MONTEGO BAY, St James — Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has pledged a national initiative to tackle social violence, vowing it will be a key priority if the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) secures a third term in office.

“This issue of social violence has to be addressed. And so in our next Administration, that is going to be a huge part of our social thrust: How we remove violence as a tool to resolve conflict in our society,” he said.

Holness was addressing last Saturday night’s St James East Central Education Council fund-raising dinner hosted by Member of Parliament Edmund Bartlett at Iberostar Hotel in St James.

“We want Jamaica to be the place, really, that say when you come here, ‘Jamaica, no problem man, everything chill, everything irie, everything easy. We are at peace.’ Because that is the brand that everybody knows of Jamaica. That’s what Bob Marley sings about,” he said.

He stressed that peace must be more than a goal of the national security strategy and must become a core value intertwined with the Jamaican society.

While crime and murder remain top concerns, the prime minister highlighted a broader plan to confront the roots of violence in the home, in schools, and within State institutions.

“So peace, that’s a focus of the security strategy. Security strategy must end up in Jamaica being peaceful. But it is only one element of the peace strategy treating with murder and crime, and there are other elements which we have focused on,” Holness said.

He said a major part of this vision is built on the work of the National Commission on Violence Prevention, chaired by respected academic Professor Maureen Samms Vaughan. Holness revealed that the commission’s final report had been delivered to him and will be instrumental in guiding future policies.

“That report will be used to guide the Government as we seek to deal with violence in the home: domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and child abuse; violence by the State: how children are disciplined in schools and State homes, how the police and other security forces deal with our citizens. All of these are areas in which we need to pay attention, because if there is violence, there is really no peace,” the prime minister outlined.

Also during the event, the prime minister hailed Bartlett for his 28 years of human development in St James East Central. Bartlett, who is also minister of tourism, praised long-standing partners for their continued support in building the human capacity of not only his constituency but the entire Jamaica, by extension.

Addressing supporters and stakeholders during the fund-raising dinner, he expressed gratitude to contributors who have supported the constituency’s educational initiative over nearly three decades.

“Those of you who have been contributing over the last 28 years have recognised that your support has enabled a wide range of skills and talents and ambitions to not only be realised, but fulfilled,” said Bartlett.

He highlighted the programme’s wide range, with scholarship beneficiaries enrolled in tertiary institutions across Jamaica and several prestigious high schools, both within and outside the parish.

“We have graduates from China who did medicine; we have graduates from almost every university in the US. And we also have students currently in every single university and tertiary institution in Jamaica. As we speak, every single one has students from East Central St James from this programme,” said the MP.

“We have students in all the high schools in the parish and a number of them outside of the parish — Munro College, Kingston College, Jamaica College, Westwood High School, to name a few,” Bartlett added.

He underscored the life-changing impact of the programme on youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We are proud that we’ve been able to give not just hope, but we have been able to give purpose to the lives of so many of these young people whose economic condition would not allow them to have been able to have this kind of academic exposure,” he said.

Bartlett underscored that the programme has produced a wide range of professionals.

“We have scholarship recipients who now are lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, police, pastors, politicians, among others. And we have them all over the world,” he said.

He reaffirmed his commitment to human development within his constituency.

“This is why East Central St James continues, Prime Minister, to be strong. And we remain strong because we believe in people. We invest in people, and we ensure that people add value to their space at every point in time,” said Bartlett.