Dear Editor,

I wish to commend the Jamaica Observer for publishing of the column that appeared on Wednesday, February 10, 2021, ‘Dispute resolution — indispensable tool in crime-fighting’ by Rev Dr Raulston Nembhard.

The Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) was formed in 1994 with a wide cross section of stakeholders — members of the private sector, the judiciary, and the Bar. We have trained and certified 286 mediators, who are located in every parish. We also have a parish network with point persons/locations in every parish.

More specifically, we have implemented numerous mediation projects in communities operated by the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) and Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding over the years from the USAID, the United Nations and the European Union. We are currently in dialogue with the CSJP secretariat of the Ministry of National Security.

Our longest association has been with the Ministry of Justice. Over the years mediation has become acceptable as a part of the justice system and so all civil matters at the Supreme Court that are not time bound are sent to mediation. We work very closely with the registry of the Supreme Court so that matters can be settled in a quick and efficient manner. Our 76 mediators on the panel of the Supreme Court have been working tirelessly. Of course, you can only imagine the happiness of the disputants when an agreement is reached, as opposed to waiting four or five years for a trial date.

Additionally, the Criminal Justice (Reform) Act allows for a magistrate at the parish court to refer matters from mediation. It is really at this level that community-type matters, ranging from fighting in a tenement yard to a school fight, or a dispute over a parking space to treating with “ded lef” property arise.

Our offices in Kingston, Montego Bay and St Catherine treat with approximately 234 cases per quarter, the majority of which are referred from the parish courts.

In this time of the pandemic most mediations are conducted online.

While we continue with court-referred matters, we also treat with other matters. More recently we intervened in a matter with the Jamaica Table Tennis Association, and have been involved with other professional/civic bodies.We plan to expand this component of our business and invite businesses, professional and sporting entities to avail themselves of our services.

We also have an exceptional School Suspension Intervention Programme (SSIP) for students at risk at the secondary level. This programme was conceptualised by the DRF in 2006 and has been offered in conjunction with the CSJP, JSIF, Comet/USAID, and UNICEF. Over the years, more than 10,000 students in secondary schools and places of safety have benefited from this programme. We will increase our working relationship with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information in order to reach more students.

Mediation is a very powerful and empowering tool as it is the disputants who agree the final outcome under the guidance of a trained mediator.

As someone who has practised mediation, over the years I have gained insight to the problems that arise and have developed the aptitude to bring the parties to agreement. Sometimes it is emotionally and intellectually demanding, but it provides as great sense of gratification which is priceless. I therefore invite any civic-minded person who wishes to be trained as a mediator to contact us.

Also, individuals with a dispute should contact us so that it does not escalate to the use of physical force. As our slogan says, “We can work it out.”

John Bassie

Chairman

The Peace Centre

Kingston 4

drf@drfja.org