Indisciplined drivers and demonic forces fingered for rise in crashes
A series of bizarre accidents in recent months has claimed the lives of more than 118 Jamaicans. While members of the church community have blamed the wanton indiscipline on the nation’s roads for these fatalities, there are those who believe some of these accidents are being caused by demonic forces.
Bishop Alvin Bailey, senior pastor at the Portmore Holiness Christian Church in St. Catherine, said the spate of accidents is cause for concern. He said it would appear the advertisements and the pleas to drive carefully on the roads are falling on deaf ears.
“It is reflecting the general sense of immorality and irresponsible conduct of the average Jamaican. I think that it is also reflecting the fact that at every level of the Jamaican society, indiscipline, inconsistency, and immorality are like a norm, so nobody is careful to obey law and order anymore,” he said.
He said the government also needs to fulfil its obligation to ensure the roads are safe for motorists.
“If the government is going to have any moral authority to talk about roads, they must, first of all, take care of aspects that lead to violations, such as improper signage, poor road condition, and inadequate policing,” the senior clergyman asserted.
“If the constituted authority can be so blatant in violation of law and order, if there is no sense of accountability, [or] disregard for one another’s rights and privileges, then the average man is going to reflect the same thing in the way he drives on the road,” he noted.
Meanwhile, pastor of the Mahanaim Shalom Christian Church in Kingston, Reverend Oniel Richards, believes prayer is one of the key interventions for reducing the series of road accidents the country has been witnessing. This is because some road accidents are also caused by the invoking of demonic spirits through the occult, witchcraft, and ancestral worship.
“Whenever you see these places where deaths are taking place, usually there is something that is opening a door. The building of the roads may have been done with rituals,” noted Reverend Richards.
He said some contractors engage in rituals and ancestral worship to secure major road-building projects. These rituals include worshipping and summoning the dead. This might explain why there are several major accidents annually, especially on our highways, which are built by the Chinese. Ancestral worship is very common in China.
“If they are worshipping and praying to the dead, then it will open up a portal of death, and so it shouldn’t be surprising that we see deaths taking place when they build these roads,” said Reverend Richards.
“You can know because you see an outbreak of it [accidents] and you see no natural reason for it to be happening, but it’s happening and it keeps repeating,” he said, explaining how to differentiate between accidents that might be caused by factors such as indiscipline versus those that are caused by demonic forces.
Some areas where there have consistently been accidents over the years are referred to as ‘crash hot spots.’ These include the toll highway between Caymanas and the Vineyards, the Nelson Mandela Highway, the Michael Manley Boulevard in East Kingston, Old Harbour Road in St. Catherine, the Bustamante Highway in Clarendon, the Llandovery main road in St. Ann, and the Rose Hall main road in St. James.
Rev. Richards said atonement would need to be made to stop the shedding of blood on the roads that have been dedicated to the dead.
“It is important that the church goes to these places. Even if we don’t know what opened the door, we must close the door. So we must go to the location and repent for the sins that brought it about, ask God, ‘Lord, do not hold us guilty for this’ and we should pray for that community and the nearby communities, and make atonement, ask for forgiveness and mercy, and redemption, cast the spirit out, and lock the doors. That will help to close off the repeated accidents that are happening in some of these places,” he advised.
He reminded Christians that if they abide in the secret place of the Most High, as stated in Psalm 91, then they will be protected. He also urged road users to pray.
“We need to pray against harm. Jesus told us to pray for deliverance from evil. So if he told us to pray for deliverance from evil and we are not praying, when evil comes, we can understand why; it is not that God broke his promise,” he said.
Commissioner of Police Dr. Kevin Blake recently indicated that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) intends to intensify its strategic response to curtail the surge in fatal road accidents.
“This disturbing trend underscores the urgent need for the JCF to adapt and enhance our strategies to prevent further loss of life,” he said during the JCF’s first quarterly virtual press briefing for 2024 since he took over as commissioner.
He said enforcing traffic laws will be a core component of the police’s strategic response. Public education campaigns will also be rolled out to encourage a culture of road safety.
“Our objective is to create a safer environment for all road users by vigorously targeting behaviours that contribute to road accidents. These include speeding, impaired driving, failing to use seatbelts and helmets, and other reckless practices that endanger lives,” Blake said.
