Granville striving hard to shed scam image

Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:Fearing that their community might be targeted in the bid to hunt down and extradite lottery scammers to the United States, residents of Granville in St James have embarked on a drive to change the negative image of their community.

The Granville community is considered the birthplace of the lottery scam, a scheme by which local fraudsters con unsuspecting American citizens, especially the elderly, out of millions of dollars.

"We have to take responsibility for the negative characterisation of our community and Brand Jamaica … but we are determined to change this negative perception. We are now implementing strategies to ensure that this takes place," said social activist O' Dave Allen, a resident of Granville.

Allen was among a number of speakers who participated in a community meeting in Granville to form an overall strategy to reposition the community as a place of legitimate endeavours.

"One of the problems we have is that some people accept criminal activities and other anti-social behaviour as the norm, and this kind of mindset must change," said Allen. "Those said to be scammers are no longer living in the community. They have moved out to other areas … . Many are said to be dead, either shot by their own cronies or by the police.

"Because of the stigma, they (the scammers) have left on the community, there is a feeling that law enforcement can just come and scrape up any resident of the community and say they are scammers," added Allen.

FOCUS ON CHANGING IMAGE

In speaking to the picture that has been painted of Granville internationally, Michael Troupe, the councillor for the area and deputy mayor of Montego Bay, said the negative stereotype would not deter the efforts of the residents to change the community's image.

"Granville is not the run-down community it is described to be," Troupe told the community meeting. "It is now the safest place in St James, and we must build on that.

"It is the responsibility of every decent citizen to ensure that Granville is no longer associated with the murders, rapes, and robberies of the past," added Troupe. "We must make it clear to all that Granville is open for business."

Superintendent Paul Stanton, who represented the St James police at the meeting, said that since the start of the year, the community had been doing quite well in terms of safety and security.

"Granville has been behaving itself, and we at the Area One Police are quite pleased about it … . We must now ensure that we maintain this stability," Stanton said. "The security forces will continue to make their presence felt, but we hope the citizens will understand that it is their responsibility to help the police maintain order."