Negril needs your opinion...

[negrilsand]

My prediction, an easy one to make, is that we will see more foreign investment.The Chinese will be a presence. The Jamaican owned resorts, in particular the small ones, will struggle. Sandals will use income from other countries to keep the Jamaican resorts open if they can. Spanish will become the second language on the island. The resorts in Jamaica will have to compete with Cuba for the North American tourist and will try to offset that competition by catering to Russians and former Soviet bloc countries. There will be an attempt to lure the Latin American tourist but I can't quite figure out if Jamaica will really appeal to those tourists.The influence of Spanish speakers will,however, be significant. The allure of the casual use of ganja may make Jamaica a more fun place to visit-if that, in my opinion, is possible. The development of medical tourism which might include the use of medical ganja could be interesting. When I first came to Jamaica, I think that I had to go to Kingston to see a traffic light. Hopefully, Negril could be preserved as much as possible as it is and perhaps even restored somewhat as it was. The other parts of the island could sort of be sacrificed to "economic development".

[negrilsand]

Foreign investors are presently in the process of buying more Jamaican properties. Chinese investors are building a large resort in the Bahamas and have investments now in Jamaica.They are investing in the port project on Goat island. There are,indeed, direct flights from Latin America and the Jamaican government is encouraging more. Spanish is being taught more now in Jamaican schools and many resort employees are taking Spanish courses. This helps them move into management positions with the foreign investors. Already charter flights are being flown from the former Soviet bloc countries to Jamaica. In fact, Russian language courses are being taught in Jamaica to help resort workers in dealing with the visitors. Ganja will soon be decriminalized in Jamaica and there is serious discussions about the development of a medical marijuana industry on the island. The facts of the foreign investment in Jamaica is common knowledge and so is the effect on Jamaican owned properties. No one can easily dismiss the impact of an open Cuba. I refer to the "traffic lights' in light of the recent modernization of Jamaica and the expectation of more modernization. Sorry if some can not follow the train of thought. In this context, I would hope that Negril could be spared as a sort of historical zone if you will with more stringent building codes etc than other parts of the island. Falmouth has been designated a historical site-United Nations, I believe. In Mexico, San Miguel de Allende has been preserved as a special city where no traffic lights are allowed for instance. As others have stated, the present codes in Negril should be emphasized, modified where necessary and enforced. There will indeed be development but if there is foresight, perhaps that development can be controlled to the benefit of all concerned and Negril as we hope to see it can be preserved. Wayward fantasies? And certainly not almost complete ignorance of the facts.

[wbgonne]

I would like to respond to a few points that have been mentioned in several comments.

The competition for Caribbean tourism is becoming more threatening to Jamaica. As someone else noted, the opening of Cuba to U.S. citizens is a serious issue, if only because Cuba is even closer to the U.S. Also, marijuana is being decriminalized throughout the Caribbean and, for better or worse, this challenges one of Jamaica's traditional selling points.

The question is how Jamaica should respond, especially with regard to Negril. I read several comments to the effect that "change and growth are inevtiable." That conflates two separate issues. Change and growth are not synonyms. Everything changes, but not everything grows. When it comes to Negril, yes, change is inevitable there too. Things fall apart, people die, new trees grow, new devices are created. These things happen whether we like it or not. Growth, however, is a choice. Whether Negril "grows" -- as in adding new buildings or taller buildings -- is up to the Jamaican people.

Which brings me to my real point. If I were in charge of Jamaican tourism and considering Negril's future, I would look at what is unique about Jamaica and Negril and I would market that unique identity. For instance, Jamaica has a fabulous musical culture (as does Jamaica's new competitor, Cuba). Jamaica has Rastafarians, who bring world-famous sativa marijuana and organic vegetarian food to the table. Negril has astonishing natural beauty, a fabulously long, protected beach and breathtaking cliffs just a mile away. Negril has a low-key, small-scale charm that is increasingly rare and treasured in this overdeveloped, overgrown, overcrowded world. A lot of people want exactly that on vacation.

In my opinion, if Jamaica succumbs to the lure of quick "growth" it will destroy Negril, both as a tourist destination and literally through reckless overbuilding, further depletion of the essential morrass, further polluting the Negril River (and then the sea), overburdening the already weak infrastructure, and basically ruining what makes Negril so attractive in the first place.

Peace.

[JamaGinger]

I would like to respond to a few points that have been mentioned in several comments.

The competition for Caribbean tourism is becoming more threatening to Jamaica. As someone else noted, the opening of Cuba to U.S. citizens is a serious issue, if only because Cuba is even closer to the U.S. Also, marijuana is being decriminalized throughout the Caribbean and, for better or worse, this challenges one of Jamaica's traditional selling points.

