Some people go to the country and come upon roast yam and saltfish stalls. We come upon demonstrations. On our way to the country for a special All Angles assignment our team passed by a crowd of agitated protesters outside the Riu Hotel in Mammee Bay, St. Ann. We had interviewees waiting for us, but hey, news is news.
Photo by DJ Miller
It turns out that the demonstrators were protesting against the early morning raid of several properties in the community and consequent seizure of a number of jet skis. The ones left behind were those without engines.
This was apparently pursuant to a recent decision by Tourism Minister Wyckham McNeil to take strong measures to regulate the operation of jet skis. This after the death of a little girl earlier this year and the injury of five people in two
Photo by DJ Miller
jet ski incidents. So the Minister has announced a set of “short term” measures including:
The imposition of a six (6) month suspension on the importation of all Jet Skis for commercial purposes;
Clamping down on all illegal commercial operators of Jet Skis;
Strengthening and enforcement of regulations regarding the use of Jet Skis;
Establishing special zones for jet ski operations, and training and certifying commercial jet ski operators.
Residents says three jet skis operating yesterday in Mammee Bay were seized by officials pretending to be customers, this morning, the others were others seized in the early morning raid. They say their entire community depends on the jet ski operations. They’ve spent hundreds of thousands to acquire the machines, and it’s the main source of income for many of the men, and by extension, families, and shops that operate in the community. Several told me they understand the need to regulate the industry, acknowledge they are operating illegally, and say they are willing to co-operate, but that it is unfair to suddenly deprive them of their livelihood in this way.
“What we must do now?” they asked over and over. Hence the protest.
Photo by DJ Miller
Is there any question that government must regulate, must act in the public interest, must ensure law and order? Absolutely not. But why on earth does our government ALWAYS wait until we are in a crisis? The situation – whatever it is – has to spiral out of control before government acts. Houses illegally constructed on gully banks have to fall in and people drown, squatter settlements have to mushroom into small cities with little or no proper infrastructure incapable of being adequately patrolled by police, and in this case, a little girl had to die. In addition, ignoring the problem for years, as has happened here, has led families and communities to depend on activities like jet ski operations for their survival. So now we have protests.
Photo by DJ Miller
Here’s a radical idea. How about we stop that first squatter, that first illegal jet ski operator, that first house being built on the gully bank? Actually prevent the crisis, not just struggle to manage it? But then that would be real governance, not government by crisis. Do we even know what that means? I doubt it.
News and Views by Dionne Jackson Miller 
November 4, 2013 at 12:18 am
Yes, the death of the little girl was not the first death/injury from jet ski accidents in recent years. Isn’t it amazing that the government not only reacts so late to these issues, but then “cracks down” – always overkill (forgive the expression but you know what I mean, it’s an over-reaction). And don’t tell me they didn’t know there were so many unlicensed operators out there, all these years…
November 4, 2013 at 5:58 am
Agree that the question needs answering, see my take a few weeks ago, http://jamaicapoliticaleconomy.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/bashing-bashment-but-not-too-much-save-us-from-another-nine-day-wonder/.
Truth is, Jamaica’s government is not uncommon in terms of being reactive rather than proactive. In some cases, governments ‘talk much but act little’, in part because they know what to do but have few resources–you see this in a lot of very poor countries (e.g. in west Africa, where you may find some of the best legislation but little implementation). They may also be very proactive and do much to keep social order–you see this a lot in developed western European countries (e.g. in Scandinavia). Then you have the great in-between. The Caribbean has a lot of that. My living in Barbados showed me that many similar situations occur there that occur here. Caribbean nations tend to be ‘deferential’ when it comes to governments and public officials. Are the governments & public agents being what the electorates want them to be? Do we demand that they go when they perform badly or do we often give second chances…all the time?
How much real accountability do we demand of governments and public agencies? In Jamaica, we may say “not that much”? If we agree that is true, then we have to ask “Why?”
Good luck with daily writing. It can be challenging 🙂
November 4, 2013 at 6:12 am
oh, I’m so glad to hear the govt is finally acting…i agree, they should be proactive but this is better than no action. In fact i was at The Jewel Dunn’s River in October with my parents and son, and being on the beach was punctuated by the roaring sound of the jetskis from Mammee Bay, swooping back and forth trying to attract tourists, my son was out learning to windsurf and my heart was in my mouth till he returned, i was petrified one of them would crash into him, especially when they were ridden by tourists…those machines are menaces and should only be allowed to be operate way beyond the area where ppl swim.
November 4, 2013 at 8:06 am
You may also be interested in another take on the ‘paternalism’ of Jamaican government http://jamaicapoliticaleconomy.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/why-you-doing-diss/
November 4, 2013 at 10:07 am
DJM, part of the problem is that every issue falls prey to the proverbial “Nine day wonder” and the absolute failure to follow the rule of law. A decision was, in fact, taken years ago to clamp down on jet skis after a most unfortunate incident (I believe it was in Ocho Rios bay) but the sport was not being policed and so it continued until we ended up with another issue of concern.