Prayers for peace in Nannnyville
PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) councillor Andrew Swaby has called for the police to maintain a 24-hour presence in violence-torn Nannyville in St Andrew.
However, Julian Robinson, the Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Eastern, where the community is situated, said the police cannot remain there forever, and emphasised the need for a lasting solution to achieve peace.
Swaby and Robinson collaborated on Sunday to host a prayer meeting in the community that has recorded a number of murders over the past few weeks.
According to Swaby, who represents the Vineyard Town Division in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, residents of Nannyville are in a state of despair due to gun violence and the tension it has caused in the community.
“About two weeks ago we had two murders within four hours and it has caused havoc in the community. Initially, after the killings, the police had a 72-hour curfew, which they renewed after it was was lifted. My suggestion is that there should be police presence in Nannyville at all times,” Swaby told journalists at the prayer meeting in the troubled community on Sunday.
“There has been a rift in the community so we are trying to see how best we can pull back the community together,” Swaby added.
During his address to the residents, who came out to worship and pray for peace, Swaby said that Nannyville is being torn apart and that it is only God who can provide such a healing.
“It is only one man who can heal us — and it is not the obeah man or the ‘reader’ man. This evening is for us to go on our knees and pray to Almighty God,” said Swaby, who is seeking to retain his seat in the local government election scheduled for February 26.
“I have never seen Nannyville so despondent and in despair,” Swaby added.
Meanwhile, MP Robinson said the police would not be able to remain in the community 24 hours a day because there are other troubled areas and crime hot spots which they have to give attention.
His wish is that the prayers and the messages from Sunday will impact the minds and hearts of the people causing problems in the community.
“It is important the police maintains a strong presence in the community; they have helped to maintain peace, but they can’t stay here forever. There are other communities that are affected by violence, and and at some point the police will have to move their resources elsewhere. That is why we need lasting peace. We are here with leaders from the churches within Nannyville and surrounding areas. Over the last four weeks the community has been torn apart by violence. A number of young men have been killed from all areas of the community. It has created a lot of tension and the community is still tense right now,” Robinson said.
“We want people to be able to go in any area of the community — people at the bottom can go to the top and vice versa. There are people who are grieving and there are people who will want to retaliate and exact revenge, but we will just have a vicious cycle of violence [if that is done]. Coming out of this I am really hoping we can move forward on a path of peace so we can have development and the children can go back to school,” Robinson said.
He noted that the basic school in the community was forced to close, for a number of days, due to the threat of violence.
“We were at a loss as to how we could solve this and we felt we needed to reach out to God, and that is why we invited the churches here for this meeting. We are hoping that this intervention will bring about lasting peace within the community,” Robinson said.
Kenrick Hill, pastor of the Pentecostal Tabernacle outstation in Nannyville, appealed to the people perpetuating the violence to cease and desist, “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”.
“This community is ours. Let us pull forces together, for the true enemy is the devil, the rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. The only way to come against those forces is by other spiritual forces praying and asking God to reverse the curse. I am appealing to all, let’s bring back the peace in Nannyville. What we have here is a gathering of several churches. The only solution to the problem is the Lord Jesus Christ,” Pastor Hill said.