Joseph Cunningham, Gleaner Writer
Deputy Superintendent of Police Paul Stanton (left, in pickup) reads his message from the back of the truck, while Pastor Desmond Robinson, director of the Advent Development and Relief Agency, looks on, following a peace walk to Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, St. James, yesterday. The walk was a part of a national peace march against drugs, crime and violence which was to culminate at a number of the nation's parish capitals. - Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer
The Kingston leg of an islandwide 'peace march' fell through Wednesday, after organiser, the East Jamaica Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was advised that it would not be granted a street permit.
Lorraine Vernal, programme coordinator for the Kingston leg, told The Gleaner that the church was told by the National Works Agency (NWA) that the planned 3:00 p.m. start "would have created too much traffic congestion."
Ms. Vernal said the march was intended to take selected students and members of the public to the streets of Half-Way Tree to chant against crime and violence in the society, under the theme, 'Say no to crime and violence'.
Stephen Shaw, manager of planning and research, and chief spokesman at the NWA, said in a letter to the East Jamaica Conference that, while the works agency appreciated the intent of the march, "the 3:00 p.m. start would have created a risk of collision between motorists and pedestrians."
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, in endorsing the march last week, said the expansive work of the West Indies Union Conference, the Seventh-day Adventist body with overall responsibility for the islandwide marches, had grown over the years to cover evangelical, health, education and youth programmes. She had said it was therefore fitting that the church was strengthening its input in the fight against crime.
Despite the cancellation of activities in Kingston, the peace march continued in other parishes across the island.
In Montego Bay, St. James, a small gathering ended its peace walk at Sam Sharpe Square.
