THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE DEEP concern voiced by Mr. Paul Pennicook, Director of Tourism, in Monday's Gleaner is both surprising and welcome. Surprising that it has taken a Director of Tourism over 10 years to note and react/complain about the deplorable condition of Ocho Rios, especially along the primary road traversed by both citizens and visitors alike.
It is not only the streets that are in a deplorable state. The waterway that flows across Main Street from the river to the sea as well as the Turtle Bay beach have been in desperate need of service. The waterway is now clogged with all types of shrubbery and unsightly debris, unfortunately visible to all passers-by. The once pristine and white sand beach has been overgrown with algae and weeds covered by silt and other contaminants and awaiting redemption.
Letters to the Prime Minister who promised to draw (my) concern to the relevant agencies for their attention in March 1995, to Dr. Vin Lawrence, Executive Chairman, Urban Development Corporation, the then Director of Tourism (Mrs. Fay Pickersgill) and the then Minister of Tourism (Mr. Francis Tulloch), among others were to no avail. I was like a voice crying in the wind.
Therefore, Mr. Pennicook, I welcome a belated observation and, hopefully, an effective intervention on the part of the Director of Tourism. In my February 1995 letter to the Prime Minister, I had observed: "We are promising overseas visitors what we are not providing them, neither safety on the streets, nor environmentally clean and crystal clear water on the beach. I have often wondered how the five resort hotels, especially the Renaissance Jamaica Grande, fronting the beach can honestly invite people to stay in such places with the deplorable state of the beach. It must be embarrassing for them as it has been for me these past ten years. If we are serious about tourism and regard it as vital to the growth and prosperity of the nation, we need to finally act decisively to not only stem the tide of the decay but also to clean up the environment before all is irretrievably lost."
I am, etc.,
CLINTON A. LEWIS
Apt. 311B Turtle Beach
Towers
Main Street, Ocho Rios,
St. Ann
