Rose Heights has rejected peace - Pastor laments community’s return to old ways

Pastor Knollis King, who has spent the better part of the past decade trying to bring peace to the Rose Heights community in St James, is worried that his efforts are being undermined by blood-thirsty gangsters.

Following a spate of shootings and three murders in the past two weeks, a frustrated King, who established the Rose Heights Covenant of Peace (RHCP) in 2010 during a similar murder spree, believes that the community is again rejecting efforts to push peace and harmony.

"We have tried just about everything to make this community better," said King, who is the pastor of the popular Rose Heights Full Gospel Church. "We have introduced peace but it has been rejected."

When the RHCP was formed, King threw out a challenge to the community, saying that unless residents decided to embrace peace, he would not be conducting any funerals for any persons murdered in gang violence. The residents accepted the offer and for two years, there were no further murders in the community.

Unfortunately, the social programmes King started to provide skill training for unemployed youth, struggled through lack of support from corporate Jamaica, which had initially embraced the concept and had promised to help to make it sustainable.

"I am again saying enough is enough," said King. "No one can win a war; at the end of the day, everybody loses," said King, who was instrumental in creating a marching band in the community. "Even when you think you have won, there is usually a price to pay."

Many residents are anxious to see a revitalisation of the RHCP, which they believe, if properly supported, could help to bring about the peace they are yearning for.

"I remember di days when we use to hold gunman and turn them over to the police," said an elderly woman. "Under the covenant, there was a rule that no shots must fire in Rose Heights and everybody obeyed. Me want back those days."

King said that despite the frustration, he is ready to try again, using the RHCP as the vehicle to restore the peace.

"There is no proper communication going on now. There is no mediation as it was when we had the covenant of peace," said King. "We need to restore that organisation so that the people can once again re-unite behind common cause to restore peace. These murders must end."