Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Government and the St. James Parish Council have come under heavy criticism from the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry for what has been labelled its lackadaisical and nonchalant attitude towards the winter tourist season.

Five days after the start of the season, chamber president Pauline Reid has chided both entities for the shabby and depressed state of affairs in the tourism capital.

"The city remains dirty and reeks with odour, while no work has been carried out by the St. James Parish Council, which has become totally inefficient and has literally abandoned the town," she told The Gleaner.

"I am extremely disappointed that the powers that be allowed the season to start without preparing the city for the influx of tourists."

Making an urgent call to have slated Tourism Enhancement Funds (TEF) released, Miss Reid said the $21 million promised for the beautification of the Old Hospital site on the Hip Strip and the additional $27 million earmarked for the city's preparation for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 needs to be disbursed immediately.

She said that, for the first time in the history of Jamaica, a fund such as the TEF exists to truly develop and bring the product to the standard where all Jamaicans can be proud.

"But now I have to be questioning whether this is a sham or money being collected under false pretence," she said.

Lack of funding

According to the chamber president, efforts by her organisation to forge ahead with a clean-up campaign which commenced in July have proven futile, as the agencies, such as the National Solid Waste Management Authority, with the responsibility for such projects claim lack of funding.

"Lack of funding should not be an excuse to achieving a clean city status. The agencies just don't have the will to move Montego Bay to the next level," she said.

As a result of the neglect, debris from trees chopped in the vicinity of the Montego Freeport have been left for months on the roadside in full view of the thousands of cruise ship passengers, while huge craters represents some sections of the road surface on the same cruise ship gateway.

The chamber president said the city is plagued with problems, stemming from the lack of proper planning of the North Coast Highway under construction from the Sangster International Airport to Trelawny to the Bogue traffic build, which has placed immense strain on the city.