Quote Originally Posted by SweetSue View Post
...I don't see any harm in asking questions and encouraging oversight.

...One thing that always bothered me from day one was when I would take a tour and as other participants were picked up from the various all inclusive resorts, they would be shocked to see me alone and would tell me that the resort management had cautioned them against leaving the resort property unless on an approved tour or properly escorted. I have met many couples who were afraid to leave the properties to explore the local culture and cuisine because of what they were told at the all inclusive resorts. In addition to the other feelings this gives me, it causes me to suspect that there is an attitude that is not conducive to really caring about their host country or anything outside of their own corporate interests. Hence my tendency to go along with the petition and to encourage further discussion so that more people are aware...
The wording of the petition:
"Sandals Negril has applied to build a major jetty on their beach. This will negatively effect the entire Negril Beach and disrupt the eco-relationship between the beach/morass & reef. Please sign if you would like to prevent this."

Sue,

I think some people's opinion to this is situation is that an unfair, overly simplistic "knee jerk" reaction was what created the original petition in the first place. The petition did not call for discussion or oversight, but presented only a straightforward "prevent the jetty" position.

After many read the actual proposal, which IS being overseen by Jamaican environmental groups including NEPA, some people realized that there was no "major jetty" being proposed by the Jamaican owned Sandals Resorts.

While large corporations can have "things written up in a way that sounds friendly", it is equally true that a petition author can write things up in a way that it very sympathetic to their cause without necessarily giving a truthful positioning of the facts. The facts in this case include that there is no major jetty being planned by anyone and there are Jamaican environmental groups overseeing the proposed plans from Sandals. That was not stated in the petition wording which you can read above.

Contrary to what many believe, Sandals is indeed a Jamaican owned company so in this case their "host country" is their home country. If you do a bit of research you will find that Sandals does much for the communities where they have their resorts. If you lived here in Jamaica you would see and hear about all their programs to help out the local communities, the environment and the education for the youth.

One of the reasons I created Negril.com back in 1995 was to help visitors realize that there are many places outside their resort to enjoy. Jamaica is an amazing island to explore while on vacation! But even from that perspective, it is only legal common sense that makes a resort like Sandals have their resort management caution guests against leaving the resort property unless on an approved tour or properly escorted tour. They are in a high liability area at that point and can be sued should an incident occur. This is just an unfortunate truth. It only makes sense they want to minimize this risk. There is no grand conspiracy here, just simple legal logic based on the real world in which we live. Anyone who operates a successful business knows that legal issues must be taken into account and can dictate policy at times.

To further the efforts I began in 1995, I do invite all those who are staying at any of the Jamaican or foreign owned All Inclusives to feel free to leave the resort and experience Negril. The webcasts events that RealNegril.com has are a great starting point for seeing some of the sights and sounds of Negril. Hope to have everyone stop by and say hi at any of the live webcasts.