Resort towns a paradox of rich and poor

Michael Ennis, Guest Columnist

If you have a sore foot, it would be foolhardy to go out and purchase a nice fancy pair of shoes to parade around town. Not only would you be limping around, but the sore would only get worse.

The Government has an impressive plan to improve the tourism product with integrated resorts, redesigning of the Ocho Rios Pier, among other projections. This is more than buying a Clarks; this is more like buying a superexpensive Bally.

The problem is, the resort towns' sore foot of squatting, informal settlement, poor housing, poor water distribution and poor roads is not being addressed.

The recent increase of hotel rooms on the north coast brought welcome jobs, low-paying as they are, but the attendant problem of housing came hand in hand with the new resorts. Judging by the voters' list, the adult population of the coastal corridor, especially Ocho Rios, Mammee Bay, Windsor, and Priory, has grown by more than 100 per cent since 1993. The question is: Where are all of these people living?

The housing stock has had only marginal increases in the mid to upper-income level, and almost zero increase in the low to mid-income cohort. But people have to live somewhere, hence the rise in informal settlements with the attendant problems of an over-burdened infrastructure: water, road, sewerage, and electricity.

HAVES VS HAVE-NOTS

The profile of all past developments has taken on the likeness of the haves and the have-nots. The haves build large hotel complexes and privatise the beaches; the have-nots squat, capture, or 'cotch' (a whole heap a cotching a gwaan inna St Ann). If this is to be the profile of future developments, the outcome is predictable, and the only treatment will be amputation.

The time is long past, but never too late for the Government to take a serious look at the way people are living in the tourist resorts, especially the north coast. St Ann has the third-highest level of rainfall, yet 80 per cent of the people don't have regular access to potable water. This is so primarily because there has been no companion upgrade to the water system to match the growth in population.

People are living on top of each other in board houses a few chains from some of the most luxurious resorts in the country. Almost every piece of common area in the town of Ocho Rios and St Ann's Bay is commandeered by informal business operators trying to eke out a living. Both towns are dirty and cannot be kept clean without a round-the-clock maintenance crew.

Any plan to encourage further investment in our tourism product should come with a companion plan to address the ills outlined above. This Government has a wonderful opportunity to treat the sore before the shoe is bought.

The north coast needs a massive land-reform and housing-infrastructure programme. If the Government can't afford it, we should facilitate the private sector (local and international) to do it. The Chinese want land as part of the deal to spend US$600 million on the road network; why not incorporate in that deal the complete (not partial as planned) redevelopment of the Steer Town-Roaring River to Mammee Bay area? The people living in this area are hard-working, low-income folks.

INVESTING IN TRANSFORMATION

A partnership utilising Chinese efficiency and the National Housing Trust could transform these communities into properly structured neighbourhoods where people can proudly live, play and educate their children.

Any future resort development plans should be integrated with, and have at its foundation, a plan to upgrade the living conditions of communities in the area. In many of these new resorts, our workers are treated as cheap, disposable labour, with their rights violated every day for the only reason that they are poor and defenceless. Providing them with acceptable living conditions will improve self-esteem, dignity, and educational and cultural aspirations. This should not be seen as a cost to the country, but as an investment.

The Government must make this issue a priority. Improving the living conditions of our people in the tourist resort is not solely a social issue; in fact, I submit that it is primarily an economic issue. Improvement in one's quality of life leads to a better attitude towards education and productivity; these are key components of economic growth.

Michael Ennis is People's National Party chairman for St Ann North Eastern. He is also an information system consultant. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mail2michaelennis@gmail.com.