It's hard to tell at first glance, but there is much more to Annotto Bay than the noisy confusion and traffic snarls along the centre of the town - the small rectangular area from Main Street, past the police station, to the court house and market.

The town appears, at first glance, to be just another dirty little rural community with a litter-riddled beachfront and inadequate parking. The dirt, grime and the jostling for parking spaces in a stifling heat that not even the sea breeze can penetrate leaves the impression of a town that has little to offer.

A dilapidated pier and a litter-strewn beach in Annotto Bay. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

But if you look beyond the dirt, grime and squalor, community members urge, you just might see the true beauty of the small, English bay town overlooking the sea in the parish of St Mary.
In Annotto Bay, like so many other sections of the island, the good things are buried deep within the town's history.

Among the 18 churches of various denominations in the two-mile long town is the 181 year-old Anglican Church on Main Street. And the Metcalfe Market, established in the 18th century, is now a heritage site. The steel structure on which it was built is still standing strong after more than 200 years.

Residents will proudly point out, for visitors, the tomb of Mary Clarke, the mother of national Hero Sir Alexander Bustamante, which lies in the yard of the Methodist church. Or the two Taino Indian sites that were recently discovered in the town.

Vehicles and pedestrians jostle for space in the often-congested town centre.

History buffs might also be interested to know that Boot and Stocking Bridge is where slaves, who walked barefoot for miles, would stop to wash their feet and put on their boots and stockings before entering the town.

Meanwhile, for those interested in commerce, Annotto Bay is also the home of the Green Castle estate, one of the largest exporters of orchids, coconut oil and papaya in the parish. These days, the town hosts the Annatto Festival, which utilises the town's history, culture and the versatile annatto plant - the town's namesake.

Fully aware of the historical value of the place they call home, community leaders want to position Annotto Bay as a heritage site. The aim is to make Annotto Bay interesting again, to breathe new life into a town that many believe is slowly dying.

But United States Peace Corps volunteer Jamie Davis sees Annotto Bay in a different light - it's quaint and charming. For her, the people and culture are the town's most impressive features.
"The people are friendly. Individual people know you and look out for you and everybody sort of looks out for each other," she said.

Davis, from Florida, shares her time between the all-age school and health clinic, where she focuses on teen health education.
She said she has seen positive behaviour changes in the year-and-a-half since she has been there.

"The community groups are more mobilised and there is greater participation between businesses and the community," she said.
Karl Lloyd Fisher, a 75 year-old who answers to the name Kingfish, has lived in the town for more than 60 years. He once owned several businesses in the town. It was beautiful then, he said, and he still treasures its rich history.

It's the same for 83 year-old Clementina Chambers, who has lived at Bottom Bay for more than eight decades.
Miss Clemmie, as she is fondly known, knows a thing or two about Annotto Bay's real estate. The entire area, she said, changed hands from Thomas Hibbert to the Pringle family.

She said she, like many others, bought the land she now occupies from the Pringles. "It's the land that has helped me to send my children to school," she reminisced.

Like Miss Clemmie, those old enough to remember can tell tales about the days when Grays Inn sugar estate and, later, St Mary Banana's Association were the major employers.

But Gray's Inn closed more than 20 years ago, and the parish's already limping banana industry was all but wiped out by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The result: massive lay-offs that worsened already high unemployment levels in a parish long recognised as the country's poorest - one that has not fared well under either of the two major political parties.

Represented by the Jamaica Labour Party for its first 40 years, Annotto Bay has been in the hands of the People's National Party for the last 16.

The town's political history is firmly tied to the Ross family whose father and son team represented the area from 1949 until 1989. Andrew Ross took the east St Mary seat for the Jamaica Labour Party in 1949, and held on until 1967 when he "handed it over" to his son Alva Ross.

By then, with boundary changes and the other restructuring that had taken place over the years, the constituency had been renamed south east St Mary. Alva Ross held onto his seat, continuing what political analyst Troy Caine described as "the Ross dynasty" until the People's National Party's Harry Douglas got the most votes in 1989. Douglas has held the seat since then, beating off a challenge from the JLP's Tarn Peralto in 2003.

But politics is not at the forefront of residents' minds these days. The adults are more concerned about the absence of factories and skills training facilities. The youngsters are too idle, and the devil finds work for idle hands, they fear.

