Since Negril.com started in 1995, there have been complaints online about vendors on the beach. Not the ones simply trying to earn a living and making your vacation stay a memorable one, but the few aggressive, moody ones who have felt left out of the tourism "windfall" and decide to take it out on our visitors.
These few "bad eggs" have come and gone over the years, with some years being worse and some being better than others. But nevertheless, they have been a part of the Negril scene.
Many of you understand the socio-economic dynamics and just roll with the flow, while this can be a vacation disturbing experience for others. This has been a reality Negril and Jamaica has been dealing with since tourism started.
Some complaints have recently become "viral" on social media demanding action by the Jamaican government. Such action has commenced and drug dealers are being busted on our Seven Mile Beach. The illegal horse rides on the beach are also being busted.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/artic...200129699/1373
So action against illegal vending on the beach is being done. The police are doing their job. But it seems that this demand has had some consequences not considered in the original complaints.
The police cannot be selective in their duty, their job is to enforce the existing laws.
A consequence of that enforcement as a previous thread mentioned is that the Patty Man, Norman, the guy with the patties who sells them to many of us on the beach has been removed from the beach. He has no vendors license because he cannot get one. The license he needs simply does not exist under the present laws.
Richard Wallace, the current President of Negril Chamber of Commerce stated in the above article link "Wallace added that there are no laws on the books that effectively protect the tourism industry. “When most of these laws were enacted, there wasn't even a tourism industry at that time,” he stressed.
The chamber president has, meanwhile, called for an adjustment of “the regular laws or the JTB (Jamaica Tourist Board) Act to protect the industry".
For those who want to help, please contact the Chamber of Commerce and let them know of your actual experiences, both good and bad and be honest. As Browns54 pointed out, some of the complaints are an obvious exaggeration, but they still need to be addressed. But there is no need to throw out the baby with the bath water.
The Chamber link is on the main page of Negril.com.
Thanks for reading.
