Have you ever thought of retiring here....

[Jambarney]

Rob you sure have been lucky the last 20 years, real lucky my friend.

Jamb

[booger]

"Well, this is a problem where I live. The same two dogs seem to be constantly engaged and producing 6-8 puppies at a time. Sorry to say that at some point people get tired of the barking and fighting at night and then a rat block does the trick. Cats? Well, they take care of the problem around the house by taking the cats into a ganga field to manage the rat problem. Typical. They use a problem to solve a problem and then create a bigger problem (like the mongoose!)"

A rat block? SMH

[booger]

No way in hell I would move to Jamaica to live. Many more affordable options in this world with less #####

[hey_mon]

Why are so many Jamaicans trying to get to the US? Many Jamaicans with any sort of wealth have a home in Florida and retire there when they can. Returnees from abroad face being robbed and killed. Their homes have bars on every window and door. Many returnees go from the airport to a resort where they stay a few days so that they cannot be easily followed by thugs from the airport to their home. I'm fairly certain that there are many Jamaicans that would agree to exchange homes with those Americans that want to retire to Jamaica. I suggest that those of you that want to live permanently on the island take a visit to Cornwall Hospital so as to see what sort of healthcare that they will receive. I was,myself, an unfortunate patient that hospital. Just recently my good friend died there after suffering an affliction that should have been quickly diagnosed and treated. Another friend's teenage daughter died a painful death from appendicitis after going home alone from a local clinic where her father had been assured that she just had indigestion. Her father had gone on to his job. Still another friend had to move from his home after a women was chased into his living room and shot to death. He was terrified that the killers would return to wipe out any witnesses. Jamaica is a great place to visit but few of you would enjoy living permanently on the island.

I find it odd you say that Jamaicans with any kind of wealth have a home in Fla and retire there where they can. I just read a wonderful article on beautiful, and I mean beautiful by any Canadian or American standard, but aside lovely three story sprawling homes being built in Jamaica by Jamaicans. it stated that they may never actually live in them as they build them year by yer as money allows in the hopes and dreams of returning one day home to retire. Oh, and it was written by a Jamaican. Will look for the ink and post. When I read it I thought to myself, that explains a lot about the homes you see year after year being built, slowly but apparently mortgage free!! We could all learn a little something here!!

I cannot attest to your hospital experience, but when down there 30 years ago was with a good friend who was possibly suffering a miscarriage in Negril, and will be marrying off that beautiful full term baby girl this coming May. As quiet and primitive as Negril was, she received top notch care, and we had little money. It was not about the money, thank God.

I am sorry you did not have such a positive outcome.

[negrilsand]

Well, there you go. I'm pointing out that life is tough for the average Jamaican. There is not anymore to the story. I have been spending a lot of time in Jamaica for the last 35 years. Naive Americans in particular can come to the island with their US passport, return tickets and stay while. Very few live on the economy as a working class Jamaican does. I am just pointing out reality. My examples are just a few of the dozens that I can point out. Live your fantasy if you can. More power to you. Even longer time settlers eventually throw in the towel and leave. I have seen them come and make large investments only to leave after a few months. Those of us that have the funds usually get our healthcare at private clinics or go to Florida. Check where the politicians go when they need healthcare. Violent crime is a major problem in Jamaica. I personally have known several people who were shot or hacked to death.The friend that experienced the murder in his front room is a gentle soul who was widowed years ago and is raising two teenage daughters. Some people are too poor to have adequate bars and gates and one can not keep everything locked up all the time.It is common knowledge that many returnees go first to a resort. Even in relatively safe places such as Manchester, returnees have been murdered. I love Jamaica and stay on the island several months a year but I would never retire here. What I am saying and more is indeed true. I must also wonder how much some people actually know about Jamaica if they are not familiar with the housing schemes and the government programs that allow for mortgages. Indeed, those using the scheme, usually build the ground floor and leave the rebar exposed so that they can later add more space. These homes while solid are not so beautiful and are not mortgage free. My friends live in these homes but would leave tomorrow for the US if they could. All their grown children have left the island. Those mansions that you see, many of them empty or unfinished, often belong to a don who is either dead or in prison. The well tended ones often belong to a wealthy person off the island. I know of hardly anyone that has not been broken into and robbed. And forget about air conditioning and nice appliances. Just stating facts.

[Accompong]

No way in hell I would move to Jamaica to live. Many more affordable options in this world with less #####

With that knowledge, looks like I can rest a little easier for a long time to come.

[Vince]

Hell, I'm down for Jamaica for the long run!!

[johng]

Life is difficult everywhere!! My feeling is you have to be happy with where you live / choose to retire , JA, USA, Canada, Europe. Everybody's point of view on this thread is valid, no right or wrong. Look at world events it seems that one is very lucky to find a place that offers all that they want or need, forget about 100% safety and security. Human nature is worldwide, no escaping that other than a "Deserted Island".

