Here is an alternative take by someone who does live here. And the Jamaican owned cook shop we ate at last night would be surprised that some people dont think they are Jamaican. As would Shields, Travellers, Errols, Ansell's, Bar-B-Barn, Roots, Firefly, Sun Beach, Fun Holiday, Rooms, Beaches, Sandals, Couples, Red Dragon, Jah B's, Canoe, Seastar, MXIII, Erika's, Oasis, Jenny's, Tayon's, MiYard, Sunset After Dark, Chicken Lavish, Jay's Hideaway, Swordfish, Natural Mystic, Sandra's, Spyda's, HiLo, L&M, No Limit, PeeWee's, Gas, Bankmark, Lighthouse Inn and Dr. Quality's just to name a handful. All are Jamaican owned.Originally Posted by MilwaukeeMike
I'd visit often and long but not move. If you are in perfect health with both parents living until 100, you could consider it. Most are not that lucky. It's a 3rd World country and health care in one is not the same as the States or Canada. As you get older thing start to wear out. People confuse visiting and living in a country; there is a difference. Jamaica is being sold off and Negril is a great example. When some of us old timers first visited Negril was Jamaican. True, some of the first hotels like T-Water were foreign owned but the vast amount of lodging was run by Jamaicans. All of your restaurants and cook shops were Jamaican. Jamaicans used to swim in the ocean; how true is that now? That has turned around. If everyone foreign retired here it could be a South Beach farther south. Sitting 7 days a week x 52 weeks in a bar while retired is no way to live and you already know that Negril life is not really Jamaica life. So come visit, come often but don't move here. My 2 cents. (and that article was stupid)
There are substantially more Jamaican owned businesses in Negril than non-Jamaican owned. I know this because after 20+ years running a business here you tend to meet all the business owners. Even Negril.com is Jamaican owned. And T-Water was Jamaican owned by the Segree family. It got its name before it was built because the owners young daughter always asked to go play in the "t water" having an issue with the word "sea".
Jamaicans swim in the sea (the Caribbean is considered a sea, not an ocean) on the holidays. During the Christmas/New Years holiday they were playing in the sea everyday. And when they come to Negril on vacation, you will find them swimming. Many folks in Negril now have jobs or attend school so they no longer have the free time to play in the sea. Negril is transforming from the sparsely populated fishing village it was 50 years ago into a prospering resort town. There are hundreds of Jamaican owned businesses that keep the locals employed.
The health care is not the same as the US or Canada, but the same can also be said that the healthcare in the US is not the same as Canada's. I live with the realities of the healthcare every day and while not the same as North American, you can receive excellent healthcare on the island. You learn how and where to go when necessary. It is not the same, but that does not make it bad, just different. Even if you have serious medical issues there are places you can retire safely in Jamaica.
And Negril is every bit Jamaican as is Kingston, Porus, Black River, Ocho Rios, Accompong, Mandeville, Santa Cruz, Montego Bay or Sheffield. Those born in Negril are Jamaican citizens every bit as much as a Jamaican born anywhere on the island. Negril is different than say Kingston, but that doesnt make it any less Jamaican. If I said Iowa is not really USA living, New York City is the real USA, how much sense would that make? Both are equally American.
When I first visited the island in the mid 80's (about the same time Capt D was leaving the island), there are places I visited then that I can still visit today. Red Dragon, Erika's, Archway and Rainbow Arch were places I went then and can go today.
To me , the article was meant to be somewhat tongue in cheek - reading the author's own "rebuttal" demonstrates this. Sitting in a bar 7 days a week 52 weeks a year is no way to live or retire, I agree. If you would not retire like that in your own country, why would you do it here?
I found the article humorous.
