By Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter
Dear
WESTERN BUREAU:
BUSINESSMAN WINSTON Dear, the president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, does not believe that the western city will suffer any major economic fallout as a consequence of the recent arrest of two of the city prominent businessmen.
"The feeling of an impending economic problems is more a gut feeling," said Mr. Dear, who admitted to hearing the concerns being expressed about a possible economic fallout in the city. "I certainly cannot subscribe to that view because my observation is that the economy is developing along the lines of tourism and the information communication and technology industries."
While it has never been officially proven, there has been a long-standing suspicion that many businesses in Montego Bay derive a significant amount of their operational capital from money acquired from the illegal drug trade. However, Mr. Dear is rejecting that notion, contending that development in the city was coming about as a result of the efforts of bonafide businessmen.
"The western region has become the commercial centre for the entire west. We might lose some impetus in the construction industry but that initial loss would be more than compensated for with the construction of new hotels and the other new developments taking place," said Mr. Dear. "More so, these developments are being done by bonafide people."
In defending the integrity of legitimate businesses in Montego Bay, Mr. Dear asserted that the proliferation of drug operations and money laundering has not been helping the city but was instead driving away legitimate investors.
INVESTMENTS
"The negative of the whole of this is that the drug business is actually deterring people from making investments in our country," continued Mr. Dear. "If the police is indeed acting fairly, we will see more new investments coming into the island than we had seen prior to the crackdown."
In further downplaying the impact of the drug trade on the city's economy, the Chamber of Commerce president also stated that there is very little evidence of any trickling down of funds that are laundered through seemingly legitimate businesses.
"For the most part, when these people become businessmen, they pay people (staff) very little. They live ostentatiously and very little of their money tickles down," Mr. Dear concluded.
Montego Bay landed squarely under the drug-trafficking spotlight two weeks ago when businessmen Leebert Ramcharan and Donavan Williams were arrested on provisional warrants issued in the United States.
