Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Members of the Peace Management Initiative, the Area Youth Foundation and residents dance and sing their way through Rose Town, Federal/Wilton Gardens, Hannah Town, Denham Town and end at Tivoli Gardens during a peace walk in west Kingston in 2004. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ON CHRISTMAS Eve 1998, Calvin Simmonds was standing at the corner of Orange and Charles streets when he says he was attacked by three gunmen, one of whom shot him twice in the head. For the next six months Simmonds remained on the critically-wounded list.
Eight years on, he is determined that the shooting which resulted from gang feuds in the west Kingston community of Hannah Town will never resurface.
"Everything kinda all right inna the area right now an' wi waan keep it dat way," said Simmonds, who is known on the streets as Yogi.
Simmonds, 43, is seeking private sector assistance to fund a peace initiative in Hannah Town this summer. A similar effort, the Unity Splash concert, was credited with easing tension between gangs from Hannah Town and neighbouring Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town, Craig Town and Fletchers Land in the 1990s.
To date, he has approached companies including Digicel and Red Stripe for financial backing. He has also written to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Bruce Golding, Opposition Leader and West Kingston Member of Parliament, for moral support.
EMPLOYMENT NEEDED
Like Simmonds, Father Peter McIsaac, rector at the St. Anne's Catholic Church on Percy Street, where Simmonds was born, is grateful for this period of peace. He told The Gleaner that what Hannah Town residents need now is employment.
"And when I say employment, I don't mean hustling, but gainful employment. The people need jobs that will keep them off the streets," said the Canadian-born priest who has been in the area since 1999.
Unemployment has been a way of life for many Hannah Town residents since the popular Hannah Town Bakery (HTB) moved from the community in the early 1970s. Citing political violence, Francis Chan, a Hong Kong-born businessman who owned the bakery, packed up and left for Canada.
Back then, Hannah Town was a part of the West Central Kingston constituency, and its MP was the PNP's Ralph Brown. Most residents say Brown initiated several skills programmes during his tenure, but when Hannah Town became part of west Kingston in 1986, they say things quickly changed for the worse.
Calvin Simmonds believes Hannah Town is due for a change in fortunes. He says the community's 'elders' owe it to their children to prevent any more violence.
"Wi haffi try paint a different picture fi the youth dem ... the war thing nuh good fi anybody 'cause it only break down the system," he said.
