Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
A DELEGATION, including Bishop Herro Blair, head of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), and South East St. Andrew Member of Parliament Maxine Henry-Wilson, is scheduled to tour the war-torn community of Mountain View today, to see if they can help defuse violence there.
Bishop Blair and Mrs. Henry-Wilson, along with Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields and the Jamaica Labour Party's caretaker for the constituency, Phillip Henriques, met yesterday to discuss the situation in Mountain View. Four persons, including an infant, have been murdered there since Monday.
"As political representatives we unequivocally condemn the violence in the lower Mountain View area. We emphasise that the perpetrators of the violence, both those who plan the violence and those who actually pull the triggers, do not act on our behalf, with our support or with our knowledge," read a statement issued by the PMI and endorsed by Mrs. Henry-Wilson and Mr. Henriques.
LOST FAITH IN THE POLICE
Yesterday, battle-weary Jacques Road residents said they had lost faith in the police, the PMI, Mrs. Henry-Wilson and Mr. Henriques.
"Dem not doing nuthin' at all, everytime dem come here war gwaan more and more," said one woman who refused to give her name. "People get burn out, people get dead an' wi don't si dem come an' do nuthin but come in an' drive out."
She, as well as a group of persons who had gathered on the streetside at the top of Jacques Road, denied that the switching of political allegiance (from the Jamaica Labour Party to the People's National Party) as claimed by some residents, is at the root of the turmoil.
"Is not no politics, nuthin nuh go so," came a raucous chorus. "Wi a JLP an' wi a go dead JLP. Wi nuh waan Bishop Blair, Maxine or Phillip Henriques ... Wi waan Bruce (Golding, JLP leader) an' only Bruce alone."
Only a handful of persons were seen in Jacques Road yesterday when The Gleaner visited. Several homes have been abandoned by residents who are scared that they will be the next victims of the hostilities that started Monday afternoon with the murder of 37 year-old Selena Berry.
Minutes after Miss Berry's body was discovered by police, the bodies of Jasrene Reid, 23, and her three-month-old baby were found in a house at nearby Hunter Avenue. On Tuesday, police say gunmen murdered 25 year-old Melissa Irving of Jacques Road.
A 27 year-old mother of two children says if the violence continues, she will follow in the footsteps of the evacuees. "Mi neva si it so bad yet, all baby dem a kill now. If it come to the test mi haffi leave 'cause mi have my baby dem a live for," she said.
Despite the bloodshed, some are prepared to stay in the community, which is a stone's throw from the Mountain View Police Station.
