Delroy ChuckJAMAICA IS certainly one of the most beautiful places that eyes can behold. It is blessed with rolling mountains, spectacular waterfalls, white sand beaches and natural sceneries that can only be the envy of other nations. As a tourism product, Jamaica sells itself and is easily marketed. With our comparative advantages, we should attract increasing millions of stopover visitors annually and, admittedly, our full market potential remains unfulfilled.
What nature has blessed however Jamaicans seem to be destroying. We have not cared, maintained and developed this lovely island in a manner that Jamaicans at home and abroad can be truly proud. In truth, if we had any shame, we would declare many towns as disaster areas and work strenuously to clean and beautify them. But for the people and traffic congestion, our parish capitals and major towns resemble places that have been ignored, abandoned and forgotten. Most of the buildings are dirty and unsightly, and the roads and other infrastructure are in disrepair and disintegrating.
TOURISM RESORTS
Our tourism resorts have fallen into decay, overwhelmed with squatter communities, filled with garbage and junk, commercialised with wooden shacks and fast becoming urban ghettos. How we continue to market these areas as tourism resorts and invite tourists to see what we have done to this beautiful island is simply unbelievable and downright disgraceful. Negril ranked as one of the most natural, sleepy and friendly Caribbean destinations some years ago but has lost its laid-back and quiet attraction. Montego Bay is being overtaken by urban decay and dirt. Ocho Rios is sinking fast. Every tourism area and, in fact, the whole of Jamaica suffers from poor maintenance, which is a manifestation of the lack of pride and dignity by those who have led and managed the affairs of this country.
"Let us clean up Ocho Rios," says Prime Minister Patterson, echoing calls from Ocho Rios Mayor Delroy Giscombe and Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicooke: see Tuesday Gleaner, June 22, A9. In fact, Pennicooke said the present state of Ocho Rios was unacceptable as a tourist resort and called for those in authority to clean the town immediately. Mayor Giscombe also wants a cleaner Ocho Rios and hoped others in authority will begin to see the importance of having a clean resort town. Well, well, who is in authority and responsible for the cleaning of the town? UDC boss, Dr. Vincent Lawrence has also thrown his support behind calls to clean up the resort town of Ocho Rios, saying, according to the Observer, Monday, June 21st, "the time has come and the town needs to be kept clean." Still, Dr. Lawrence doesn't know who is the responsible authority to clean up the town. What a disgraceful situation!
The resort towns, parish capitals and most areas of Jamaica are dirty, filthy and unsightly, and no one in authority seems to know who in authority is responsible for cleaning up the mess. In fact, the Prime Minister has urged the business sector to spearhead the town's clean-up campaign and seems to believe it is the obligation of the business community to "make sure St. Ann can maintain its reputation as the garden parish." The business community must wonder why they pay so much tax, especially property taxes, and what purpose is being served by the different government agencies responsible for garbage collection, urban development and environmental protection. To be sure, we cannot continue like this. When a government and its agencies cannot even maintain our natural environment and collect garbage, one wonders what purpose does it serve?
Surely, keeping our towns, villages and communities nice and clean should be one of the very basic obligations of governance. Yes, I agree, individuals and businesses fail to dispose of their garbage properly but what has happened to the much-touted Solid Waste Management legislation, passed with so much fanfare, to punish offenders who litter and contribute to improper garbage disposal? Why don't we enforce the anti-litter laws and use them towards getting our island back to its natural cleanliness and beauty. Without cleanliness, how can residents and visitors feel comfortable and welcome in our towns and resorts? Indeed, how can we market a Jamaica that is dirty and with the infrastructure deteriorating and undignified?
SURVIVAL
We have been lucky to attract many tourists to our island and will depend for our survival on attracting many more millions to enjoy our island paradise. But, we must do better. We cannot expect tourists will return and recommend Jamaica to their friends and families if we continue to market Jamaica in its present filthy condition. Perhaps, once and for all, we should decide which authority is responsible for cleaning and beautifying our parish capitals, towns and resorts, and hold them responsible when things go wrong. At the moment, it is not clear whether it is the NSWMA or NEPA or the Parish Councils or NWA or the Member of Parliaments what a way to avoid responsibility?
While we tout future tourism developments, they will come to nought if we cannot preserve the natural beauty and market Jamaica effectively. Unless we have a nice and clean Jamaica, we will not succeed.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at Delchuck@Hotmail.Com.
