Mr. Editor,
Recently, Jamaica found itself in a difficult position, having to push back against an advisory by the United States government warning about safety and criminal activities on the island. For a country that depends on tourism, that could not have been worse news. I draw attention to that fact because, in light of what has been happening in Saint Lucia recently, it should be resonating strongly here as well.
Can you imagine waking up tomorrow morning to see a UK or US travel advisory warning visitors that it is not safe to come to our lovely island – that they cannot walk the streets without getting mugged? No one wants to see that, but I wish to caution that unless something serious is done very soon, that may very well become our reality.
I would urge the Prime Minister, who also has the portfolio for National Security, to make this a priority item moving forward. I was heartened to see recently the Prime Minister acknowledging the issue in his independence message, drawing attention to the ‘pandemic’ of gangs and rising violence. And while it is good to know that he is aware, the question is, what now? What is the plan? How do we fight back?
There needs to be drastic action right now, in addition to any social programmes. Recently, we saw where the criminal element, no doubt emboldened by the fact that they can ‘get away with it’, has started targeting tourists in the popular Rodney Bay stretch. From what I understand, there have been four or five muggings recently, with at least one visitor, a UK national, being severely beaten – and this, mind you, right under the nose of the police stationed at Reduit Beach. To date, we have seen no one brought to justice. It cannot be so difficult, in such a small country, to know who the perpetrators are. All this does is send a message to other miscreants that it is ok to target visitors to the island.
How long do we think it will be before this news starts to seep into mainstream media in the destinations where our guests come from? Imagine if someone gets killed. Why wait until that happens to act? Almost immediately, you can implement regular police patrols in the area. I mean, for heaven’s sake, you already have a police post there. Nothing discourages crime like police visibility, yet you can walk that stretch from morning until night, and aside from a few traffic police during the day, there is zero police presence.
Mr. PM, I am sure you will have the support of everyone in this fight; you will certainly have mine, so please, let’s act now.
Concerned Lucian