New rules please cruise line

Garwin Davis, Staff Reporter

WESTERN BUREAU:

NEW rules, aimed at monitoring the behaviour of taxi-drivers at the Ocho Rios Pier, following complaints of widespread visitor harassment, have been given a stamp of approval by Carnival Cruise Line.

"So far, so good," is how Carnival's Cruise Director, John Heald, described the new pier operations last week. "The drivers have been excellent...very well behaved. It is good to see this sort of thing for a change."

The rules, implemented last month by the Ministry of Tourism, have prevented taxi-drivers from rushing cruise passengers, forcing them to remain in their vehicle until called by a number.

In addition, the usual traffic pile-up which of-ten resulted in a free-for-all has been alleviated with only Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) approved taxi-drivers allowed entrance to the pier.

The rules became necessary after taxi-drivers outside the entrance of the pier allegedly threatened a Royal Caribbean port lecturer Kurty Mangr several weeks ago. The incident resulted in Ms. Mangr requesting and receiving a transfer to a ship that didn't have Jamaica on its itinerary.

Also, Royal Caribbean, responsible for bringing in nearly 300,000 passengers annually to the island, second only to Carnival, gave the Government a seven-day ultimatum to clean up the problem at the pier. It was as a result of the threat from Royal Caribbean that the new rules were implemented.

"It would be great if what is happening now at the pier can be sustained," Mr. Heald added. "It means a lot to visitors to be able to walk the street hassle free."

The Carnival official, however, called for improvements to the custom area of the pier where he claimed security officers in civilian clothes had nothing to identify them often search visitors on their way back to the ship.

"There have been some complaints about this," Mr. Heald said. "There is nothing wrong in doing inspections, but it must be done in an orderly and proper manner. If these guys are police officers then they must be identified as such."

Carnival's endorsement of pier activities could not come at a better time for the island's cruise shipping officials. Having seen several ships re-deployed to other destinations over the past year, and with the country's image taking a beating in the overseas press, there are fears that, as with the hotel sector, officials would be hard-pressed to fill berthing spaces at the local ports next year.

The endorsement also comes following a threat from Carnival earlier in the year to cancel all shopping tours in Ocho Rios and concentrate only on going to the attractions because passengers complained of being harassed during the tours. The cruise line, the largest in the world and the company that brings the most vessels to Jamaica, also had pointed out that of the 42 ports that they visit in the Caribbean the worst one in terms of passenger complaints was Jamaica. Locals are hopeful the new pier rules will continue to work.

"It is still too early to tell what will happen," explained Lee Bailey, former president of the Montego Bay Cruise Shipping Council. "What we can't afford to do is to lose sight of what is really important and that is to ensure that our visitors are safe and are treated with the utmost of respect."

Andrew Grant, acting president of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, said the Tourism Ministry has assured his organisation that the priority being given to the pier will be sustained.

"We will not allow these promises to be broken," Mr. Grant said.

Sunday Gleaner efforts to get a comment from the Tourism Ministry were unsuccessful.

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