However, chief medical officer of health for the parish, Dr Ray Fraser, is among those who still believe in Annotto Bay. He is convinced that some of the youngsters may be saved, helped by the computer training programme at Annotto Bay High School.

Fraser first came to Annotto Bay 10 years ago, as a surgeon in the town's hospital. Then, the hospital left a lot to be desired, but he says he has seen it improve significantly over the years. For many it is one of the few bright sparks in the town.

"When I came to the hospital, it was the first time that I was coming this part of Jamaica. After a cursory glance at the facilities, I wondered if I was in my right mind," said Fraser. But if he is to be believed, and business leaders have backed up his story, the overhaul of the parish hospital has been nothing short of miraculous over the last decade.

"The Annotto Bay hospital is the second largest employer in the area. When you think of the number of families that are dependent on what happens here for survival, you can see that it has to be considered both a health and an economic entity," Fraser explained.
Hospital administrators say there are 179 employees.

So last year, when word spread that the hospital was going to be closed down, part of the government's move to rationalise the island's heath services, town people turned out in their numbers, opposing the move.

At the time, health minister John Junor denied the rumours and they have slowly died. Now, the hospital, which could have once been described in the early days as a "severely malnourished facility", is able to efficiently provide medical services to the people of St Mary, St Ann and Portland. Surgical procedures are done daily.

That's a far cry from when the hospital had no laboratory. That changed after Deaconess Hospital in the United States, with help from the business community, helped to establish the modern laboratory that now complements the work of private doctors in the town.

The business community - which was once criticised for being removed from the needs of a town that many of its members do not call home - appears to have been shamed into contributing more to the slowly dying community. Fraser said the private sector has contributed significantly to the hospital over the years.

Now, according to Pam Lowe-Chang, the operator of T&P Self Serve, the recently-formed Annotto Bay Business Association is determined to do even more. Its first contribution was to build a park for the children.

"The children needed some place for recreational purposes and, through community efforts, we have established a park. This is primarily to show that we do care, and are willing to contribute to the community," she said.

Fully aware of some residents' perception that the business sector was only interested in profit making, she insisted that they have made contributions to the community over the years. Much of this has been done with very little fanfare, she said, and they intend to keep it that way.

But there is still a lot that needs to be done.
On entering Annotto Bay, it is the illegally parked cabs, many of them unlicensed, the too-few parking spots for police and court officials, the zinc-fenced avenues and the absence of public bathrooms that are obvious at first blush.

One of the worst spots in the town is the Fort George main road, once an upscale neighbourhood that housed the well-to-do. The Great House is still in fairly good condition and a few of the once-posh homes still have their signature glass doors.

But for the most part, the ghettoisation of the Fort George main road is well underway. Today, the murky, stagnant water that has run across the drain at the corner of Fort George and Main streets for years can still be described as one of the parish's biggest eyesores.

"I have been here for more than 30 years, and that drain has been there since that time," said principal of the Annotto Bay All-age school Beatrice Smikle.

When it rains heavily and the road becomes almost impassable for pedestrians, the children get to school via a wide concrete ramp, built courtesy of Member of Parliament Harry Douglas.

Smikle said they were promised, during a recent meeting of the Health and Environmental Association, that the Highway 2000 road network will alleviate the problem.

But the solution to the ever-increasing crime problem does not appear to be as easy to solve. Residents say cases of housebreaking, larceny and robberies are on the increase. But like many other communities across the island, the police are hampered by financial constraints as they try to protect and serve the community.

Annotto Bay - more than meets the eye

. Annotto Bay, which is only two miles long, has 18 churches of various denominations.

. The tomb of Mary Clarke, the mother of National Hero Sir Alexander Bustamante, lies in the yard of the Methodist Church.

. The Anglican Church on Main Street was built in 1824. It still stands tall.

. One of its most outstanding landmarks is the Fort George Great House, now owned by the Matalons.

. The Metcalfe Market, established in the 18th century, is now a heritage site. The steel structure on which it was built still stands in the town after more than 200 years.

. Two Taino Indian sites were recently discovered in the town. Several Indians living in the town are said to be descendants of the Tainos.

. Annotto Bay is home of the Green Castle Estate, one of the largest exporters of orchids, coconut oil and papaya in St Mary.

. Boot and Stocking Bridge is where slaves, who walked barefoot for miles, would stop to wash their feet and put on their boots and stockings before entering the town.

Creating a comfortable Living Space

Mission: HOPE

Jamaica Jazz and Blues a stimilus