Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

IN JANUARY 2007, then Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Security Minister Peter Phillips handed out awards to nine communities which had taken their space back from criminals. One of those communities was Dunkirk, a housing scheme located in a gritty section of east Kingston.

One year on and Dunkirk is now a safe community. When The Gleaner visited there recently, Alfred Layne rode his bicycle through the Red Square section of the McIntyre Villa (Dunkirk's official name) project, a trip that was unlikely two years ago.

"Since the last war, a the first mi si things stay so, people coming in and going out. Things did a gwaan wicked 'cause the whole community did inna fear," he said.

Gang feud

Layne, 51, is from nearby Bryden Lane, one of the areas that experienced some of the fiercest fighting. He said that violence was triggered by gang feuding in an area with fanatical loyalty to the People's National Party (PNP).

McIntyre Villa was one of several low-income schemes built by the government of Prime Minister Michael Manley during the 1970s. There was a lot of friction back then between supporters of the PNP and the Jamaica Labour Party, but politics was not in the picture when renewed fighting erupted in early 2005.

"Whole heap a the youth dem nuh have nuh reasoning ability an' dem unemployed, so dat 'cause a lotta strain," he said.

Police said youth from the Bray Street, York Street, Red Square and 42 areas of Dunkirk figured in hostilities that accounted for 15 murders there in 2005. In September of that year, 35 persons were left homeless after their dwellings were firebombed.

The last round of fighting in Dunkirk can be traced to March 2005 when security forces detained 32 persons they believed were involved in the unrest. Things came to a head on the evening of August 17 when three persons, including 16-year-old André Moncrieffe, were shot and killed in a house at Newton Square.

Delano 'Delly Bop' Waite, who the Kingston East police said was their most wanted man, was linked to several of the murders committed in that police division in 2005. The 21-year-old gunman was killed by security forces in March 2006.

One Red Square resident, who gave his name as Christopher, said things have improved since the 'bad apples' have either died or gone to prison. Although the Peace Management Initiative visited Dunkirk in the dark days, Christopher credits regular meetings among residents for the sustained peace.

"Wi a try bring back things so people can si sey Dunkirk is not a bad area," he said.

Many Dunkirk residents, including Moncrieffe, attended Vauxhall High School, just a hop and skip away at Windward Road. Principal Angela Chaplin said staff and students were traumatised by the violence and unsavoury characters wandering on the compound during school hours.

"I have to give credit to the community, they have taken control," Chaplin told The Gleaner. "Every now and then you hear somebody wants to rear their ugly head, but the community tell them they have to stop it."

Alfred Layne was born and raised in Dunkirk, and has seen a lot of bloodshed in the only place he has ever lived. He prays, for his community's sake, that this peace will be seen as more than symbolic.

howard.campbell@gleanerjm.com