Monique Hepburn and Ross Shiel, Staff Reporters
( left - right ) PETERKIN and LOPEZ
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE ISLANDWIDE industrial action by rank-and-file members of the police force has stoked the ire of commercial business interests, as well as leaders in the tourist industry in western Jamaica.
The business leaders contend that the police abdicated their duty to protect and serve the citizens of Jamaica.
"We are not in agreement with this kind of action which puts the community at risk," Mark Kerr-Jarrett, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The Gleaner yesterday. ""I had seen it hinted at, but I never thought that they would resort to this kind of behaviour. We are not in support of this ultimatum which puts the citizens at risk. The primary duty of the police is to ensure the safety and protection of the citizens."
Today will be a regular cruise ship day and Montego Bay will be seeing an increase in overseas visitors. There are already mounting security concerns about the safety of these visitors on the streets of the city.
"The protest will affect security in the entire country and it will also affect visitors in terms of harassment and as soon as the touts and criminals figure out what is happening they will be out in their numbers," said Horace Peterkin, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA).
NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED QUICKLY
"We are not only concerned about the safety of the tourists but also the citizens as well. The wage dispute needs to be resolved as quickly as possible because when this gets out to the international media it can result in significant repercussions for all of us," he said President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Beverley Lopez, was less critical of the police action.
"Of course we are concerned both as citizens and as the private sector because the police are the defendants of our security. We have a concern and we hope the usual good sense will prevail and we will find some form of agreement between the Police Federation and Government," she said.
Ms. Lopez noted that any concession made by Government could cause other unions to pull out of the historic Public Sector Memorandum of Understanding agreed among them in February 2004.
"It certainly would have a serious effect on the MoU and Government has to be very careful to avoid having a snowball effect on wages," she said
In Spanish Town, several business persons who spoke with The Gleaner expressed concern about the lack of police presence on the road and hoped that the impasse between the police and the Government would be resolved soon.
Commercial activity throughout the western region of Jamaica proceeded without any major incident although there was a noticeable absence of police personnel in the major towns. In Montego Bay resort patrol personnel, who are usually on the lookout for pimps and touts, were absent and tourism interests expressed concern for tourists who stroll along shopping strips.
Additional reporting by Rasbert Turner
