Jamaica has a 'corrosive permissiveness for violence' says Holness
Published:Sunday | February 9, 2020 | 12:00 AM
Prime Minister and leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Andrew Holness, says Jamaica suffers from an acute tolerance for violence.
Holness made the remark as he recounted the story of two boys who were fighting in a community in one of the Zones of Special Operation. He was speaking to supporters during a JLP Area Two Council Meeting at the Portmore HEART Academy in St Catherine this afternoon.
The prime minister said after soldiers had quelled the fight and took the boys to their respective homes, one of the mothers armed her son with a weapon and took him to the home of the boy with whom he had the fight. The mother then called the boy out of his house and insisted that her son should stab him in revenge for the wound her had inflicted on her son during the fight.
"There is a corrosive permissiveness for violence in our society," Holness said, repeating the word "corrosive" as he made his point.
He said there is much Jamaica will have to do to reduce violence.
"We are not peaceful in this country, well at least not at this point in time. There is a lot that we will have to do in an instrumental and deliberate way to promote peace in the country," he said.
He urged his supporters to advance the JLP as an organisation to promote peace.
"As a political party, we can't always be talking about economy and bad road and shower, shower, shower," Holness said. "As a political organisation, we are tasked with improving the quality of life of all Jamaicans over all spheres of issues."
JLP carefully selecting candidates
He said the JLP has to become the party of prosperity and peace, pointing out that the next general election will not only be determined by the state of the economy, but the state of crime and violence in the country. Therefore, he said, the JLP is ensuring that it carefully selects its candidates so that the party is positioned to respond to the issues in a meaningful way.
"It means that the people who we select as candidates must also be able to carry the message of the party; must also be able to articulate the message of the party; must be able to represent the ideals of the party and philosophy of the party, which is why we are being so careful with candidate selection," he said.
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