BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Accompong Maroon Chief Richard Currie could find himself in trouble with the law following the alleged barricading of seven Forestry Department workers in the Cockpit Country on the weekend.

Head of the police’s communications unit, Senior Superintendent of Police Stephanie Lindsay, told the Jamaica Observer on Sunday that there is an investigaton underway into the allegations.

That came after the Forestry Department said it disrupted a major illegal logging operation in the community of Quickstep and was impeded in conducting its lawful duties by more than 200 community members and illegal loggers.

Currie later took to social media, questioning the actions of the Forestry Department.

“What is the Forestry Department doing with Mahogany? Solid mahogany. You know how old this tree must have been… So when our people have the problem and we raise the problem, it is as if we are the obstruction…” he said.

“Quickstep is a deep part of the Cockpit Country to which there is a so-called forestry reserve. What has been going on is that it has been demarcated as a forestry reserve. However, people have been over the years deliberately lumbering from that area and taking the lumber out under the guise of forestry,” he claimed.

“Quickstep is not a playpen for the Forestry Department to decide what to lumber, when to lumber, who to lumber,” he added.

He said that he went to Quickstep to de-escalate the stand-off between residents and the authorities.

“Two years ago there was a similar situation where Quickstep was blocked by residents protesting lumbering in that area. Quickstep is a farming community and yes lumbering takes place [there], it has been happening for years,” he said.

The Forestry Department, meanwhile, said it sought to provide an accurate account of the events and address what it described as misleading and a false narrative circulating on social media.

The department said that on Thursday afternoon rangers from the agency identified an extensive illegal timber harvesting operation at Lewis Patent in the Cockpit Country Forest Reserve, part of the protected area near Quickstep, a neighbouring community to Accompany in the Cockpit Country in northern St Elizabeth/southern Trelawny border.

The department said upon receiving this report it dispatched a team on the morning of July 26 to seize the illegally harvested timber.

“It was reported that at approximately 7:00 am a truck loaded with lumber was seen leaving the area before the [agency’s] arrival. Upon arrival, the team, consisting of two agency vehicles and seven staff members, discovered significant illegal harvesting activities, including the cutting and conversion of several Jamaican mahogany trees into lumber. More than 500 pieces of lumber were located at multiple points along trails within the reserve. The team began retrieving the lumber, loading 150 pieces into the agency’s three-ton truck. However, their exit was blocked as trees and boulders were used to obstruct the road. The team contacted the head office, and a secondary team was dispatched, coordinating with the police for their release,” the department said.

“Around 10:00 pm, the secondary team, along with eight police officers in three service vehicles, attempted to clear the blockage but were met with resistance as stones were thrown at them from the surrounding hills. Both teams were forced to spend the night on site, awaiting further assistance,” the statement read.

“A Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) team arrived at approximately 5:30 am on Saturday, providing the necessary support to retrieve the agency personnel by 8:00 am. However, the vehicles were left behind, pending additional State resources. With the combined efforts of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, JDF, and Jamaica Fire Brigade, all state officers and equipment were eventually retrieved,” the department said.

The Forestry Department said its convoy was once again impeded in Quickstep Square by a group of residents, and that illegal loggers attempted to unlawfully claim the seized lumber and obstruct the police.

A superintendent of police, said the Forestry Department, ensured the safe departure of its personnel.

Currie, on an Instagram live, sought to defend himself.

“Since it reach this point police and soldiers all around in Quickstep. We came over here to de-escalate a situation and they a tell me seh me haffi come down a station with them, so unuh ago hear about it,” he said.

Currie, since being elected as head of the St Elizabeth-based Accompong Town Maroons in March 2021, has been sparring with the Government over the 1738 treaty the Maroons signed with the British Government. The relationship between Currie, the Maroon leadership in Accompong and the Government has since been strained.

On January 9, 2022 Prime Minister Andrew Holness dismissed the rhetoric of the Accompong Maroons that they are a sovereign people.

“Under my leadership, not one inch of Jamaica will come under any other sovereign authority”, Holness said.

Firefighters clearing a downed tree that was blocking authorities from leaving the Cockpit Country over the weekend.

A boulder being pulled off the road in Quickstep