OCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
AS THE threat of protest by some taxi and bus operators in the tourism town of Ocho Rios looms, calls are being made on the government to review its plans to relocate these operators in the interest of maintaining harmony within the industry.
The calls were made in light of objections raised by bus operators to a plan to relocate them from in front of the entrance to the cruise ship pier to a holding area adjoining the Ocho Rios bus park, as part of what the authorities claim to be new measures aimed at improving port security.
The bus operators have also raised objections to plans to prevent executives of the three companies operating contract carriages at the pier from operating within the pier, or even using the bathroom facilities. The three contractors are Maxi Tours, JUTA Tours and JCAL Tours.
Those making calls for the review were Presi-dent of Maxi Tours, Hewson Edwards, and Chairman of the Ocho Rios Cruise Shipping Council, Michael Belnavis. In a statement issued on Monday, Mr. Belnavis said that the government needed to act in the interest of both the cruise line and the bus operators by reviewing the proposed measures with the operators before taking any further steps to implement them.
According to Belnavis, it is clear that most of the bus operators in Ocho Rios do not support the new measures, as they feel that they were not designed to improve security but, mainly, to discriminate against them. He said that with some bus operators threatening to protest any effort to remove them tomorrow, it would be fool hardy on the part of the authorities to ignore this threat and risk further damage to the already hailing tourist industry. The new measures are expected to come in place on Thursday of this week. Tourism officials are arguing that the regulations at the Ocho Rios pier is as a result of demands being made by cruise shipping officials overseas and the US coast guard to improve port security, following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
However, Maxi Tours' Hew-son Edwards dismissed that statement as mere excuse. He said the real reason for removing them was to facilitate shop owners at the new Island Village complex improving their business at the complex.
Describing the attitude of the tourism officials as feisty and disrespectful, Edwards said his members are adamant that they will not be removing their buses from the present location near the pier, because they do not pose any threat to security.
"We are investors who invest billions of dollars in our business and must be treated with respect," he said.
He said that plans to relocate them were discussed more than 16 months before the September 11 incident and were only now being expedited. "They do not reason with us. They only come and ram things down our throats and we will not accept it," he added.
Edwards also pointed out that contrary to recent press report, both JUTA and JCAL Tours are in full support of the position taken by Maxi Tours in rejecting the relocation of buses. "All three companies are working as a united voice and we all are demanding that our executives operate from the pier to ensure that our businesses are properly run."
Edwards told The Gleaner that bus operators are not against improved security, but are strongly opposed to the manner in which the new measures are being implemented and are also against the new location which they feel is most inappropriate to conduct their business.
