By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorSAYING THAT she too was concerned about poor conditions in several of the island's resort towns, Minister of Tourism and Industry Aloun Assamba said the responsibility for cleaning up tourist areas lies with other Government agencies.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Mrs. Assamba said that while her Ministry has and will continue to engage in beautification projects, it was the Ministry of Local Government, Parish Councils and the National Solid Waste Management Agency which are mandated to ensure the tourist areas and other towns are kept clean.
"As it is right now we are trying to find the funding for the Tourism Master Plan which has a number of beautification projects in mind," Mrs. Assamba said. "It is important to note that anything we do in terms of cleaning up should be viewed as supplementary and not because we have a responsibility to...that responsibility falls with other agencies."
And in a stinging rebuke of the private sector, the Tourism Minister said "they too have to take their fair share of responsibility - they must ensure that their towns are kept clean."
BUSINESS PEOPLE
She was responding to comments made yesterday by the President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce Winston Dear, who spoke about the deplorable state of Montego Bay, the tourism capital, and other major towns across the country.
"You can quote me on this...the business people in these towns must take some responsibility," declared the Minister. "They must be engaged in the cleaning up of the towns from which they make their money...it can't be that it is all about Government. Some of them...and we have seen this judging by the amount of industrial garbage we see in some of these areas... have contributed to the decay of the towns and must do their part."
Mrs. Assamba said her Ministry was willing to work with all relevant parties, noting that it was in the best interest of all concerned to ensure that the country has a first rate tourism product.
"We have a lot on our plate - the Ministry that is in terms of promoting the country overseas and keeping the sector vibrant," she added. "The Ministry of Tourism is at no time proposing to take over what is the responsibility of others...we will assist as we have always done with beautification but don't blame us if others are not doing what they are supposed to do."
