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The Negril Chamber of Commerce's monthly meeting is today and they are looking for ideas and questions that our visitors have about the reopening of Jamaica. This will more than likely be the last general meeting before our borders open, so please help us to help you come back and enjoy Jamaica!
Post your questions and ideas here and I will relay them this evening. Tomorrow I will report back!
The more input we get, the more we will be able to meet your expectations in our reopening!
I guess my questions would be pretty generic. The reopening plan, if there is going to be restrictions such as mandatory quarantine. I have a trip booked for the end of june that I have refused to give up on.. hope to see yall soon!
been awhile since wi have done this....the last time none of mi suggestions came to be...…
still no speed bumps/silent Policeman in Negril as promised
first off get Negril open right away without restrictions cause us tourist need our Jamaican friends to get der jobs back cause dem desperate for food etc and we need our Negril back for our vacations...….
repair the roads and have regular maintenance as potholes don't cut it with tourist...…
get rid of hustlers, scammers, idlers etc as they ripoff tourist as wi all know too well...….
work on getting rid of that stupid noise abatement act so wi can have concerts and live venues again in Negril....
keep dem Army guys out of view so the tourist don't get scared...…
stop dem Army roadblocks....Negril looks like war zone when dem do that
cleaner beaches and roadsides as it does get nasty with trash strewn all over the place....
collect the trash more frequently in those roadside trash receptacles cause most times dem overflowing on the West End...
stop the speeders on dem motorcycles.....sometimes dem going over a 80mph....put in speed bumps
get rid of the white plate robot/gypsy/crooks that operate in Negril...….they ripoff tourist big time
get rid of dem fishing men with dem huge nets that us snorkelers get tangle up in on the Cliffs...
enforce the motorcycle/scooter helmet laws.....start stopping dem and check for papers too
get rid of the money changer crooks in the ValueMaster and Golden Nugget parking lots.....
have regular monthly Farmers Market the last Wednesday of every month at the Beach Park like in the past....
need more motorcycle and bicycle police in Negril...….wi need double the police force that Negril has currently
sidewalks are desperately needed and bicycle lanes on the West End.....
open a park on the West End/Cliffs for people to go swimming and so they can relax and have a picnic
fine places of business that don't keep their places up that can be seen from the roads or beach...ghetto look doesn't work with tourist
police foot patrols at all times of the day...….especially after dark.....more visibility the better....yah mon
mi will add more mi sure.....lol
Cool Runnings, Marko
Ronnie,Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronnie
Excellent question! I already have read that under the initial draft, there will be no mandatory quarantine, unless of course you are showing active symptoms of Covid. I will double check today at the meeting.
Thanks man!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marko
Marko,
The speed bumps idea was ditched a decade ago. You cannot put speed bumps on major road arteries. Emergency services would be critically effected and the constant up and down of heavily laden trucks (see Negril Today April 30 - https://negril.com/nt/nt043020.html ) would destroy the roadway.
I will present a few of the most Covid related suggestions from your list of ideas.
Thanks!
Rob,
I've not ruled out the possibility of coming this Summer, but am concerned about arriving to closed restaurants. I know the hotels are starting to reopen (and were never ordered closed), but we need to know how the restaurants will be staged open and when.
What are the plans for route taxis? I think there is a policy in place to promote a form of social distancing. Will that continue? Is it being enforced?
Also, this is not for Negril, but I am hoping that they allow for social distancing at Customs in Sangster.
I rarely see a sentence in all the proposals where the phrase "social distancing" is not mentioned. I have a feeling that we will all be seeing those little 6ft reminder circles nearly everywhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanP
Restaurants seem to be a complex issue. Rockhouse has released what may read as over the top measures, but these are common place in Hong Kong now.
Route taxis will be limited to less passengers than their legal load as will charter vehicles. Estimates as much as half the legal number of passengers are being spoken of to promote, you guessed it, social distancing inside the vehicle. This will have a major impact on the 4 passenger livery vehicles.
I will bring up your concerns this afternoon!
Thanks man!
I was assuming Rob meant Covid specific questions, but I agree with most of your suggestions, not all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marko
In my travels we have been to over a dozen countries, both Caribbean and in Europe. When I see "dem army guys" I don't feel scared, it makes my feel a little more secure if anything.
Rob, thank you for inviting us to share.
I'm assuming the the level of tourists returning to the island will be at a reduced level for the near term. Most people I'm in contact with aren't planning on traveling soon.
Group Tours and excursions will be difficult to manage with social distancing and may have to be deferred for the time being. I don't see snorkel trips to the reef with a boat full of people happening soon.
Do the Hotel Owners and the Chamber have access to sufficient supplies of masks, gloves and sanitizer to properly maintain a safe environment?
