ST ANN, Jamaica — Justice Minister, Delroy Chuck is encouraging Jamaicans to find better ways to resolve conflicts as he reiterated that the use of violence only creates more problems.

The minister was speaking at the opening ceremony for the St Ann Justice Fair in Lawrence Park in the parish on Friday.

Chuck said that his ministry has implemented numerous strategies to help Jamaicans resolve their issues in non-violent ways and asked that citizens utilise the various programmes and assist the government in its fight against crime.

“It is absolutely important that we appreciate that peace and harmony can come if we just utilise the services being offered by the Ministry of Justice,” he said. “The Ministry of Justice is determined to make justice accessible and readily available to all Jamaicans and that is why we have set up justice centres in every parish of Jamaica. There is no reason for us to be using rage, abuse, threats, violence and sometimes fatal violence to solve our problems.”

Chuck expressed that “far too many Jamaicans feel that unless they deliver the ‘last lick’ that there is no justice so they use violence. They employ gunmen and violence producers to resolve conflicts” and said the latter “cannot be the way to solve your problem.”

He went on to indicate that instead of resolving issues, resorting to violence only fans leads to bigger problems and even more violence.

“Indeed trying to use violence to solve your problems, creates more problems than you actually intend and want to resolve because an act of violence oftentimes attracts retaliation and there is a cycle of violence when it is used,” he said. “So before any Jamaican believes that they can solve their problems using violence, bear in mind you’re attracting more violence to you, your families and loved ones.”

The minister also used the opportunity to highlight that Jamaica continues to enjoy good fortune as despite its high crime rate, the country still manages to attract thousands of tourists. Still, the minister believes that should the country solve its crime problem, it will become even more attractive to potential visitors and returning residents.

“We’re really lucky that in spite of these frequent incidents of violence we can still move about Jamaica proudly, we’re attracting millions of tourists but we have to stop it. We can double up the number of tourists and our fellow Jamaicans returning to Jamaica. Jamaica can be a peaceful and prosperous place if we can just cut out the violence,” he argued.