Illegal horseback riding continues to plague Negril

Claudia Gardner, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:The problem of illegal horseback riding is still plaguing the resort town of Negril, particularly the beach strip, despite their best efforts to curb the practice, the Negril police said.

The matter was again highlighted by commanding officer of the Negril Police Station, deputy superintendent of police Mercedes Currie, during the recent monthly meeting of the Negril Resort Board.

"I can advise that as it relates to the horses, since the last meeting, two arrests were made and a horse was captured by the police.

"Unfortunately, we had to release the horse into the custody of the owner because we were not able to adequately take care of the animal. The animal remained on our compound and was almost starving to death," Currie said.

"The owner went to court and got an out-of-court settlement for the horse to be returned to him, and in compliance with the judge's decision, we had to release the animal to him. These matters remain before the court because the men pleaded 'not guilty'," she added.

FRUSTRATION

Currie also expressed frustration with what she said was the inability of some stakeholders to honour their commitment to assist with the provision of a pound truck to remove the animals from the town.

"We are at a point now where the men and women of the Negril police are really, really frustrated because they are called upon daily to do something about these horses," she said.

"They (horses) are destroying our infrastructure, and nobody else is coming on board. And even when they are approached - having made commitments at meetings of this sort - when we go to them, having caught the animals, nobody is willing to stand up to the commitments that they have made publicly.

"It is extremely risky for our members to go out there and catch these animals, considering that they are not trained to handle these types of animals, but they do it at the risk of their personal lives, and at the end of it, we are left saddled with an animal that we really don't know what to do with," Currie added.

NOT A JOKE

She was supported by Negril Resort Board chairman, Cliff Reynolds, who expressed concern that the other relevant entities seemed unwilling to take the matter seriously.

"I was called the day when they apprehended the gentlemen and the horse. As arranged, I called TPDCo (Tourism Product Development Company). I called the executive director to let him know to identify the pound he said to send the horse to," Reynolds said.

"After waiting for two hours, I got no return call. I called him back and a lengthy story I got. I attended the TPDCo board meeting in Kingston and I raised it there. (Board) members were very upset and the board gave him the mandate to ensure that this situation is remedied," Reynolds said.

Reynolds added that a multi-sectoral meeting had also been held in Kingston, consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and the Ministry of Health, to provide solutions to address the problem, but he said that the recommendations, following the discussions, would not fix the immediate problems.

ANIMAL POUND CLOSED

"The executive director attended that meeting and came back and reported that they were thinking of putting in some policy for some new pounds - some long thing that might take a couple of years. And, of course, the board is completely dissatisfied with that. So it is back in his hands ... ," Reynolds said, adding that the last animal pound in western Jamaica, which was sited in Montego Bay, had been permanently closed.

"The last time they sent an animal there, before the end of the day, the animal was back in Negril and on the beach. I was ready to put the horse on a truck, but you cannot put a horse on a truck and not tell the driver where to take the horse. This situation has to stay on the books. This time, we put a plan in place and were working harmoniously together, but unfortunately, some persons didn't follow through, " he said.

Complaints about illegal horseback riding in Negril resurfaced in October last year. At the time, board members said the animals were defecating along the beach strip and were threatening to mow down beach users. They had also said there were incidents of visitors and Jamaicans sustaining injuries while riding on the beach.

At December's meeting, hotelier Daniel Grizzle described the situation as "one of the most pressing" and "dangerous problems" and said the beach was being used as a racetrack. His comments came after some hoteliers complained that tourists were riding the horses along the beach with little regard for their safety or that of other beach users. At November's meeting, one hotelier also said the child of a manager at one of the all-inclusive hotels had almost been run over by one of the horses.