The economic need is obvious, but the overwhelming concern is to prevent a second closing of the border.
Will the hotels, restaurants, bars and tour operators be able to make a living if the number of tourists is below a certain level?
How many seats are booked on incoming flights for the month of June?
Thank you for letting me share my thoughts.
VVHT
Sandman,Quote:
Originally Posted by sandman66
Yes, I was asking about Covid related issues.
Jamaica has done a great job with containment, with the exception of that call center. First, Jamaica needs to determine how to reopen safely prior to addressing the laundry list of ongoing concerns. Maybe they could consider setting up a tourism sector...Enter at MBJ and then travel straight to Negril with no deviance from the path. According to The Gleaner, there are only 10 cases from St. James to Westmoreland. (St. James - 8, Hanover - 0, Westmoreland - 2). Our other questions include:
What requirements will there be to enter into the country? Masks or other PPE?
What will the screening process be?
Cleaning kiosks between travelers? It seems safer to use a sanitized kiosk as opposed to a face-to-face meeting with the immigration officer.
Spacing between people in line for immigration and customs?
Will restaurants be open?
Will there be a curfew in place?
We still have our trip planned for early July and pray every day we will be able to come! We miss our beloved Jamaica and her people...our friends who are more like family. They need us there (safely) to enable them to work and support their families.
Melo
VVHT,Quote:
Originally Posted by VVHT
Since this is slow season, it is possible the numbers maybe somewhat down, but fairly close to normal. There are some really slow weeks during the summer.
All legal attractions are being made to comply with social distancing and hand sanitizing station regulations. Masks are available aplenty, everywhere you go you can get them. Same with hand sanitizer, you can buy it by the gallon. Haven't really seen many gloves around yet, but I am sure that will change soon.
There are zero new tourists now. Any is better than zero. I will ask your two final questions this evening, the first one seems a bit existential and I am pretty sure no one will know how many seats are booked. I am not sure the airlines do...
Thanks man!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monty&Melo
Wow! :excitement: I will ask..... lots of bullet points for Word.... :friendly_wink:
Thanks!
We have been to Negril five times in the last four years and are really looking forward to our September vacation. I think most of the tourist will not return if there were restrictions such as 14 day quarantine, 6 foot social distancing or any other basic restrictions, other than wearing a mask in the airport or on public transportation. We generally stay on the resort and visit local shops, bars, and restaurants where we meet the most pleasant people.
There cannot be a 14 day quarantine... that would be pointless. If social distancing is still the way of the world, Jamaica will abide by it. If it has gone by the wayside, then Jamaican won't have it. But I see no way social distancing or masks use in the world changing by June, so anywhere you go it would be same. September is still a ways off...Quote:
Originally Posted by flhrbill
Just one other point. Will the all inclusive resorts be required to maintain social distancing or wearing mask, gloves or other PPE?
Certainly people don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on their vacation if they don’t have the freedom to interact with their fellow vacationers. I certainly can understand wearing protective mask outside of the resort but I think if the government and the resorts are going to require the patrons to wear a mask then it will be quite a long time before the tourist return.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flhrbill
Cool, this is a question I can ask!
Thanks man!
True there hasn't been anything in the way of Coronavirus cases in Jamaica...…Quote:
Originally Posted by Monty&Melo
however Jamaica economy has been devastated…….true
the idea of MBJ straight to your resort is actually a pretty good one....
travelers could just show their airport transfer paperwork and it would keep things in more order...
of course there will be travelers that won't have paperwork but they could fill out a form......
see you in July......yah mon
Cool Runnings, Marko
What about the MoBay Club. I use them every trip, both ways.
Reopening is a very difficult decision. Once the borders are open You will have incoming flights from all over the world. Even with the best airport screening and all protocals in place, if one person slips thru. Well you know the rest.
I know the Jamaican economy is in trouble. Which is worse.
Talked with Club MoBay today.... they are open!Quote:
Originally Posted by airswift
Reopening is a delicate balance, but one that does need to be accomplished. The Jamaican economy, as is every other economy, is in trouble, but far from devastated. The store shelves are full, people are moving about more freely than they have in weeks. A major aspect of personal income, bar jobs are coming back as of the 19th. This will be a big boost to the local expenditure.Quote:
Originally Posted by airswift
One person has "slipped through" on more than one occasion and the contact tracers have done a superb job in tracking down known contacts. Jamaica has had 9 deaths and 90 recoveries since the first case was found in March.
The main reason for the 505 confirmed cases is due to one building, one business. And even several have "slipped" through being tested there, yet the number of deaths remain steady and number of recoveries keep increasing.
