Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

[Assasin]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Now merchants complain about Caricom visa</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>INGRID BROWN, Observer staff reporter
Monday, February 05, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Jamaican business operators say they stand to lose their line of credit from Panamanian merchants who are now required to secure the newly introduced Caricom visa for travel to Jamaica and other countries in the regional grouping for the duration of the ICC Cricket World Cup.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It is going to cost us more to do business, and it is also going to ruffle the feathers of people who we have very good business relations with," said Michael Ammar, owner of the Ammar's chain of clothing and dry goods stores.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Panama extends Jamaica probably more credit than anywhere else right now in terms of consumer merchandise, and we are going to be severely affected by this."<P class=StoryText align=justify>The concern among the Jamaican business owners is that their suppliers, who now have to apply to the Jamaica Consulate in Miami and pay US$100 for the Caricom visa, could start seeking new markets with less hassle.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Under the Caricom visa regime, nationals from all countries except France, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States and their dependent territories, as well as Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, and Caricom, except for Haiti, are required to have a visa for travel to the region in order to access the Caricom single domestic space during the Cricket World Cup, which opens on March 11 and ends on April 28.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Prior to the new visa regime, persons travelling from Panama to Jamaica would take their passport to the Jamaica Consulate in that country and collect the business visa the next day.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Ammar said he recognised the extent of the problem on Friday when one of his suppliers postponed his scheduled arrival to the island because he had to send his documents to be processed in Miami, with no clear indication if and when he would be granted the visa.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Documents take three days to move from Panama to Miami.
The Observer was unable to reach the Jamaica Consulate to determine how long the visa process would take.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It is easier to go to the Whitehouse than to travel to Jamaica," said a frustrated Manuel Ghelman, an apparel merchant at Novatex International in Panama who supplies stores in Jamaica.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He told the Observer on Friday that he was caught off guard as he was not expecting to have to send his passport to Miami and to pay US$100 instead of the regular US$20.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He explained that between the visa charge and that of sending the documents by DHL he had to spend upwards of US$200 all together.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Now, I don't know if I will get the visa and how long it will take, and so I don't know if I will even be able to come to Jamaica," he said. "They are asking for so many things, it is getting impossible to travel to Jamaica. And so, with so many requirements, why would I go there when I could go somewhere else?"<P class=StoryText align=justify>Ghelman said he usually travels three to four times a year to Jamaica to supply clothes as he has to meet directly with the buyers.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"People that I work with in Jamaica need to see the samples, because even if I send pictures or so it is not the same," he said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Bashco and Megamart CEO Gassan Azan said that not many of the suppliers are prepared to go through the hassle of securing the visa.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"They are finding it very chaotic to come a

[Lazie]

RE: Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

Heard Uncle Tom on Real Business this morning. A group of Spring Breakers were booked to come to Jamaica, but due to the $100 visa, they will be going to Dominca.

[Jawge]

RE: Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

wait deh, if you have foreign passport,

you have to apply for a visa to come to Ja? I just hope the Ja govt. hurry and get away from this because the whole north coast will be dead and not even remittance could help. Yes cayman and vrigin Islands need visa but everyone else is welcome :P I thought the visa thing was just for the cricket (security and all) after that things would return to normal.

[Sickko]

RE: Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

Bad example, that Uncle Tom should lose his Big House pass for a few days and be forced to eat with the field slaves...

Good riddance, Spring Break has been on a decline for years and the hotels complained that they cost more to have them here as the rates were poor and they broke things and left huge bills.

When last you saw any stories about Spring Breakers in a Jamaican paper? That market is not as lucrative as they thought it would be.

The only upside to this is that when they come here they will form an attachmnet and come back as adults who can affo to stay at decent hotels and pay for their meals.

Five or six years ago the govt and JTB and others madea big play for the Spring Break market but they later found out the hard way it was not as lucratrive as they thought it would be.

Come with another example lazie..

[Lazie]

RE: Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

I don't have to give examples Sickko, apparently you know more about the industry than the president of the JHTA. If Spring Breakers are so insignificant, why would he mention it? Yuh going to extremes Sickko.

[Sickko]

RE: Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

Titles are a dime a dozen Lazie trust me on that, the Montego Bay chamber of Commerce has a president that sends out releases without reading them and when you call to ask her about it she tells you all kinds of foolishness.

Trust me I know Horace Peterkin a lot more than you do and everytime we go to functions where he speaks we all have a good laugh -- at least he is good for some thing.

[Lazie]

RE: Caricom visa will hurt business, say merchants. Another Uncle Tom

Trust me I know Horace Peterkin a lot more than you do

Sorry if you got the wrong impression. I do not know Peterkin. If he does not know what he is doing, why is he in the posi ..... know what .... nuh bother. I just realise its the norm.