Don’t divest all tourism assets to foreigners
TTHE EDITOR, Sir:
OURISM, IN particular, has focused on developments that involve foreign direct investment, largely in all-inclusive resorts or enclave tourism developments which exclude the majority of our locals from even coming into contact with the tourists, except as direct employees in the hotels, attractions and shops.
Port Antonio and Falmouth are examples of how not to develop our major ports, as the long-term benefits to the people of those towns have been denied because we have created enclaves with walls around them to keep out the locals and provide a ‘safe’ environment for the visitors. This really is a terrible way to develop our tourism.
Tourism planning and development must now be designed and developed with the maximum involvement of the people in the communities so as to ensure we are not planning and investing in sustainable developments that only benefit overseas investors and visitors, while neglecting the majority of our people.
ALLOW LOCALS, DIASPORA AN OPPORTUNITY
All future divestment of our main assets must be designed to allow our locals and diaspora to have the opportunity to invest.
I can see no objection to having foreign-led investments, but when we divest our major assets, such as our airports, seaports and critical beaches, to foreign investors without reserving a portion to attract locals via the stock market, we leave ourselves in a position where all the profits are exported and the only benefits to Jamaica are the jobs generated and the goods and services they acquire locally.
Currently, we have local investors who have invested in the detailed planning and design of Port Royal to be a model sustainable development to benefit the community and all Jamaicans, and we will be so happy to share it with overseas visitors. The time is now ripe for us to develop this jewel for ourselves and invite strategic partners to come to the table to ensure we do a truly Jamaican development with the most appropriate and modern technology to ensure success.
We need to seriously examine what we are doing and rethink our approaches.