The government is weighing all these factors in deciding on a day to day basis to fully open the economy.
Thanks for your input Rob
I will be there in Nov to help the local people in my small way
Too late for this to be of help with your Chamber meeting, but it would be helpful to establish published, detailed, explicit sanitizing measures that are taken very seriously between occupants of hotel rooms and taxis. I have no idea how anyone could go about checking on things, but if I was a resort owner I would like to be able to say "We follow the published guidelines" and even "We have taxis available at the resort that we confirm follow the published guidelines". Personally, if I was offered the choice between "Do you want a taxi for the usual $5. or a certified taxi for $20." I would choose the latter.
The meeting yesterday was relaxed and informal on Zoom, a nice change from the usual formal "Robert's Rules of Order" style meeting. It gave a clear perspective that we are all working toward the same goal, the reopening of tourism in Negril.
To the specific questions and comments from yesterday, I will address those in order.
Ronnie, there will be no mandatory quarantine of visitors. It was joked that would be a perfect way to completely ruin a week vacation.
Marko, it was brought up how pristine and big the beach has become. Nature at its finest! No need for man to interfere.
RyanP - we still haven't heard from the government about the opening of sit down restaurants. But social distancing and hand sanitizing will be the rule of the day. There is still debate on the number of people per table, if a group is already been closely socializing, does it make sense to separate them at dinner? All taxis will be required to carry half or less of the number of people their vehicle is licensed for. For instance a 5 passenger vehicle would be required to carry no more than two. This will be tough on the route taxis. Your airport question will be answered in Monty & Melo's.
VVHT - The hotels, restaurant and bars will be required to obtain their own supply of masks, gloves and sanitizing equipment. Apparently a new customs ruling requires a hired agent to clear all packages from the wharf, so that will probably add to the cost of importing sanitizing equipment. All tourism properties are to be inspected by TPDCo before they can reopen. And I was correct, your last questions were too existential for any real meaningful answer.
Monty & Melo - I think a cut & paste answer will be the best:
Maybe they could consider setting up a tourism sector...Enter at MBJ and then travel straight to Negril with no deviance from the path. According to The Gleaner, there are only 10 cases from St. James to Westmoreland. (St. James - 8, Hanover - 0, Westmoreland - 2). - Jamaica doesn't want to cut off from business opportunity the roadside stops, jerk huts, bars, etc. along the road to Negril. By having the local businesses use PPE and follow distancing and sanitation guidelines, the risks should be minimized. By the time you have left the airport, you have been screened boarding your plane and screened once again arriving in Jamaica.
What requirements will there be to enter into the country? Masks or other PPE? - Your airline will have their requirements which you will follow, once in Sangster you will see all staff using PPE (masks and gloves)
What will the screening process be? - Thermal scanners will be used to detect fevers. Anyone appearing sick will be directed to the medical staff. The usual detectors as well as the bins will be sanitized after each person using a high speed sanitation process.
Cleaning kiosks between travelers? It seems safer to use a sanitized kiosk as opposed to a face-to-face meeting with the immigration officer. - The touch screens will be sanitized after each use, screens will be used to reduce the face to face interactions.
Spacing between people in line for immigration and customs? - get used to those little round stickers on the floor spaced 6 feet apart...
Will restaurants be open? - yes, but no one is sure exactly what they will look like inside. But there will be more round stickers on the floor.
Will there be a curfew in place? - The curfew hours after Labour Day weekend will be eased to 9pm to 5am. With flights arriving at all times, by the time the borders are open, there should be no curfew on being out at night.
Flhrbill - masks will be voluntary for guests. For most workers they will be mandatory.
Airswift - 10 more recoveries yesterday, no new deaths to report. The Jamaican contact tracing is working!
This is already being done. A draft proposal went out about 10 days ago and guidelines are being finalized. The taxi point is interesting. Under the new guidelines, ALL legal taxis with red plates will carry the same certification and have to follow the same rules for explicit sanitation. Illegal (robot) taxis, white plate vehicles, should have never been taken or recommended and now this is all the more reason to only use legal red plate taxis.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrtiii
Thank you for all this great information, Rob! Just a clarification on my suggestion regarding traveling directly to Negril...I didn't mean no stopping, just not going outside these parishes since their numbers are so low. Was there any mention of a reopening date they are shooting for? I know this isn't a governing body but I am assuming they are sending their recommendations and requests to the government who will be making the decisions.
Appleton hand sanitizer would be great. 70% alcohol 30% aloe gel. Not sure if there are any plastic bottle manufacturers on the island but the other two ingredients should be in abundance.
thanks Rob
Cool Runnings, Marko
Thanks for the information
Thank you for the updates. We are looking forward to returning to Negril the first week of September.