In a move that both angered and wooed residents, the well-known pastor from an adjoining district said he received a "divine revelation", which informed him that the names of persons from Marley Hill had been written and "planted" in the duppy-infested cotton tree located at Cotton Tree Bottom. An act of obeah that he said was done to "hold down" the development of the young people.

zealous churchman

Some residents of the community and the zealous churchman, armed with machetes, marched to the 'obeah tree', believed to be the headquarters from which the duppies operated and chopped it to pieces. Not a limb or branch was spared.

The cotton tree was then burned. While many rejoiced that they chopped the duppy tree out of their lives, others were not pleased, questioning whether the destruction of the tree will have any negative repercussions on the environmental safety of the community.

One resident told The STAR that he was surprised that the tree had been cut down as it was planted by slaves centuries ago to help stabilise the road, control the flow of water to the gully and to prevent the bridge from collapsing as a result of rushing water.

Another resident, Macky Logan, lamented: "How interesting is it that it was the supposedly enlightened, forward-thinking, young people, future generation" who were responsible for the demise of a tree which was a big part of our own history and heritage.