Following on the heels of the meeting with the 2Drilly gang, Prime Minister the Hon. Gaston Browne met last evening, at Perry Bay with several members of the Grays Farm Killers (GFK) gang.
“The meeting was very productive, with a focus on strategies for rehabilitation, to include the provision of employment and skills building,” according to Prime Minister Browne.
The Grays Farm Killers members thanked the Prime Minister for the interventions, which have averted further planned gang warfare and violent retaliations between the gangs.
The members, whom Prime Minister Browne described as primarily teenagers of various age ranges, expressed a desire to call a truce between warring gangs which should lead to lasting peace.
The groups have agreed to meet with other gang members on Thursday at the Villa Community Centre in a show of cessation of hostilities.An individual who attended the meeting remarked that the Hon. Prime Minister was visibly shaken by the injuries of some of the members to include stab wounds about the face, neck, back, nose, forehead and chops about the head, forehand and hands, which limited the arm’s mobility.
Prime Minister Browne remarked that there were a number of cold chilling revelations from members of the group with some speaking of their near death experiences.
“I am very happy that I followed my intuition to engage them, because it was obvious that these young men needed our help; were yearning for someone to reach out to them. As a society, we have failed them to some extent by not reaching out sooner,” Prime Minister said
“In addition to the serious injuries they suffered, several of them dropped out of school at the age of 14 or 15 because of fear of retaliation. The focus is to enroll them in the YEEP, second chance program and ABICE to assist with their skills building,” he said.
Prime Minister also announced that in addition to the truce meeting on Thursday, the gang members will meet on the weekend for a football friendly at Turf on Factory Road, with the aim to rekindle friendships.
Follow-up meetings and other initiatives to aid in their development and reform are being finalized.
Prime Minister Browne commended Min Daryl Matthew, and all the others including community leaders like Michael Joseph, Luther Lee, King Sagifu, High Priest Selah and Mitch Jeremiah, for supporting this initiative and for encouraging the youth to engage in positive development.
