Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:

As harassment threatens to derail the tourist industry, police in western Jamaica say they will place greater focus on pimps and touts on Montego Bay's hip strip, as well as illegal jet-ski operations and unlawful craft vending in Rose Hall, St James.

"If the problem is not arrested now, it has the potential to explode," Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater admitted to The Gleaner on the weekend.

"We have already started addressing the issue and the police are reaping a certain amount of success."

Frater's statements come weeks after Spanish Ambassador Jesús Silva cautioned Jamaicans and the authorities to protect the country's tourism product by implementing proper security measures in the resort areas, as well as arresting the escalating rate of harassment.

"Criminality, a lack of security and harassment, kills tourism," he warned while addressing delegates at the opening ceremony of the 13th Expo staged by the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently. "I have seen how the authorities are allowing things to happen in the Spanish-owned hotels. That should never have happened ... jet skis operating illegally and people being involved in accidents."

Although the ambassador came under fire for his frankness in some quarters, his concerns were reportedly taken seriously by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Mayor of Montego Bay Charles Sinclair and Commissioner of Police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin.

Meeting called

In response to the call, Sinclair called a meeting to discuss solutions to the problems at his offices at the St James Parish Council last Wednesday. In attendance were stakeholders representing the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), the Tourism Product Development Company, the police, the Cruise Council of Jamaica, and hoteliers from both Riu Resorts and Iberostar Rose Hall.

"Both Iberostar and Riu have been having challenges with illegal jet-ski operators soliciting business from their guests," Sinclair told The Gleaner, noting that in the case of Iberostar, it had a bigger problem of illegal vendors who had taken up residence on unoccupied lands next door to its property.

He said that coming out of the meeting, a number of recommendations were made, including the appointment of persons already involved in law enforcement as inspectors under the JTB Act.

"They will be authorised to prosecute and seize in relation to contraband," Sinclair said.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com