[Rob]

Well, there you go. I'm pointing out that life is tough for the average Jamaican. There is not anymore to the story. I have been spending a lot of time in Jamaica for the last 35 years. Naive Americans in particular can come to the island with their US passport, return tickets and stay while. Very few live on the economy as a working class Jamaican does. I am just pointing out reality. My examples are just a few of the dozens that I can point out. Live your fantasy if you can. More power to you. Even longer time settlers eventually throw in the towel and leave. I have seen them come and make large investments only to leave after a few months. Those of us that have the funds usually get our healthcare at private clinics or go to Florida. Check where the politicians go when they need healthcare. Violent crime is a major problem in Jamaica. I personally have known several people who were shot or hacked to death.The friend that experienced the murder in his front room is a gentle soul who was widowed years ago and is raising two teenage daughters. Some people are too poor to have adequate bars and gates and one can not keep everything locked up all the time.It is common knowledge that many returnees go first to a resort. Even in relatively safe places such as Manchester, returnees have been murdered. I love Jamaica and stay on the island several months a year but I would never retire here. What I am saying and more is indeed true. I must also wonder how much some people actually know about Jamaica if they are not familiar with the housing schemes and the government programs that allow for mortgages. Indeed, those using the scheme, usually build the ground floor and leave the rebar exposed so that they can later add more space. These homes while solid are not so beautiful and are not mortgage free. My friends live in these homes but would leave tomorrow for the US if they could. All their grown children have left the island. Those mansions that you see, many of them empty or unfinished, often belong to a don who is either dead or in prison. The well tended ones often belong to a wealthy person off the island. I know of hardly anyone that has not been broken into and robbed. And forget about air conditioning and nice appliances. Just stating facts.

I dont see anyone arguing, other than you, that life for the average Jamaican is tough. There is really not any more to that story. Everyone knows that. It is your other observations made by only visiting the island that demonstrates that there is more to many of the things you call "reality".

The reality is that I am from the US, moved here over 20 years, earn Jamaican wages, pay Jamaican taxes, have mostly Jamaican friends, use the Jamaican medical system and live IN the Jamaican system. I am not being told about it, or reading it from some second or third hand source, but knowing it because it is in my face each and every day. And I like it that way.

Fantasy. Interesting word, but let's talk about the reality of that violent crime you mention. Kingston was 26th on the list of murders per 100,000 in 2014. And that has to take into account the "inadequate" healthcare you propose. People who would be saved in the North American hospitals dont have that advantage here because of the state of the healthcare here. Yet, St. Louis came in as the 18th most murderous cities, Detroit at 22 and New Orleans just behind Jamaica at 28th. So two American cities had more murders per 100,000 than Kingston, with New Orleans coming in a close. And that is with all the superior healthcare that is so lacking here, since even Jamaican politicians go to the US to seek their care. So people are murdered everywhere, especially in St. Louis, Detroit and New Orleans.

Speaking of US healthcare, a friend of mine and Jamaican politician recently was referred by his regular doctor in Kingston to a specialist in the US for his back problems. The Honourable Roger Clarke had been given the "all clear" by the American specialist to travel back to Jamaica after his recuperation. He was in a Florida Airport and had a heart attack, and was rushed to a nearby hospital. He died there. In the American hospital. I guess Jamaicans should avoid US hospitals now since they cannot adequately treat our politicians.

I have many returnee friends, even in Manchester, and their stories follow more along the line of this returnee:

"I have spent the last 17 years of my life working towards the American dream. By society’s standards, both here and there, many would say that my husband and I have achieved it. The high profile careers with six figures coming in, the large single-family house, the cars, all tied in a bow for the family of 5 (3 children).

Having now slumbered my way into dreamland, I find that I have awoken to the American nightmare many of us who took the same path that I did have come to know. "

http://transitionsunshine.info/2009/...g-home-shares/

And this one:

"I decided about 6 years ago that I had to find a way to come back home, come hell or high water. I felt that if I stayed in Canada my life would just get lonelier and lonelier as the years went by.

I have now been back 4 ½ years and I have no major complaints. At first I was angry, because I had to start over from scratch to build a business, and I had already gone through that in Canada.

Building my business in Jamaica was much easier than building one in Canada. It is much easier to network here, and I found when I went to one person to let them know what I was doing, that person would point me in the direction of others who would be interested in my business."

http://transitionsunshine.info/2008/...me-to-jamaica/

It doesnt seem that your notion that returnees go to resorts first is common knowledge is all that common. More like something that a Jamaican told you to see if you would believe that nonsense. Jamaicans have a wicked sense of humor.

I find your comments on the housing schemes and unfinished houses equally amusing. Why would a visitor to the island need to know anything about the government programs? I have seen schemes such as Orange Bay and Whitehall grow up right before my eyes. Phase I at Orange Bay is incredible! But I live here as a "longer time settler" as you call it.

And dons who are dead or in jail leaving their mansions unfinished? Someone is having a good laugh at your expense on that one. Didnt it occur to you that even dons have family and friends who would finish the work if the money was available, which it would be even to a dead don? Those structures are for the most part built little by little, with NO MORTGAGE on family land and can take decades to finish. That is the reality, not some don induced joke.

I have to take what someone writes by the beliefs the person holds. To quote you "Watch your valuables where ever you stay. I love Jamaica and Jamaicans , but they will steal whatever is not nailed down. "

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...961#post146961

[Slightly Stoopid]

Life is difficult everywhere!! My feeling is you have to be happy with where you live / choose to retire , JA, USA, Canada, Europe. Everybody's point of view on this thread is valid, no right or wrong. Look at world events it seems that one is very lucky to find a place that offers all that they want or need, forget about 100% safety and security. Human nature is worldwide, no escaping that other than a "Deserted Island".

Well said ...thanks for being " the voice of reason "on a cloudly issue ..
Do, I feel it would be wise choice for me to retire in Ja.????
No
But, I wish those who have ... a long healthy & happy life