The question is how Jamaica should respond, especially with regard to Negril. I read several comments to the effect that "change and growth are inevtiable." That conflates two separate issues. Change and growth are not synonyms. Everything changes, but not everything grows. When it comes to Negril, yes, change is inevitable there too. Things fall apart, people die, new trees grow, new devices are created. These things happen whether we like it or not. Growth, however, is a choice. Whether Negril "grows" -- as in adding new buildings or taller buildings -- is up to the Jamaican people.

Which brings me to my real point. If I were in charge of Jamaican tourism and considering Negril's future, I would look at what is unique about Jamaica and Negril and I would market that unique identity. For instance, Jamaica has a fabulous musical culture (as does Jamaica's new competitor, Cuba). Jamaica has Rastafarians, who bring world-famous sativa marijuana and organic vegetarian food to the table. Negril has astonishing natural beauty, a fabulously long, protected beach and breathtaking cliffs just a mile away. Negril has a low-key, small-scale charm that is increasingly rare and treasured in this overdeveloped, overgrown, overcrowded world. A lot of people want exactly that on vacation.

In my opinion, if Jamaica succumbs to the lure of quick "growth" it will destroy Negril, both as a tourist destination and literally through reckless overbuilding, further depletion of the essential morrass, further polluting the Negril River (and then the sea), overburdening the already weak infrastructure, and basically ruining what makes Negril so attractive in the first place.

Peace.

Exactly on point and well-said!

[Mike_D]

I, for one, am in favor of less regulation rather than more. Which is why Jamaica appeals to more than US or British governed Caribbean islands. I think Negril should enforce the rules they have, rather than impose new ones.

[negrilsand]

Well said wbegonne!

[Rob]

Before the comments get further off topic, here is my original post:

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"We have been asked by the stakeholders here in Negril what is the viewpoint of you, our visitors to Negril about the upcoming changes to our building guidelines as discussed in this commentary article in the Gleaner by Diana McCaulay. She is the CEO of the Jamaica Environmental Trust.

Here is the link to her commentary article:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/c...d-towers-babel

The main area where the stakeholders are concerned about are her comments "I skimmed the new development order. Many of the same provisions are repeated, some verbatim, as if the manifest planning and environmental management failures of the past 30 years have not occurred. Setback limits are reduced, depending on the slope and character of the land, as if sea level rise is merely a rumour. Figure 1 in Appendix 17 seems to suggest that a 10-storey hotel could now be allowed in Negril."

Before responding, please read her comments in full and let us know how you feel. Growth is inevitable for Negril, it will become an actual town in the future (it is currently still a village) and the stakeholders would like to get your feedback on some of the points that Diana brings up in her commentary.

Thank you for your help in this matter."

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Predictions, speculation and rumor are just that, a "best guess" (prediction), "guess" (speculation) or "something unfounded" (rumor).

While we do seek the opinions and viewpoints from our visitors about the amendments to the current building guidelines for the Negril and Green Island Area, making predictions about the social and economic "future" of Negril and Jamaica based on foreign investment (or worse, the lack thereof) is a bit beyond the original question that started this thread.

We can debate all day merits of the Goat island Hub, the Highway 2000 project, the fact the airport in MoBay was expanded for Russian visitors who can no longer afford to come and other such topics. But that is not why the original question was posed.

Jamaica and Negril have been having visitors from all over the world for the past 100 years. Languages such as Italian, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese and Chinese have been taught on the island for years. This is nothing new. Foreign investment has been going strong since 1962. These are simple facts.

But the above topics pose no real help in knowing the viewpoints of our visitors about the amendments to the current building guidelines for the development order for the Negril and Green Island Area. And for clarification, the Grand Lido 10 story proposal has been asked for by their Canadian investors.

Thank you for remaining on topic.

[JamaGinger]

Rob, I don't think we completely understand what you want us to comment on. Is the question whether what was in the original document should be left alone and enforced? And whether changes to it should be allowed?

If these are the questions, my viewpoint is "no". Leave it as it was originally written and reinforce what was there.

Short and simple.

[Scott Rice]

One of the charms of Negril and the reason I cant go anywhere else to vacation is that it is UNIQUE and DIFFERENT..and most importantly, the chilled, relaxed beach attitude.. overdevelopment will take that away.... save the beach and the village atmosphere.... I would be crushed to see it become another face in the crowd resort town....

[NRV]

"No" to amending the building guidelines in the Negril and Green Island Area. No special exceptions for any current or future developer.