford Williams, said murders within the area have dipped by 39 per cent in 2022 when compared with the previous year. Shootings also fell by 41 per cent. There is, however, still room for intervention within central Kingston as gunmen continue to trade bullets and claim lives.

"There was a time when the grandmothers used to be like the mothers of the districts and everyone look after each other like an extended family. Unfortunately the loss of engagement and tensions have emerged between, literally, families between each other. We have to reverse that train in a means to restore peace. The concert is an extremely good event to start the process as the kids are here from all over and they can take the message home," Chang said.

There have been a number of reports of physical altercations within the nation's schools, some of the disputes proving fatal while others have left students nursing injuries.

Morin Seymour, board director of PALS, said the non-profit organisation has been working with young people in schools and communities to choose alternatives to violence.

"The crisis that confronts us concerning crime and violence in our nation is partly driven by the inability of our nation's children at times to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. Since its inauguration, PALS has been focused on working with young people both in schools and communities by equipping them with conflict resolution skills that offer an alternative to violence," he said.

"It is our hope that with the fresh effort by Project STAR, supported in the main by our private sector, it will be possible to implement, through PALS sustained interventions that will result in the creation of safer communities whereby creating conditions that will assist the economic growth of our country," Seymour stated.