‘Jesus walked with sinners’ - Central Kingston MP explains his community interactions

Donovan Williams, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Kingston, yesterday admitted that he has interacted with alleged badmen in his constituency.

However, the first-term MP, who won his seat on a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ticket in September 2020, stressed that those interactions are geared towards helping them to make changes in their lives.

"Sometimes people see mi a interact wid di man dem and dem say 'Bwoy MP, you and badman a stand up'. Jesus walked with sinners and dem say 'see him deh, him a walk wid sinners... But Jesus had to go on the ground to reach di people. Jesus had to mingle wid di people. I can't see people in my community and say 'Bwoy, mi hear say him a bad boy so mi cyah talk to him'. I have to try and find out why him is a badman, then find out how I can help him stop being a badman," Williams said.

The MP was speaking at a community meeting held in Southside in the blood-soaked police division.

Communities within Central Kingston, since September 2020, have been held hostage by an ongoing war between the Genasyde and Darkside gangs. The police reported that in 2021, some 79 persons were murdered with another 77 shot and injured. The majority of those shootings and killings were attributed to the war.

There has been talk that the in-fighting is politically motivated, but Williams distanced himself from those rumours.

"I went to school and university to study law and church, so unuh must stop the political propaganda. We are here to build this community," he said. "Some of dem [alleged criminals], if yuh sit down and listen, dem intelligent. Dem just need somebody to steer dem."