LUCEA, Hanover — Businessman Coleman Huntley has long been among those at the forefront of ensuring that peace is maintained in Lucea’s Cleveland Stanhope Market. So it came as no surprise when he was selected as a peacemaker for the vending area under the Ministry of National Security and Peace’s LIV GUD Market Movement.

“We’re always doing that; trying to get it calm as soon as we see something about to get out of hand. We call on whoever we can call on to keep it down. To me, it’s not a burden because we live daily like that,” said Huntley.

He was speaking with the Jamaica Observer following the introduction of the initiative in the market on Friday.

The LIV GUD Market Movement was officially launched on July 17 in St Mary’s Port Maria Market and, since then, it has been introduced to all 14 parishes. The last two locations to be added were the Charles Gordon Market in St James and the Savanna-la-Mar Market in Westmoreland, which were on-boarded on Friday afternoon and Saturday, respectively.

Project lead and corporate communications manager at the Ministry of National Security and Peace Jody-Ann Thompson said a peacemaker, selected by colleagues and the market manager, is vital to the initiative.

“We want to make sure that this person knows that we recognise them and they continue to represent peace, represent something positive inside the market space,” stated Thompson.

Peacemaker Huntley said Cleveland Stanhope Market, located in the heart of the capital city of Lucea, has been fairly peaceful over the years and he hopes the initiative will assist in keeping it that way. He also hopes the peace will expand into other areas.

“I see it as a good thing and a good move in the right direction, and we hope violence would even further reduce in our community and in the wider Jamaica,” he said.

He said while there had been a serious altercation in the past, there were no fatalities and it was, luckily, a verbal clash.

“They use more mouths than weapons,” explained Huntley.

The LIV GUD initiative was launched in 2019 with a focus on community-based activations through schools across the country where the message of living in peace is shared. However, Thompson said the decision was later made to find a way to engage adults.

“The marketplace was identified as one of those spaces that we could actually go in, engage with the vendors, patrons, and share the message of LIV GUD,” Thompson stated.

She said the aim is to empower vendors in the space to be LIV GUD ambassadors.

“We want them to be able to, when a conflict arises, [have] somebody [who] can de-escalate it, somebody in that space chanting peace, somebody is there to say, ‘Hey, nuh bother with this today,’ ” outlined Thompson.

“And so we’ve branded them as LIV GUD ambassador in their LIV GUD aprons,” he added

On Friday, agricultural items were distributed to sellers in the Lucea market.

“It’s essential to what they are trying to do as vendors and we also want to empower them to say, ‘Hey, we recognise you as essential personnel inside this whole ecosystem that we’re running here. We appreciate you and we want you to continue to do what you do,’ ” stated Thompson.

Among the partners credited for making the initiative a success are the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Hanover Municipal Corporation, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), the Social Development Commission (SDC), and the Jamaica Constabulary Force.