North East St Ann residents want more

Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer

FOR DECADES, North East (NE) St Ann, boasting the parish's two main towns, capital St Ann's Bay and tourism-dependent Ocho Rios, has been an important cog in the wheels of development along the island's north coast.

However, for many residents, the wheel is turning much too slowly and sections of the parish remain underdeveloped, and suffer from weak infrastructure.

Residents of NE St Ann, even as they prepare to enter the polls later this month to select a member of parliament, are blaming successive governments for not paying enough attention to the needs of the constituents.

"Nutten naw gwan," a man, sitting with one hand on his jaw at the One Love Park, across from the clock in the centre of Ocho Rios, declared.

Since the turn of the century there have been multimillion-dollar investments by the private sector, especially in the area of tourism and retail trade.

Several hotels have been constructed, so too shopping centres, catering to the needs of both the tourism sector and the local population.

But, while these new developments have bolstered the employment level, there have been charges that jobs have been cheap, while the unemployment level is still critically low.

Matters such as housing, roads, transportation and other essentials have been sore points for the residents. Chief among their complaints is poor state of berthing facilities in Ocho Rios.

Underdeveloped pier

Recently, a cruise ship left the Ocho Rios port without docking after the captain was told he would have to use the old Reynolds Pier, built decades ago for bauxite export. While cruise ships have been using the facility, the preferred dock is the more recently constructed Ocho Rios pier. But with two and three ships arriving in port with regularity, the berthing facility is now woefully inadequate.

So last week when the ship's captain was told he had to dock at Reynolds because another ship was at the Ocho Rios pier, he flatly refused and left without docking.

The loss to Ocho Rios? Potential revenue from over four thousand passengers and crew members.

With tourism as the mainstay of the town and the parish to a large extent, tourism interests were disappointed, saying that the authorities need to be proactive.

"The Reynolds Pier has not been upgraded for the last 30 years," said president of St Ann Chamber of Commerce, Kumar Sujanani.

"We need to improve our product and our product offering, we need to be competitive with the new ports that are being developed throughout the Caribbean. Reynolds Pier needs to be rehabilitated," he added.

Vana Taylor, chairperson for the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association Ocho Rios/Runaway Bay chapter, said little has been done by the authorities over the last decade.

"A lot more could have been done in the last 10 years to develop the infrastructure," Taylor told The Sunday Gleaner.

ineffective leadership

Investment banker, Horace Wildes, agreed. "Definitely not! Much more could have been done for NE St Ann." He added: "I am appalled. I think the leaders have been ineffective or they simply don't care about the people.

"This is not about party (politics), this is a country, this is a parish. I don't believe enough is being done, there is no cohesiveness in what is being done."

According to the former chamber president, one of his major grouses is the condition of the roads, and not just in the constituency, but all across the parish.

One woman, who had good words for former Member of Parliament Shahine Robinson, said despite the economic situation, Robinson had performed well since being elected as the constituency representative.

She cited, in the education sector, for example, the building and refurbishing/extension of several schools in the constituency, including the Fern Grove basic and Mansfield primary in Ocho Rios, and the Steer Town Academy.

Another major concern that has been spoken of over the years has been the issue of housing and more specifically, squatting. Although there has been much talk over the years, little has been done to address the situation.

The issue led Superintendent of Police for St Ann, Gary Griffiths, to warn, in May this year, that one such squatter settlement, Belle Air, could erupt into social upheaval similar to Flankers in St James.

For the general man in the street, the situation in NE St Ann is similar to any other constituency in Jamaica.