TOURISM MINISTER Aloun Assamba's warning about the resurgence of harassment against visitors to the island's tourist resorts is one that should be taken seriously by all responsible stakeholders.
Reports from the industry indicate that significant strides have been made over the past few years in containing the problem. Threats from international cruise lines to omit Jamaican ports of call from their itinerary because of harassment of their passengers have been markedly reduced. So the industry cannot allow itself to fall back into that position.
However the extent to which there is a resurgence suggests that either there has been a slackening off in patrols by police or that the underlying social conditions that feed this attitude remains unresolved or a combination of both. A part of the problem seems to be that harassers no longer fear the police in the same way they did the Resort Patrol Units. This is one area that needs revisiting.
Of note is the Tourism Minister's clarification that harassment is not a feature of the industry as a whole but one that is more pronounced in Ocho Rios, St. Ann. Against the background of the controversy surrounding the recently published findings of the survey of living and social conditions that St. Ann has emerged as the country's poorest parish, then the problem could get worse before it gets better. For if a resort town like Ocho Rios, which has long been a drawing point for the unemployed, becomes increasingly unable to absorb the influx of persons seeking work, then the greater the likelihood of hustlers seeking a fast buck pouncing on tourists. It therefore means that the industry players will again have to examine the context in which they are operating. They have to be mindful of the complaints of craft vendors and others of feeling left out of the economic boom times and to be proactive to reverse that reality or counteract the perception.
And if the Minister's information is correct that the harassers include persons employed directly in the industry, then that has to be nipped in the bud quickly.
But while we urge creative means of earning as much as possible from the industry for as many people as possible, we also urge caution in not embracing every idea that is proffered.
We note reports of lobbying by industry personnel for the Jamaican businesses to offer to pay for the procurement of passports for American visitors. This is in response to the U.S. Government's edict that their citizens who travel abroad must have passports to re-enter that country. This really is a matter of the civic duty of American travellers and their government.
We should not be so desperate as to prostitute ourselves on the altar of business. This suggestion should also be nipped in the bud.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
