have reached boiling point and are threatening to block roads as they claim they are living “like prisoners” in a ghost town due to the security measure. In fact, one resident likened living in the community to what obtained at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone had to “lock up and lock in” due to safety measures implemented to stem the spread of the infectious disease.

According to the St Mary police, the curfews, which have been ongoing in the area for months, were implemented in response to an increase in criminal activities. Imposed in 48-hour increments, the curfews run from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am and are sometimes extended. But the residents are crying out for relief, citing unlivable circumstances under the restrictions that are taking a toll on daily life and businesses. Their discontent and threat of a protest come on the heels of a demonstration in Three Hills, Retreat, in the parish last week, with residents demanding answers about a curfew that was extended in that community. Albion Mountain and Boscobel are the other sections of the “banana parish” impacted by the most recent curfew.

Baileys Vale resident Beverley Nugent told the Jamaica Observer on Friday that the situation is particularly concerning when it comes to the treatment of young men in the community. “The little youths, I have to talk on their behalf because they can’t live any life. They don’t have a life to live as youth in Baileys Vale. If the police come and see three or four of them right here, they have to stop and they have to search them. These youth were born and grew together, went to school together, and now, if they sit here, whether four or five of them, you hear that it is a gang — and I don’t think that is right. It really affects the youth,” she told the Sunday Observer during a visit to the community last Friday. (Jamaica Observer)