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NOT even the holding of hands in prayer with Prime Minister Bruce Golding could get Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller to commit to resume bipartisan talks.
Golding's renewed invitation to Simpson Miller to come back to the table at Vale Royal was met with a stony silence from the People's National Party (PNP) leader yesterday.
And later, as she departed the "Heal the Family Heal the Nation" day of prayer at the National Arena in Kingston, Simpson Miller had nothing to say to this Observer reporter who asked if she would now consider engaging in the Vale Royal talks, given what transpired on the platform.
"I have no comment. I am not doing any interview at this time," was the response she gave this reporter.
"All I will say it was a very good, a really excellent service," she added before entering her vehicle.
Golding made the invitation to Simpson Miller to engage in talks aimed at amicable solutions to the issues affecting the country in his address to hundreds of Christians who gathered inside the National Arena to pray for the healing of the nation.
Simpson Miller had opted out of the Vale Royal talks last year in protest against Golding's comments that the Opposition party was suffering from "intellectual depravity" and that "it seems as if termites have infected their brains".
Showing that they wanted to see the leaders communicating again, the congregation inside the National Arena yesterday erupted into high praise when Roslyn Douglas of the Christian Fellowship Outreach Ministry took Golding's hand and placed it in that of Simpson Miller's, in a prayer for the healing of the nation and its leaders.
Douglas, with the help of Bishop Herro Blair, laid hands on both leaders as she prayed.
In his address, Golding also commended the organisers for the theme as he said it was one which should command the attention of the entire nation.
"We can't heal the nation unless we heal the family," he said, to much applause.
He said many children were not learning at school because many biological parents do not know how to raise children, hence the need for the Parenting Commission. Some persons were becoming grandparents before they attained age 40, which demonstrated that "children are having children".
"There has been a breakdown in the family... when you have young boys and girls on the street at nights offering their body for sale under the excuse of economic hardship," he said.
He said that while the murderers must be caught and punished, if Jamaica was to have hope for the future, then a way must be found to prevent so many persons from choosing this path.
Simpson Miller, who also addressed the event, also commended the organisers for the theme, saying that healing the family was critical if the nation was to be healed.
"Whatever we do, if we do not pay attention to the families, and by extension the communities, then the nation will never be healed," she said.
Simpson Miller said last year had been a rough one in terms of crime and violence, as she implored the church to continue to pray.
"I want to make a special appeal that we not only come here today and pray but we continue to pray always," she said.
"Let us take back our communities one by one, and if we can succeed in these areas then the nation will be healed," she added.
Thousands of Christians journeyed from all over Jamaica to attend the Power of Faith Ministries and the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches' third national call to prayer.
Golding's renewed invitation to Simpson Miller to come back to the table at Vale Royal was met with a stony silence from the People's National Party (PNP) leader yesterday.
And later, as she departed the "Heal the Family Heal the Nation" day of prayer at the National Arena in Kingston, Simpson Miller had nothing to say to this Observer reporter who asked if she would now consider engaging in the Vale Royal talks, given what transpired on the platform.
"I have no comment. I am not doing any interview at this time," was the response she gave this reporter.
"All I will say it was a very good, a really excellent service," she added before entering her vehicle.
Golding made the invitation to Simpson Miller to engage in talks aimed at amicable solutions to the issues affecting the country in his address to hundreds of Christians who gathered inside the National Arena to pray for the healing of the nation.
Simpson Miller had opted out of the Vale Royal talks last year in protest against Golding's comments that the Opposition party was suffering from "intellectual depravity" and that "it seems as if termites have infected their brains".
Showing that they wanted to see the leaders communicating again, the congregation inside the National Arena yesterday erupted into high praise when Roslyn Douglas of the Christian Fellowship Outreach Ministry took Golding's hand and placed it in that of Simpson Miller's, in a prayer for the healing of the nation and its leaders.
Douglas, with the help of Bishop Herro Blair, laid hands on both leaders as she prayed.
In his address, Golding also commended the organisers for the theme as he said it was one which should command the attention of the entire nation.
"We can't heal the nation unless we heal the family," he said, to much applause.
He said many children were not learning at school because many biological parents do not know how to raise children, hence the need for the Parenting Commission. Some persons were becoming grandparents before they attained age 40, which demonstrated that "children are having children".
"There has been a breakdown in the family... when you have young boys and girls on the street at nights offering their body for sale under the excuse of economic hardship," he said.
He said that while the murderers must be caught and punished, if Jamaica was to have hope for the future, then a way must be found to prevent so many persons from choosing this path.
Simpson Miller, who also addressed the event, also commended the organisers for the theme, saying that healing the family was critical if the nation was to be healed.
"Whatever we do, if we do not pay attention to the families, and by extension the communities, then the nation will never be healed," she said.
Simpson Miller said last year had been a rough one in terms of crime and violence, as she implored the church to continue to pray.
"I want to make a special appeal that we not only come here today and pray but we continue to pray always," she said.
"Let us take back our communities one by one, and if we can succeed in these areas then the nation will be healed," she added.
Thousands of Christians journeyed from all over Jamaica to attend the Power of Faith Ministries and the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches' third national call to prayer.
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