Students of Hartlands All-Age School in St. Catherine wept at the funeral service of their late principal, Keith Morris, yesterday. Mr. Morris was killed on March 13 as he watched a dominoe game at a shop along the Braeton main road in St. Catherine. - Dennis CokeIT WAS a tale of two funerals. Yesterday, on one side of town government and police officials listened as Prime Minister P.J. Patterson talked about the equality of human life in the sight of God, while students of slain principal Keith Morris wept openly.
On the other side of Portmore, a sprawling bedroom community just outside Kingston in south St. Catherine, no officials attended the funeral service for the three youth killed in a reported shoot-out with police on March 14.
At the service for Mr. Morris, the Prime Minister spoke of due process. Across town at the church in Braeton Phase III, the officiating Minister, Reverend Father Walter Dorsey, at the service for the boys, prayed for Mr. Morris' family and condemned the social divide sparked by the two incidents. Meanwhile outside the church there were grumblings of police injustice.
Police have implicated the three in the March 13 murder of Mr. Morris who was the principal of Hartlands All-Age School in St. Catherine.
In addition to the Prime Minister, the service for Mr. Morris drew Police Commi-ssioner, Francis Forbes; State Minister for Education, Phyllis Mitchell; Member of Parliament for South St. Catherine, Fitz Jackson; and South-West St. Catherine Member of Parliament, Jennifer Edwards.
In his tribute to the late principal, Mr. Patterson said his presence was a "symbol of the grief which the entire nation of Jamaica feels" when the life of a citizen who gave such distinguished service, was snuffed out by gun violence.
"The loss of life of anyone, no matter who, when, where and how, by anything other than natural causes is always a source of regret," he said.
"In the sight of God, all human life is equal, no matter your age, no matter your gender, irrespective of the position you may hold or even the contribution you have made," he continued.
Mr. Patterson said there was "a single due process which applies to all of us, to the Prime Minister, as much as to any wrongdoer".
Mr. Morris was shot dead as he watched a dominoe game at a shop along the Braeton main road. Hours later, three of his alleged killers met a similar fate, in what many citizens and groups such as Amnesty International, Jamaicans for Justice and Families Against State Terrorism say appear to be extra-judicial executions.
The Prime Minister said while any abuse of power should not be condoned, the police should not be deterred in the lawful performance of their duties and should be remembered when they become victims of crime.
"We have never sought to subvert the course of justice and never will," he declared, adding that in the search for truth, "we should not rush to condemnation in the absence of evidence".
"We can understand the outrage and anger felt by so many towards those responsible for his death," said Phyllis Mitchell, State Minister for Education.
At the same time, she encouraged his family and the educational fraternity to "maintain calm and trust in God."
Mrs. Mitchell also urged them to "work with young boys to avoid a repetition of such an event."
In her tribute to Mr. Morris, President of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Judith Spencer-Jarrett, described her colleague as a man with a "passion for life. He stuck to the task no matter the challenges or adverse circumstances".
The JTA President said the organisation had set up a Keith Morris Memorial Fund at the King Street branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia, account number 01422-12. The JTA has already pledged $20,000 to the fund. Member of Parliament, Fitz Jackson pledged $50,000, as did the North-West St. Catherine Principals' Association.
To loud applause from the congregation, Hopeton Henry, President of Mico College between 1973 and 1975, when Mr. Morris attended, called on the government to bestow posthumous national honours on the principal for his contribution to the field of education.
The service featured a musical tribute from students of Hartlands All-Age school who, unable to contain their grief, wept openly when they returned to their seats.
