Higglers !!

[rtitle]

That's a long beach walk, if you mean from Cosmos (now defunct) all way into town. I sometimes take beach walks almost that far, e.g. from Footeprints (on the big-resort end of the beach) to Travellers (on the town end). My approach to avoiding higglers on such a walk is different: Carry nothing! No wallet, no cash, nothing. If a higgler approaches and says he wants to be my friend, he usually loses interest once I tell him I'm carrying no money. So much for "friend". . If I get thirsty I stop at a hotel bar and ask for a glass of water.

[Irine]

Hey Jojo. I think we might stay at the same place. I found the new guy was overdoing it a little bit. We struck up a conversation with him and he was worried he would not be taken seriously if he did not impose his will in the beginning of his new position. I guess I can understand that. After the two weeks we were there he was getting a better read on the people. Usually daily my wife and I would walk from our hotel down to Nirvana to visit friends and back again. We were parched after that but Paul would fix us up at the bar.

querty,
I noticed that as well, where I stay, they have a new security guy, and when vendors approach the chairs of the guest, he goes up and stands right next to the chairs, and watched and listens while transactions are made. If it gets to much, he tells them to move on. Also, I always every year, try and walk the beach, the whole beach at least a few times . I always start out at Cosmos. ( I know they are closed now ) I purchase a drink at their bar, and sit outside on the table, and drink it before my walk. When dudes come up and try and talk, the manager, or owner , not sure which, will come up and tell them to move on. I think years of complaining about this has been heard by the hotel owners.

[Marko]

yeah since mi spend most of mi time in Negril....and know the runnings better than some Jamaicans
mi can personally say that the begging and hard sell on foreigners has gotten worse.....even on the Cliffs
these people working you aren't usually from Negril.......they come as far as Kingston to try their luck....
there are 30% less Negril police compared to 15 years ago......and there should be least 30% more police
as far as the Tourist Police go.......dunno what has happened.....but they aren't hardly seen at all these days
wi all know about the crime problem now because of the State of Emergency.....
if mi was to say things have gotten out of control....
most locals and expats and frequent travelers would agree with mi
Respect

Cool Runnings, Marko

[jojo p]

Irene...
Yes, I get what you mean, he seems to come on a little to strong, but I assumed it was his first security job, and he was over doing it a bit.....I am sure he will mellow in time, although I do the fact I can leave my stuff around, and it is always watched over..

[brownsd54]

yeah since mi spend most of mi time in Negril....and know the runnings better than some Jamaicans
mi can personally say that the begging and hard sell on foreigners has gotten worse.....even on the Cliffs
these people working you aren't usually from Negril.......they come as far as Kingston to try their luck....
there are 30% less Negril police compared to 15 years ago......and there should be least 30% more police
as far as the Tourist Police go.......dunno what has happened.....but they aren't hardly seen at all these days
wi all know about the crime problem now because of the State of Emergency.....
if mi was to say things have gotten out of control....
most locals and expats and frequent travelers would agree with mi
Respect

Cool Runnings, Marko

there are 30% less Negril police compared to 15 years ago......That's a pretty bold statement and I'm not sure if I agree. I have seen more JCF beach patrol walking the beach and on Beach Drive than ever before. Roadblocks up on Cliff Road and patrols on foot all the way up to Rick's. It seems like way more JCF on bicycles and I've seen a lot more motorcycle cops than ever. Just wondering where you got this information Marko. I have met the Superintendent in charge of the Negril police and he said the safety of tourism in the Negril area was a top priority for JCF.

[SVW]

I thought things seemed more aggressive in certain areas this past trip in Dec. while walking the beach but not enough to keep me from coming back. We're thinking of staying deep west next trip, possibly in Nov. this year. I'm wondering, is there much of a presence with higglers in that location? Thinking of Westender Inn. I actually thought of going there this last trip but opted for the beach again instead but seriously thinking WI for next trip. The more I keep looking into it the nicer it looks.

[Bnewb]

SVW...
You won't see any higglers "deep West End"...maybe the odd person if you choose to walk the road.
There's not really anything around the Westender, so you're pretty much staying on the property until you want to visit the rest of the West End and/or beach.
You'll then use the Westender's car service or hire a cab when you're ready to go.

[SVW]

Thanks Bnewb. That's what I thought. Sounds pretty relaxing & something different & we can have them take us to the beach when we feel like some action

[Marko]

there are 30% less Negril police compared to 15 years ago......That's a pretty bold statement and I'm not sure if I agree.

just stating the facts plus what mi see from personal observations......

Dr Wykeham McNeill, member of parliament for Western Westmoreland states the fact recently from a stakeholders meeting;

There are now 60 police officers deployed in Negril in 2019...
And in Negril 20 years ago you had over 100 police deployed in Negril.....
And now there are 30 murders a year in in Negril.....and 20 years ago there were 5 or 6 murders a year......

Also retired Deputy Superintendent of Police Arthel Colley told the stakeholders’ meeting;
another factor affecting Negril’s level of control over crime is the lack of trust in the police force.

Cool Runnings, Marko

[Accompong]

The thread is about Higglers and people's interaction with them both positive and negative. Somehow it devolves down to murders and crime as if the Higgler's interaction with a tourist has something to do with a tourist getting maimed or murdered by them. No one is saying that murders are not a problem but it is almost exclusively a "Jamaican problem" and Westmoreland Parish is much larger a problem than Negril.

Part of the colorful allure of Negril is the interaction with Jamaicans and Higglers too while on vacation. Discussions about the SOE had a thread and seems a more proper place to discuss that problem.