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<"What we need here is more jobs, more tourists. Getting more people to Blue Lagoon is the best deal around here, trust me," said Mortluck, as he guided his paint-spattered boat from the mouth of the lagoon and into the choppy sea.
For some residents of coastal Portland parish, where luxurious villas mix with pockets of poverty, the dispute has roused the bitter divisions of a predominantly black society in which whites or foreigners control much of the land and the economy.
While many resorts on the island are owned by Jamaican whites or outsiders, Tropical Lagoon Resort is owned by a local couple, Devon and Yvonne Wilson, whose spokesman has accused environmentalists of racist and classist views. Colin Bell told the Jamaica Observer that "these people don't believe that a little black boy from Port Antonio should own that property."
Boat guide Fitzroy White agrees. "I can tell you that when a black man tries something, the white man tries to keep him down. And that's exactly what's happening here," said White, part of a group of locals who catch the odd red snapper to supplement wages as guides when visitors can't be found.
The Wilsons insist their project is environmentally sound and reject accusations that the sand was illegally barged in from the area's two remaining public beaches.
"The sand is washed in naturally from the sea so we just moved it over to a certain section," Yvonne Wilson said in a phone interview. "We know what we are doing."
National government Information Minister Daryl Vaz said that "there is little or no evidence" that the beach was created illegally.>
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lates...#ixzz1S6JSEW00
<"What we need here is more jobs, more tourists. Getting more people to Blue Lagoon is the best deal around here, trust me," said Mortluck, as he guided his paint-spattered boat from the mouth of the lagoon and into the choppy sea.
For some residents of coastal Portland parish, where luxurious villas mix with pockets of poverty, the dispute has roused the bitter divisions of a predominantly black society in which whites or foreigners control much of the land and the economy.
While many resorts on the island are owned by Jamaican whites or outsiders, Tropical Lagoon Resort is owned by a local couple, Devon and Yvonne Wilson, whose spokesman has accused environmentalists of racist and classist views. Colin Bell told the Jamaica Observer that "these people don't believe that a little black boy from Port Antonio should own that property."
Boat guide Fitzroy White agrees. "I can tell you that when a black man tries something, the white man tries to keep him down. And that's exactly what's happening here," said White, part of a group of locals who catch the odd red snapper to supplement wages as guides when visitors can't be found.
The Wilsons insist their project is environmentally sound and reject accusations that the sand was illegally barged in from the area's two remaining public beaches.
"The sand is washed in naturally from the sea so we just moved it over to a certain section," Yvonne Wilson said in a phone interview. "We know what we are doing."
National government Information Minister Daryl Vaz said that "there is little or no evidence" that the beach was created illegally.>
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lates...#ixzz1S6JSEW00