Blame the politicians | Main stories

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The Prime Minister is the MP for his beloved Olympic Gardens community, but Reverend Rennard White has little respect for Andrew Holness and those who sit with him at Gordon House. They and their predecessors are the root of Jamaica’s woes, he believes.

However, he respects their functions, which in a democracy brings structure, leadership and hope. But the leader of the Tower Hill Missionary Church in West Central St Andrew says until the politicians come to terms with their follies, Jamaica can expect none of this.

At 75, his silver hair and slow gait betray his wealth in the service of Jamaica. Pastor White served as a youth community leader in the mission church’s Eastern District and served its various committees and leaders. He was also president of the Jamaica Evangelic Association and president of the now defunct Peace Management Initiative (PMI).

But as his decades-long tenure as head of the church draws to a close, Pastor White reflected on his beloved Olympic Way community in an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last week, visibly hurt by the oppressive violence that is taking place. continues.

He strongly believes that unless something drastic is done, political tribalism and institutionalized violence will forever hold the community and its surroundings hostage. Even 50-year-old Andrew Holness may be too young to fully grasp the magnitude of this predicament, what caused it and how to fix it, he posited.

“I’ve lived here since 1955. We were in one of the newer sets of houses in the community,” explained Pastor White, his head bowed, his eyes closed in thought, as he spoke with The Sunday Gleaner.

“In the late 70s and 80s, largely under the governments of Norman Manley and Edward Seaga, they institutionalized violence in the interest of political parties,” he fumed, blaming the violence guns and gangs that still plagues the Olympic Gardens today.

“So when the Prime Minister says he wants to take the guns out of the community, I say ‘hey, didn’t you politicians bring them in? The political system, the guys in Parliament with their jackets and ties, they are the ones who have weaponized this community,” Pastor White charged, listing several other similarly troubled areas across the island.

“I don’t respect them; only their offices. They are to be blamed for these seeds they have sown. You must understand that the Bible says “whatever a man sows, he shall reap also”, and you reap what you sow, later than you sow and much more than you sow. So this Jamaican guns and murders business is not going to stop anytime soon.

Out of control crime monster

Today, Tower Hill Mission Church and its nearby Basic School are surrounded by perimeter fencing with padlocks that remain locked all day.

Pastor White recalls the days he sheltered Sunday school students as gunmen marched through the cemetery into enemy territory. The same is happening today as schools such as nearby Balcombe Drive Primary often have to close due to gun violence which continues to wreak havoc in the area.

Twenty years ago, arson for political support was common and illegal guns were a rite of passage for gangsters in political circles.

Today, while guns may not be directly provided by politicians, the destructive mindset and gun culture prevails. Pastor White shares the opinion of sociologists that Jamaica is now caught in the stranglehold of crime because it has cultivated a generation that developed a love affair with the gun, which has become the legacy passed on to subsequent generations.

The genesis of garrison politics decades ago created the crime monster that has spun out of control today, terrorizing every corner of the country, resulting in 409 murders and 336 shootings so far this year. St Andrew Central Police Division is responsible for 14 of those murders and 17 of those shootings.

Unfortunately, many mobsters killed in the ongoing gang warfare end up having their funerals at Pastor White’s Church for free, as their loved ones cannot afford to pay.

Some are sent to prison, ironically sometimes by the descendants of the politicians whose parents were the executioners.

It’s a shame, he argued, noting that the current debate over turning Jamaica into a republic is just a distraction. There are far more important things to focus on that will lead to the betterment of Jamaica, he said.

“A lot of setbacks from previous years have not been sorted out,” said Pastor White.

“There is a lot of harm”

Pastor White thinks the government’s recently announced big pay rise for his ranks is another set of manipulations. There is no other way to look at it, he reasoned, noting that the statement followed the government that prompted teachers, police, nurses and other officials to sign the new salary agreement. In some cases, it amounted to threats, he said.

“Then someone comes and says, ‘Here’s some money we found and we’re going to distribute it in the political ranks.’ That’s wrong!” charged the clergyman.

“There’s a lot of hurt, there’s a lot of anger and people are hurting across the island. Some people have it very rough. I don’t think many of us understand how difficult it is for them.

Today, Tower Hill Missionary feeds crowds of people from the Olympic Gardens and provides weekly bus tickets and lunch money to dozens of students, from primary to tertiary level, in the community. About 15 percent of the church’s budget, about $9 million a year, goes directly to feeding poor children, Pastor White explained.

The church operates on the mantra that no child should miss a day of school despite resource challenges, Pastor White said, and in a community rife with informal settlements and unemployment, that’s welcome news. for many parents.

The Cloth Man calls for more investment in young people in inner-city communities, many of whom are often “scratched” by the pen of violence.

family love

Pastor White is the father of two sons, Omar and Andrew, and a beloved daughter, Renae, who now teaches at the church’s preschool. All were products of a loving marriage between him and his wife, Blossom, for over 40 years.

He and Blossom now have five grandchildren, and these days the clergyman spends much of his days caring for them or watching over the dozens of children at the early childhood setting.

Apart from these obligations, the incidents in which the Church must intervene are never lacking.

White graduated from Jamaica Theological Seminary and became pastor of the Tower Hill Mission Church in 1981. He is also a chaplain at the Olympic Gardens police station, where he advises officers, some of whom he says hold good despite serious life difficulties.

Today, after serving as a missionary in 23 countries and many years of service in Jamaica, Pastor White is ready to serve even more, when and where he is called. But he thinks a lot of work needs to be done to repair Jamaican families from the social devastation they have faced, mostly at the hands of politics over the years.

To this end, he has taken a particular interest in couples and premarital counseling, which he believes are also a primary tool in solving Jamaica’s social problems.

“It is very important that as a couple, your spiritual life and your commitment are intact. You should also seek to be a good example. Young people admire you and you must maintain your family life. If you are a church person, you must remain the same person at home. Your children should see no difference,” noted Pastor White.

“Dad shouldn’t be at home bullying Mom. Dad is a Christian at home and everywhere.

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