CHANG
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE INCREASING viciousness across the island is hardening the hearts of Jamaicans, according to Opposition Member of Parliament for North West St. James, Dr. Horace Chang.
"There seems to be a desensitisation of the Jamaican emotion to violence, a kind of acceptance of a certain level of brutality in society," said Dr. Chang said yesterday.
Dr. Chang was speaking at the launch of Jamaica's Solution to Youth Lifestyle and Empowerment's (JA-STYLE) first violence prevention initiative in Flankers, St. James, on Wednesday.
Noting that crime is threatening the livelihood of many North West St. James communities, Dr. Chang challenged JA-STYLE to not just become a medium of change in the community but suggested that it partner with other developmental organisations to tackle the issue of crime.
"Currently in the media, a young girl of 13 was brutally molested by three young men in the presence of a deacon and there seems to be ambiguity about how we approach the issue," he said. "I think we need to use an occasion like this to remind ourselves of the challenges we face to restore the level of sensitivity and respect for each other. We have to find a way to overcome them in our values and our attitude."
While offering his support to the programme, the Jamaica Labour Party deputy leader also lamented the lack of unity among the various developmental groups. He suggested that much more could be achieved if they united and attacked the problem together.
TOO MANY PROGRAMMES
"There are too many of these little programmes, given the level or severity of the problems, too many with their own bureaucracy," he said. "Each person does his or her own thing and we are becoming what is known in industrial circles as a country of samples. We have many good samples but no one seems to be able to reach everything."
The violence prevention Initiative in Montego Bay will run for six months and is one of four such programmes being launched in Jamaica under the JA-STYLE programme. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to the tune of US$4.4 million ( J$286 million), JA-STYLE was launched in February 2005 and will run for a period of five years.
