West Kingston Residents Feted by CSJP

More than 180 residents from four inner city communities in West Kingston were treated to a fun day at the Cranbrook Flower Forest and River Head Trail Attractions, in Laughland, St. Ann, on June 12.
The treat, which was funded by the Ministry of National Security’s Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP), saw young people and adults from areas, such as Tivoli Gardens, Hannah Town, Denham Town and Fletchers Land interacting through sports, rap sessions and dancing competitions, among other activities.
Community Action Officer with the CSJP, Denise Adams told JIS News that the idea of the outing came about as a result of the recent operations by the joint police/military operations in West Kingston.

Residents from the communities of Hannah Town and Denham Town engage in a game of Tug-o-war on June 12, at the Cranbrook Flower Forest, in Laughland.

“We had a series of consultations with residents and it was suggested that we should have outings in the immediate term for those persons who were highly impacted during the confrontation, so last week we hosted over 250 persons at the Tapioca Village in St. Mary and it was a very successful event,” Miss Adams informed, adding that it was evident that the residents enjoyed themselves.
Focusing on the CSJP, she noted that the programme has been very effective in touching the lives of many.
“The aim of our programme is to reduce the level of crime and violence in 28 inner city communities. We currently work in 15 inner city communities in Kingston and 11 in Montego Bay and Savanna-la-Mar,” she said, noting that the Tivoli Gardens community was the latest addition to the number of communities involved in the CSJP.
“We were asked by the Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding to take on Tivoli Gardens and I do believe that Tivoli coming on board is a timely move and they will certainly benefit from all the opportunities that we have in our programme,” Miss Adams said.

Residents from Hannah Town, Denham Town, Tivoli Gardens and Fletchers Land enjoy themselves in the river at Cranbrook Flower Forest in Laughland, St. Ann, on June 12.

She emphasised that persons in these inner city communities could rest assured that the social intervention programme would not only stop at the visit to the Tapioca Village in St. Mary or the Cranbrook Flower Forest in St. Ann, but they should look forward to a number of other activities that would be specially designed to help in the “healing” process.
Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Tamika Haynes-Robinson told JIS News that it was indeed a good feeling just to know that she could be on board in the rejuvenation effort to offer professional help, free of cost, to those residents from the inner city communities who were deeply affected by the recent outbreak of violence in western Kingston.
“It is my intention to be here at the beginning of the healing and I intend to be there with my team throughout the end, whenever that may be,” Dr. Haynes Robinson said, noting that it was important for persons to learn how they can support each other as they go through the troubled times.
Meanwhile, Secretary for the Tivoli Gardens Community Development Committee (CDC), Norma Jackson said that she was happy that the CSJP planned the outing for them, because it helped to ease their minds.
“I feel good to be here because it helps to relieve the stress and coming out here in the country makes me feel better and I can assure you that most of our members feel the same way coming out here with their children. We have just been adopted into the CSJP and from what we are seeing, it seems as though the programme is going to do well because the CSJP has started out well in our community, so we are glad to have them,” she told JIS News.
Member of the Fletchers Land Management Committee, Lindiana Richards said that she too was happy that members of her community were able to come out to the country and have a good time, and lauded the CSJP for bringing positive changes to the Fletchers Land Community.
“The CSJP has been an asset to Fletchers Land. People are benefiting from the programme and will continue to benefit from it. Fletchers Land has come a far way with the assistance of the CSJP and we have no intention of looking back. The violence in Fletchers Land has been low keyed for quite some time now. We have gone through a lot of remedial changes and I think that Fletchers Land can be seen as a model community right now,” she said.