BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter Monday, June 02, 2014
MONTEGO BAY, St James-As they came into the world - together - nine-year-old twin boys Brayden and Brandon Jones were laid to rest yesterday, both lying side by side in the same casket as their parents wept inconsolably.
 |
| As they came into the world, twin boys Brayden and Brandon Jones were laid to rest together in the same casket. Mourners created photo memories of the boys who were swept away by angry flood waters last month. The funeral service was held yesterday at the King’s Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Salem, St James. (See story on page four) (PHOTO: PHILLIP LEMONTE) |
The funeral service to pay last respects to the brothers who were swept away by angry flood waters on their way from school last month, was held at King’s Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Salem, St James.
Noting that a lesson should be taken from the tragic passing of Brayden and Brandon, Opposition Leader Andrew Holness called for a national campaign, akin to the National Road Safety Campaign, to inculcate safety practices in children. And he implored the State and the Church to play an integral role in such a campaign.
"Today, I want to say to the church, which is filled with parents, teachers and students, that we may not have the money to put railings on all the gullies that are built, we may not have money to put in all the safety devices and features, but each of us has the quiet time with our children,” her said.
"As parents, now you are going to have to say ‘when you passing the gully, take extra care. Don't jump in the gully and go swim. There is such a thing now called climate change, yesterday it was bright sun, by the time you turn around is heavy rain ,and when you in that gully you not knowing when that flood of water coming’. As parents let us use this tragedy to now cement in our minds that there is something that comes of this that we can do to protect our children."
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Rev Ronald Thwaites also used the occasion of the tragedy to underscore the need for good parenting.
"Because of this tragedy and because of the other tragedies in St James and elsewhere in Jamaica, all of us need to recognise that being a good parent is the most important thing that any human person can do. And that goes not only for mothers, but for fathers too. To grow up in a rightoues and wholesome way, children need mother and father, wherever possible," Rev Thwaites said.
Both men were speaking yesterday at the mournful memorial service for the two Green Pond Primary school students.
Scores of mourners overflowed onto the yard from the jampacked church building to pay a tear-stained farewell after the twin tragedy which left Jamaicans shaken.
The parents of the dead boys, Andrea Bernard and Bertram Jones, wept uncontrollably, oblivious of the sweltering heat that assaulted the church from an unyielding morning sun.
Holness, in his address, attempted to console the hurting parents, saying that the entire nation was mourning with them. more
No comments:
Post a Comment