Indiscipline, tourist dollars and taxis
published: Tuesday | January 21, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
IN RESPONSE to "Cruise Ship Warning" story in your Gleaner of January 16, I submit the following:
In 2000 I was privileged to visit Paris, France. One day while being downtown and wanting to return to my hotel, I tried hailing a cab. After several futile attempts and becoming extremely frustrated, I decided to enquire as to why the taxis were not stopping. A gentleman was to inform me that I needed to go to a taxi stand, which was about a half mile down the road (this was on one of Paris' main streets).
Shortly after proceeding to that location, I was able to get a taxi. It was a very cold evening.
If Jamaicans continue to behave in their traditional ways (laced with hooliganism) and protest against every corrective measure that is being implemented by the Government, then Jamaica will continue to find itself at the bottom of the heap. (Of course the new taxes levied on licences, etc., are not only excessive but extremely burdensome, but did a man, having nothing to do with the policies of the Government, need to lose his life as a result of them?) It is high time that some Jamaicans realise that the tactics of the past have failed.
Tourists are very squeamish about being hounded and when strangers rush them, it can be a very frightening experience. I believe that placing a taxi stand a mile away and radioing cars as they are needed is a small but great vision and a step in the right direction that Jamaica needs to take if the tourist industry is to ever come to life again.
The way things are looking right now, Jamaica needs those tourist dollars. It is a small sacrifice to make by those who serve and are benefited by that industry, and it is a plan that should be lauded by all.
