By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorMANY UNLICENSED watersport operators in Ocho Rios have been endangering the lives of visitors by using substandard craft to provide their services, presenting what local officials see as a threat to the tourism industry.
The activities, officials say, have become very lucrative, particularly on days when cruise ships are in port, and are often carried out with 'reckless abandon.' They include rides on jet skis, water skis, speed boats, catamaran cruisers, paddle boats and kayaks.
"The situation is one that requires serious attention," a member of the Ocho Rios resort board said yesterday.
"What is startling though is that a number of them, particularly jet ski owners, have been operating illegally and endangering the lives of visitors. You should see them riding up all the way to the jetty at top speed...real scary I tell you," he said.
A pleasure boat caught fire on Tuesday near the Ocho Rios Cruise Ship Pier and drifted to within 100 yards of a Royal Caribbean mega-liner that was docked in port. Only the quick reaction of local residents averted what officials say could have been a major disaster.
According to Dennis Richards, pier supervisor, the boat in Tuesday's accident was licensed.
"I know the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) does a fairly good job of trying to monitor activities on the beach but a number of them have slipped through the cracks...only last year there was a fatality resulting from a jet ski accident," he said.
Over the last few years there have been several accidents, including some fatalities associated with watersport activities in Ocho Rios.
TPDCo. which regulates the industry, has sought, sometimes with strong resistance from operators, to regulate activities, particularly a more vigilant approach in the inspection of vessels used to transport visitors.
Operators were also urged to get themselves licensed or faced what the agency termed "serious sanctions." A lack of proper monitoring, however, condemned the threats to what one legal operator termed a basic "free-for-all where pollution and harassment are running rampant."
"Everybody is a law unto himself around here," he charged. "The last time the UDC gave notice to illegal and unlicensed operators they threatened to blockade the harbour. What will it take for the authorities to take a firm stance? The corruption...the slime that takes place around here is mind-boggling. The industry is at risk but as long as those making the money can buy their protection it will always be business as usual."
Faith Thomas, chairman of the St. Ann Development Co., a subsidiary of the Urban Development Corporation and owners of the Turtle Tower Beach, said there were plans to streamline watersports operations on the beach and where operators would be properly regulated.
