10,000-man march halted - Police force organisers to postpone event due to violence
Published:Monday | April 11, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Correction & Clarification
The story carried in Monday's Gleaner indicated that the Spanish Town Ministers' Fraternal was the organiser of a march in Spanish Town, St Catherine. However, the organisation is not affiliated with the march and did not state a view on its postponement.
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Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer
SOLDIERS OF Christ army were preparing themselves for a peace march in Spanish Town, St Catherine, yesterday when the police called it to a halt.
The Spanish Town Ministers' Fraternal, the organiser of the event, was hoping to assemble 10,000 men to march through the Old Capital in the name of peace.
But Anthony Castelle, head of the St Catherine North Police Division who pulled the plug, said the decision was out of an abundance of caution as the funeral for Rohan 'Jay Jay' Jennings was due to take place that day.
"After receiving intelligence that criminals were threatening to shoot up any event in the town, we thought it wise to postpone the event," Castelle said.
But the Spanish Town Ministers' Fraternal and other affiliated groups have expressed anger and disappointment at the police for the postponement of the event on which they claim $3 million was spent to organise and promote.
Bishop Rowan Edwards, of the Full Gospel Assemblies, said the impression was being given that Castelle is anti-church.
"I can recall him (Castelle) sending 17 heavily armed policemen to invade a church service. We are not wrongdoers, so he must work with us for the greater good," Edwards told The Gleaner.
involved in gangs
Police in the division recently removed men from a church who Edwards said had decided to walk with the Lord. The police, however, said the men were suspected of being involved in gang-related activities.
The 10,000-man march, which is in its third year, was an attraction for a number of persons who have used the event to press their demand for peach in the violence-torn communities in the area.
"This is a sad day as persons were looking for the march. Every year, we come out here for the gospel concert which ends right here at the Sagicor Shopping Centre," said Marlon Taffe, who travelled from St Ann.
Edwards told The Gleaner yesterday that it was late afternoon when the police informed them of the postponement.
"We cannot believe the funeral of a don resulted in the police preventing us from keeping a march and prayer for peace. This is sad," Edwards said.
He added: "After spending almost $3 million to promote the event and receiving permission, to be told a few hours before that it can't be held is very unfortunate."
But Castelle said that based on the nature of the intelligence picked up by the police, it would have been unwise to allow the march to continue.
Saturday night, men believed to be aligned to the Clansman gang engaged the police in a shoot-out in Spanish Town. Castelle said with the march scheduled to take place on the heels of the shoot-out and the funeral of Jennings taking place yesterday, it would have been ill-advised for the church event to proceed.
"With so many lives at stake, we believe that although money has been spent, it has to be postponed until a climate of peace returns," he added.