We did not benefit!

AS THE Nieuw Statemdam from luxury cruise line Holland America prepares to dock at the Naval Dockyard in Port Royal in November, residents, entrepreneurs, fisherfolk and others living in the seaside village believe they will not benefit.

According to the residents, even with training and promises they received from representatives of the Government and others, they did not benefit from the previous docking.

On January 20, 2020, the Marella Discovery II became the first cruise ship to dock at the newly opened cruise port constructed by the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ). It docked a second time on February 24 that year but the global cruise ship industry capsized shortly after because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ann-Marie Chamberlain, a hairdresser, said she was trained by state representatives to make craft items but did not make a single sale.

“They trained us and said when the ship comes, we are going to benefit. All now mi nuh mek a dollar offa dem! Me get mi certificate from [Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport] Babsy Grange ... and all now I don’t benefit offa di cruise ship,” Chamberlain told The Gleaner.

“Out of the 50 of us that they trained, they selected only eight persons out of that group. None of them was put on the pier. It’s town people dem put on the pier. Port Royal people was put down by big church and nobody benefited, nobody sold anything.”

She said the residents had a meeting with government representatives in the past but there was pushback over reportedly unaffordable rental rates.

Other residents, who were not willing to speak on record, agreed with Chamberlain’s claims that “the tourists weren’t allowed to come and walk as dem please”.

They accused tour guides accompanying the tourists of directing them away from the vendors in the town.

However, Chamberlain praised the Government for giving her publicity at Kumba Mi Yabba, which is an initiative of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation where local authentic Jamaican products were exhibited for sale in a Christmas village setting.

Another resident, Ruth Esterine, told The Gleaner that she, too, was not optimistic about Port Royal’s vendors, fisherfolk, and craftspeople benefiting.

“It nah help nobody inna Port Royal. Nobody it nah help! Yuh understand me, because you see as soon as dem come, dem scrape dem up and carry them gone somewhere else,” Esterine said.

She said it is only tourists who know about the historic town who will venture out on their own and support the locals.

The sale of seafood is the pillar of commerce in the seaside town.

Another resident also complained that residents are not hired to do ancillary work.

However, Kimberley Stiff, assistant vice-president of the marketing communications at The Port Authority of Jamaica, cautioned that it was unreasonable to overplay the knock-on benefits from the two cruise calls in 2020.

“Port Royal was abuzz with activity with cruise passengers filling homes, bars, and other businesses during the first two calls,” Stiff said in response to The Gleaner.

“Further, artisans, and craft vendors from the community were given preference and were allowed to ply their trade both on the port and at a pop-up market at Fort Charles which the PAJ organised and facilitated.”

Vaccination compliance

In preparation for an uptick in cruise operations, the PAJ has been hosting town-hall meetings with port communities to provide an update and to engage with key stakeholders, the PAJ reported. The last such was meeting was last Friday, which Stiff said “was very productive”. The assistant vice-president emphasised, however, that vaccination compliance was crucial to a successful restart of cruise operations.

Cruise passengers are required to be vaccinated as well as produce a negative COVID-19 test before embarking on travel. Locals who will be allowed to interreact with cruise passengers must also be vaccinated.

“The protocols for tours and engagement with locals is guided by the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW). We anticipate that a similar model that has been successfully introduced in Ocho Rios will be adopted in Port Royal,” said Stiff.

“Passengers will participate in controlled tours that are approved by the MOHW and the vendors that will be allowed to interact with passengers whether on the port or in the community must be vaccinated.”

Just over 13 per cent of the Jamaican population is fully vaccinated.

According to a statement from Edmund Bartlett, tourism minister, TUI, the world’s largest tourism company, has added Port Royal to its January 2022 schedule.

He indicated that the company has confirmed the resumption of flights and cruises to Jamaica. The company specifically outlined plans for homeporting in Montego Bay and the inclusion of calls to Port Royal on its cruise schedule.

The announcement was made in Dubai recently during a meeting involving Bartlett, Director of Tourism Donovan White, and TUI Group executives David Burling and Antonia Bouka.

“We expect to have five calls from January through April 2022 in Port Royal,” Bartlett stated.

TUI executives advised that their data show that the demand for cruise is high and that the company has managed to retain cancelled bookings.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com