No strange face roun' here - residents warn outsiders

While Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth continues to enjoy relative peace and tranquillity, the residents are nonetheless uncomfortable with the increasing number of strangers who have been moving into their community in recent times.

In fact, one of their great fears is that the strangers, especially the growing number of young men and women, might not share their penchant for peace and good order, and could end up disrupting the peace they have worked so hard to preserve over the years.

One man, who identified himself only as 'BiBip', said, "We want to get them out of the place, because some are already making trouble."

Because the town is steadily building its tourism product, which many residents are becoming increasingly dependent on, many residents believe that if crime becomes an issue it could be disastrous.

"We have some troublemakers coming in and that could spell danger ... is already a big issue for our business," stated a concerned woman. "We want Treasure Beach to remain the peaceful place it has always been."

In a bid to preserve the safety of their community, some residents are taking a proactive approach. They are constantly on the lookout and at the first sight of trouble, they have no qualms about alerting the police.

"When strangers come in here, we kick them out because we as the residents band together to protect the community," a middle-aged man told the WESTERN STAR. "When a strange man comes in here and we don't like what he is doing, we call the police or catch them and deal with them ourselves.

"Strangers who come in here and don't want to leave, don't want to talk to nobody or just sit down by themselves, those are the ones we keep our eyes on. If they don't move for a day or two, we call the police," the man continued. "We nuh have no crime and we want to keep it that way."