Sheena Gayle, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Book merchants in Montego Bay are concerned with the significant decrease in sales since the MV Logos II book ship docked at the Montego Freeport on April 16.

"It has been like a ghost town in here since the book ship arrived and we have noticed a significant decline in our sales ever since," revealed Marion Brooks, branch manager at Sangster's Book Stores on St James Street, Montego Bay.

Customer traffic at a crawl

Sangster's is the largest supplier of books and educational material in Jamaica.

While the branch is located along the busy thoroughfare of St James Street, customer traffic has ground to a crawl. Brooks says, "Sales have worsened, although April is a slow period during the year. We are thankful that they did not come in the peak season, July to September."

Managing director of Chambers Book Store in Montego Bay, Anthony Chambers, was very vocal on the issue of the floating book ship.

"They are operating a business like the rest of us who have to pay taxes, and if they are not paying any tax while they are here, then I don't think that they should just come in and eat away our profits while they are here," he said.

Bankruptcy fears

He also expressed fears of bankruptcy.

"We need an rganisation or union that speaks on our behalf on issues related to these," added Chambers.

After a four-year absence, the international floating ship, MV Logos II, returned to Montego Bay for a 16-day visit. The ship carries an extensive catalogue of more than 5,000 different books covering categories such as children, sports and hobbies, novels, dictionaries, atlases, college textbooks, Bibles and Christian literature.

However, Henderson's Book Store in Montego Bay has not reported any decline in their sales with the presence of the ship.

"We are on a wait-and-see but we have not noticed a decrease. We are waiting to see how the sales of our prize-giving ceremony books in June are going and then we will know if the ship had a significant impact," said manager, Sheryl Marlow.

But project coordinator for the MV Logos II, Christine Mohs, commented: "It is not our intention to interfere with the sales of local book stores; this is a part of our effort to bring knowledge to Jamaica through these books."