BACK in April of this year, the Sunday Observer carried an alarming story reporting an upsurge in crime in the once peaceful coastal community of Port Royal. The crime spike, we were told then, was being fuelled by a mass migration of people squatting in the environmentally priceless mangroves and other unoccupied areas close to the historic village.

Back then, this newspaper found it necessary to question the obviously inadequate response of the authorities; and indeed to point to the situation as yet another example of poor governance. Five months later, if respondents in the story published in yesterday’s Sunday Observer are to be believed, the situation has actually got worse.

Squatting, it seems, has continued unabated with the mangroves being progressively destroyed. Crime is said to be on the increase, especially reports of robberies on the beach and car thefts.

Imagine the brazen confidence of criminals who will steal cars in a small community with just one way in and out.

And in all this, we have heard nothing from the authorities. What is being done to protect and preserve Port Royal in the face of this new threat? And what of the more than 20-year-old plan to maximise the tourism potential of a village renowned across the globe.

Lest we forget, it was headquarters of the celebrated buccaneers in the 1600s — the “richest and wickedest city” on earth. The community’s dramatic partial destruction by the infamous earthquake of 1692 added to its mystique. It became the “sunken pirate city”.

The Ministry of Tourism and related agencies should have an interest because of Port Royal’s obvious enormous potential for attracting visitors. It is not far-fetched to imagine that, should the encouraging downward trend in violent crime continue, investors with an interest in tourism will soon be looking to cash in on Kingston, Spanish Town, the Hellshire region and, of course, Port Royal.

Surely it is time to hear from Prime Minister Mrs Portia Simpson Miller, the tourism minister and other relevant voices in Government. The member of parliament, high-profile Cabinet minister Mr Phillip Paulwell, must surely have something to say. And so, too, should the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, the local authority which, as we understand it, should be decisively moving against squatters.

The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party should be asking questions in Parliament and elsewhere.

In the context of the destruction of mangroves, Jamaicans should be hearing from National Environment and Planning Agency and other agencies which are sworn to protect the natural environment.

And the police need to tell us what is being done to ensure peace and security in a community which not too long ago boasted of its crime-free environment.

So-called civil society, including citizens’ groups in Port Royal, should also make their voices heard.

Jamaicans and their leaders need to be always aware that a bird in the hand is worth all those in the bush.

The logistics hub and many other grand plans being trumpeted for sustained economic growth are all in the bush. Port Royal is in this nation’s hands.