Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Bishop Hero Blair (left), head of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), comforts two women from Jacques Road, St. Andrew, during a tour of the volatile inner-city community yesterday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
IN AN emotionally charged atmosphere yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields told residents of the violence-torn Jacques Road community in south-east St. Andrew that three persons have been arrested in connection with recent killings there.
Despite Shields' revelation, residents of the strife-torn community said they were "tired of the talk". They charged that the politicians were indifferent to their plight.
Three women and an infant were murdered between Monday and Tuesday in the community, which is situated off the volatile Mountain View Avenue.
DCP Shields made the disclosure following a tour of the troubled area yesterday by the political directorate, members of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the Police High Command, the Church and the United Mountain View Community Development Council.
Residents accused the touring party - including the Jamaica Labour Party's Phillip Henriques, Minister of Education and MP for the area Maxine Henry-Wilson and PMI Head Bishop Herro Blair - of being part of the problem. Others believed the tour was just another "talk shop".
This is at least the third time in three years that the PMI has been summoned to address an upsurge of violence in the community. Yesterday, residents spoke out bitterly, saying merely talking about it cannot help their situation. They say they survive only because of the mercy of God.
"Is politician and Govern-ment cause Jamaica to be like what it is now. I don't want to talk to any of them," said a tearful woman, while standing at her gate at lower Jacques Road.
She is among a number of persons who saw the bullet-riddled body of the infant who was murdered earlier in the week - a sight that has left her traumatised.
MOTHER AND CHILD SLAIN
Several other women were just as emotional and vocal, as they recalled the recent incident in which the three-month-old baby and his mother, Jashrine Reid, 23, were shot and killed by gunmen.
The police say the feud involves factions from 63 Mountain View Avenue, Lower and Upper Jacques Road, Jarrett and Goodridge Lanes. Upper Jacques Road has been accused of switching allegiance to the ruling People's National Party (PNP). It is also said that Upper Jacques Road has joined forces with factions from Jarrett Lane, which is said to be at the root of the problem.
Confronted yesterday, neither the JLP's caretaker Phillip Henriques nor the Member of Parliament, Mrs. Henry-Wilson, could confirm if this was so. But the allegations have been denied by residents of Upper Jacques Road, who spoke with The Gleaner yesterday.
