DROOP Lion visited the Rastafari community of Bobo Hill in Nine Miles, St Andrew, on the weekend where he made a $50,000 donation to their rebuilding efforts.

“Bobo Hill ah my power base. They need a strength. To whom much is given, much is expected. We understand the level of atrocity. We are not the investigators but we are the vanguards of the city, and we are supposed to play the role of protectors as Rastafari,” he told Jamaica Observer.

Droop Lion called on his fellow Rastafari artistes and Garveyites to aid in the rebuilding efforts.

“This fire ah show that it is time to get together and protect black people business,” he said.

In the meantime, members of the community are contemplating the way forward.

“We made the police report and they are aware of the situation. We are not afraid, we will rebuild. We have to rebuild the main office, the conference hall where we used to keep the service. Ah that bun down, plus two houses, and a part of the gatehouse,” Priest Anthony Morgan of the Bobo Hill community, told Observer.

While there is no official estimate so far, he said the damages “definitely reached the millions”.

“Is a major setback for us. There were documents in the conference hall, three computers, drums, Bibles, a boom box. We used to keep services in the conference hall, so over the weekend we held the first service in the new tabernacle, which is still unfinished,” said Priest Morgan.

He made an appeal to other artistes to help rebuild the community.

“We need the material for the altar, and four doors for the tabernacle. Right now, only the prophet Droop Lion has come up here and seen what a gwaan, no other artiste has come forth yet. Sizzla came here the Wednesday before the fire and he gave a strength of US$2,000 to some 2 by 4 laths, and he has made a promise to help us buy the zinc for the new tabernacle. We need black people to step forward and assist in any way,” he said.

Bobo Hill is home to over 30 members of the Rastafarian community Bobo Shanti. That order is one of the strictest mansions of Rastafari and its members are known for their peaceful, militant interpretation of Marcus Garvey’s teachings. Many reggae and dancehall artistes proclaim an affiliation to the community. ,

Last week, Rastafarians from the Bobo Shanti made a report to the cops that an armed intruder started a huge fire on the premises, destroying multiple buildings, computers, and important documents.