Sam Wong Chew Onn THE FALL-OUT in European air traffic to Jamaica will not only deplete tourist arrivals from the continent, but is also likely to cost millions in lost investment prospects as well as inconvenience to members of the island's Chinese community.
The Gleaner has learnt that the Holland-based Martin Air, which will cease operating in Jamaica this Thursday, has been the primary vehicle of transporting Chinese nationals to and from the island. This is because Amsterdam is one of the few cities in the world which allows Chinese nationals to transit without a visa.
Local businessman and head of the Jamaica/China Friendship Association, Sam Wong Chew Onn, told The Gleaner that China, one of the world's biggest producers of consumer items, had serious plans to "build a market, using Jamaica as a distribution centre to the rest of the western hemisphere".
Mr. Wong Chew Onn said that in his capacity as a consultant to the Government's investment promotions company, Jamaica Promotions Corpo-ration (JAMPRO), he and others had been leading an initiative to woo several Chinese investors to "set up shop" in Jamaican free zones. The second-generation Chinese Jamaican said this initiative had been met with strong interest, but that the travel difficulties posed by Martin Air's pull-out will result in serious problems if alternative travel arrangements could not be made quickly.
Aviation sources said that most of the Chinese traffic to the island comes by way of a flight from the Dutch-owned KLM Airlines out of Hong Kong, Beijing, or Shanghai to Amsterdam, where a connection is then made with Martin Air to Montego Bay. The same connections are used on the way back.
Martin Air representative in Jamaica, David Chin-Tung, told The Gleaner that many Chinese residents here, as well as those in China, have failed to get visas or permits from either the United States or England, ruling out transit via London, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.
Mr. Chin-Tung added that there used to be an average of about 20 Chinese nationals on each of the weekly Martin Air flights in and out of the island. Local Chinese sources say the Martin Air pull-out will be a blow to several groups, including Chinese workers travelling to work in the free-zone areas, and Chinese-Jamaicans who regularly visit their ancestral homeland.
The move will also derail the efforts of many first- and second-generation Chinese immigrants who are sponsoring family members in China to join them here in Jamaica.
A spokesman from the Chinese Embassy said the Embassy knew little about the situation, but stated that in addition to the reluctance of nations like the United States and Britain to grant transit visas, part of the problem was the difficulty of getting Jamaican visas from China. Jamaica has an honorary consul in Hong Kong but no resident ambassador in China.
Tony Morrison
