MONTEGO BAY, St James — JAMAICAN-BORN professor of African and Caribbean History at the US-based Grand Valley State University, Steve Buckridge, has revived plans to take his students into Kingston in the aftermath of last week’s deadly gun battles between the police force and West Kingston gunmen over attempts to arrest former Tivoli Gardens strongman, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

“We were supposed to come to Kingston but some parents were concerned about what was going on, so we thought that it would be best if we restructured the programme and wait a few days until things calmed down,” Buckridge told the Observer West.

The students flew into Montego Bay instead of Kingston last Sunday, amidst mounting security concerns over the crisis which resulted in some 73 reported deaths as the police beat back an attack by criminal elements who burned down the Hannah Town police station and shot several of their members.

On Monday, following their orientation of the UWI Mona’s Western Jmaica Campus, Buckridge noted that the nine students were upbeat about visiting cultural and historical sites in Kingston after completing the Montego Bay and Ocho Rios legs of the itinerary.

“ I want the children to see and learn a lot about Jamaica because one of the things in the US — when people saw the news they thought that all of Jamaica was like that and as we know that is not the case. The unrest was in isolated areas but nontheless everyone has to take precautions. The students are aware of the fact that Jamaica is a beautiful place and they love it and now they all want to come back. “We are looking forward to going into Kingston while we are here,” said Buckridge, who was born in Kingston.

According to Buckridge, in 2001, he initiated an exchange programme between the University of the West Indies and the Grand Valley State University, the programme implemented by Professor Rex Nettleford, who was vice-chancellor at the time.

“This is actually the first time that we are bringing students to Jamaica, although we have had faculty and staff come down before and faculty and staff come up,” Buckridge noted.

The students are scheduled to depart on Monday, June 21.