Preachers clash on JUTC bus

Three preachers who had intentions of delivering their sermons on a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus got into a heated argument yesterday, which almost led to blows.

A passenger, who was aboard the bus which operates on the number 17 route Greater Portmore to downtown Kingston - said that when she got on the bus in the Greater Portmore housing scheme, there was a dark, stout man, who spoke with a slur, that was preaching and playing music on his radio. Later, she said two other preachers, an elderly woman and another man, boarded the bus in the vicinity of the Portmore Mall.

The passenger, who asked for anonymity, said, "The female walked up to the man and said, "A wah dis? A weh yuh a do pon di bus? Come off.' Then she said to the man, 'If me did know say yuh deh pon di bus, mi wouldn't come pon it."

The clergywoman then ordered the preacher to turn off his radio, but other passengers came to his defence, stating that they wanted to hear the music.

It is said that the woman began to rebuke some of the passengers, telling them to repent.

After a while, the second male preacher insisted that the man, who was playing the music, turn the radio off. The man refused, and both male preachers started to approach each other menacingly.

Three preachers

"The man who was seated took off his hat, and say, 'Yuh know a who me? Because of this, the people dem tell dem say dem nah get nuh money. Only the man weh did deh pon di bus first alone get about $200," the passenger told THE STAR.

Even after reaching downtown Kingston, all three preachers were still arguing. However, the passengers on the bus begged them to stop.

Meanwhile, another passenger on the bus, Marcia Grant, said that she does not have a problem with preaching on the JUTC buses, despite it being banned by the hierarchy of the government-run transport company in 2012.

"Nothing nuh wrong with the preaching on di bus dem, enuh, but what happen on di bus dis morning was confusion," she told THE STAR.

Being a vendor, she said she travels on the JUTC buses regularly from Greater Portmore to downtown Kingston, and most times there are persons on the bus preaching.

"As long as I am not driving or my husband is driving, I take the JUTC bus. But majority of them who are on the bus, for them, it is all about the money," Grant said.