A GROUP of church leaders is repeating calls for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
According to Pastor Al Miller of the Fellowship Tabernacle, such a commission would seek to halt the deterioration of the country's social, economic and moral conditions.
"Our nation is experiencing the worst social crises, which is contributing to a worsening economic condition," he said in a televised broadcast last night, adding that Jamaicans had a responsibility to change this.
In 1997, the Rev. Sam Vassell, speaking at the annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast, also made a call for a Truth Commission. "... Because we caan gwan so or the whole of us goin' die off and die bad," he said at that time.
Nine years later, Pastor Miller, citing last year's murder total of more than 1,600, is contending that crime, violence corruption and economic woes have trapped citizens in fear and hopelessness.
He said although the country's gross domestic product is estimated to have grown by about two per cent last year, some analysts argue that only a few Jamaicans have benefited from that growth.
The petition for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be available at post offices, most churches, as well on the Internet (www.truthjamaica.org).
Already thousands of persons from the church community are reported to have signed the document.
Advocates for Truth Commission
Pastor Al Miller
Dr. Barry Wade
Dr. Henley Morgan
Pastor Michael Aiken
Pastor Alvin Bailey
Rev. Lloyd Maxwell
