Andrew Wildes, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Nigel Coke, communications director of the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. - Contributed

BITTERNESS AND ANGER are at the centre of the dreadful violence in Jamaica today, according to Elder Nigel Coke, communications director of the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Churches.

One of the things that has been holding us back as a nation is this thing called unforgiveness. It has been holding us back as a church, as families, as individuals and as a nation, Coke said, while delivering the sermon at a service marking Communication Day at the Meadowvale Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Andrew yesterday.

Coke called on the Government and citizens of Jamaica to consider alternative options in dispute resolution, including anger management programme initiatives, arguing that it would create a better workforce and healthier people, while eradicating bitterness and hatred across the nation.

With the problem of crime and violence in Jamaica, there is a need for anger-management programmes, efforts of restorative justice should be fast-tracked. People must recognise that our disputes can be resolved in a different way, Coke intoned to cries of Amen from concurring congregants.

collaborative efforts

Coke further argued that such a venture would require the collaborative efforts of major social groups within the society, such as the Church, Government, the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

He did not identify, however, any specific initiative or intervention

According to the Jamaica Constabulary Force since the start of the year 1,050 people have been violently murdered, a frightening leap of 137 lives in comparison to the same period last year, and 238 over the same period in 2006.

The final meeting of the joint select committee examining the controversial crime bill being put forward by the Golding administration will take place this week. Jamaicas horrendous rate of violent crimes is today an issue of international concern, with its effects spanning across all major sectors. Just last week, British Minister of State for Trade and Development, Gareth Thomas, warned that Jamaicas gross domestic product growth was being stifled by the countrys high murder rate.