Civic-mindedness needed to turn tide of crime – Holness
PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness told students at Penwood High School in his West Central St Andrew constituency yesterday that as part of their civic responsibility, they should resist criminality and reject the approach of dons in their communities.
Holness also vowed to rid the country of criminals who have been tormenting society.
His visit to the school yesterday was part of the Kingston and St Andrew Homecoming Development Foundation, where he encouraged the students to become empowered young leaders to effect change in their communities.
Holness has joined 17 of Jamaica’s outstanding leaders in the diplomatic corps, academia, private and public sectors to have so far confirmed their willingness to address students in 40 schools. The presentations will be made from November 1 to 30 to encourage students to prepare themselves for leadership in various areas.
He said it is important that young people pay attention to problems that exist in their communities, noting that donmanship and violence must never be accepted as the norm.
“It is not normal; the don is not to be accepted. But of course, many of you do live in that circumstance. In your minds, you should be saying that the next generation must be so strong that no one should be able to arise in your community to create literally another state, that if something goes wrong, you don’t go to the police, you go to the don.
“We cannot allow our country to descend into chaos, because as citizens we do not fulfil our civic duties,” the prime minister emphasised.
He reasoned that too many people have accepted as normal Jamaica’s position among the top five most murderous countries in the world, noting that it will take a new generation of young leaders to fix the problem.
REJECT DON CULTURE
“We are only going to change it when we have a new generation of Jamaicans coming out who reject the don, who reject the gangs, who reject violence, and you need to be empowered to do that,” he said.
One student, whose attention was held throughout the prime minister’s presentation, remarked that corruption in the Jamaica Constabulary Force has played a large part in how the police are viewed by the public.
He said it was the primary reason so many community members would rather seek answers from dons than from the police.