Granville can be great again, says activist

With no apparent end to the senseless killings in Granville, St James, several residents have packed their bags and fled the community as splintered groups from the notorious MS-13 and Big Yard gangs continue their reign of terror.

Over the years, the working class has dominated the migrating numbers, abandoning their homes and impacting the value of rental properties. This has resulted in the undermining of commercial activities, and a reduction in school enrolment and church service activities.

The latest exodus has been triggered by an incident that took place shortly after 1 a.m. last Sunday, when men armed with high-powered rifles entered a premises at Gunns Drive and opened fire, hitting 30-year-old Osane Brown, otherwise called ‘Nico’. They then set his house ablaze. The fire spread to two other houses, destroying them and burning 64-year-old Ensworth Bucknor to death.

While the police were processing the scene, gunshots were heard coming from another section of the community where another resident was shot in his upper body and rushed to hospital. He was admitted in critical condition. A curfew was subsequently imposed on sections of the community.

Running away not the answer

But social activist O. Dave Allen does not believe that running away is the solution to the issues plaguing his hometown, but the use of a social-intervention model driven by entrepreneurship and small business development, skills training, mentorship, social enhancement and development, as well as partnerships.

“One of the major problems in Granville is migration,” said Allen, a renowned advocate of sustainable development. “But I came back home with a commitment to Granville, and it is still achievable.”

Allen, whose ancestors were among the original families in Granville, argues that the closure of Barnett Sugar Estate in 1967 resulted in the collapse of the community’s economy, which has never been restored.

Granville has an estimated population of 5,074 individuals, the Social Development Commission (SDC) says, which includes a youthful population – nearly half being 24 years or younger – with males (52 per cent) slightly outnumbering females.

The SDC also points to a deficiency in skills and a lack of specialised training among household heads, which have serious implications for the employment levels, types of jobs available and, ultimately, their generative income.

Illiteracy, lack of skills training and unemployment are a concern, while 36 per cent of respondents in a survey by the agency felt that in Granville it was “very likely” that they could be a victim of crime.

A lull in killings between May and June this year saw residents quietly celebrating a possible change for the community, with political supporters of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) crediting Western Central St James Member of Parliament (MP) Marlene Malahoo-Forte for the calm.

However, other residents argue that the two-term MP is not sufficiently aware of the issues affecting Granville, the only division she lost in the September 2020 general election.

Despite her voicemail greeting asking callers to leave a message “for a quicker response”, The Sunday Gleaner has not received a response to questions asked of Malahoo-Forte.

Not a political issue

Allen, however, insists that the issue is not political but is symptomatic of the iniquitous economic architecture that obtains throughout Jamaica, arguing that lottery scamming is triggered by the gap between the rich and the poor.

“This generation is saying that they are tired of living in poverty. They have seen their fathers and their grandfathers work on Barnett Estate and nothing comes out,” he said. “So the solution lies in the economic empowerment of our people, where people can find opportunities within the formal economy and not be seen as peripheral to the economy.”

Any redevelopment effort will require the acquisition of more lands from Barnett Estate, but while businessman and general manager of Barnett Limited Mark Kerr-Jarrett is willing to allocate more lands to expand the community, he is wary of the squatting phenomenon, a concern shared by Allen.

“There has been no real infrastructure upgrading, even though the size of Granville has grown three, four, five times in my lifetime,” said Kerr-Jarrett, a resident of the community. “I hate to say it, but Granville, like a lot of Montego Bay, needs a complete overhaul.”

Kerr-Jarrett argued that, for such a development plan, an as-built survey is needed to guide any further development that will, among other things, identify those who own lands and are actually living in the community, and whether the taxes are up to date, then match them against the infrastructure such as water, sewerage, light, and Internet capabilities.

Allen said Kerr-Jarrett’s experience would be a significant boost to any rebuild.

“We need people like Kerr-Jarrett to come in and partner with us, not to stay far away and throw salt in the pot, not like the member of parliament who has said that we, the victims of violence, are the cause why the police are ineffective in carrying out their duties,” said the activist.

“There’s a lot of potential for growth in Granville, but we are distracted by the level of violence that now obtains. However, I remain optimistic for the future, that Granville can be great again.”

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com