Nice Carib cruise shipping colums

[Don1]

PJ ah eediat

[Muadib]

wheh yuh tink bout di Spanish Hotel Monolith mogel and the North Coast Highway borrowing ?

[Assasin]

Again, Whose fault they don't pay the head tax?

I guess you have no idea about the spin off to transportation, and local business if done correctly. Beat any spanish all inclusive any day.

The government have part ownership and it is possible for them to make profit on the port if run properly. The return for Trelawny can can be huge if done properly.

Again you just a talk from one side without looking at the true picture so I will low you. An example is Disney cruise was interested in coming to Falmouth. Everybody in the industry know that Disney cruise is a demaned cruise liner, now where is it? What happen. If we continue to run it with your kind of negitivity it will always prove negitive and you will be proven right but if Jamaia like other places decide to double up and do it right like other places you will have to go in the background.

Again I grew in Portland and knew most business and people in that economy made a much better living when we had 2 or 3 ships coming in in a week. The spin off is what a lot of people used to educate their children and raise their standard of living. Today you can see the effect. Now imagine a port with more ships and bigger ones coming in and see how people can capitialize on it. Selah.

[Stonigut]

Study is great and alll, but the bottom line is them things need some very heavy lifting to make them work.

Great idea, great execution but the end game is what is weak. Is not the cruise ship fault, they are a private company seeking to maximize their benefit at minimum cost, that's how this market capitalism thing go, we seem to be hoping that things would fall into place and everything would be alright. It never goes like that unless you already have a strong product already in place.

Falmouth is interesting to the historian type person but to the average cruiser it is just a port with some run down buildings and a nice dock area. I just went there in July and while it has improved significantly there is still not enough there that really would pull a tourist into the real Falmouth except the usual trinket business which is almost like running a retail gauntlet even for returning Jamaicans.

Many of the real historical places still run down, the Browning house is more like a ruin. Where did they end up putting the White Marl museum Arawak museum, a older building renovated to house that collection could be one way to draw people out of that boat, it really requires real thought, ideas with potential to really pull interest and also have a reasonably low cost to develop and run.

It is going to take time to build it out and get the right mix until then it is going to be tough sledding.

[Islandman]

Good talk Stonigut, I agree 100%

The "build it and they will come" attitude is why I have such low expectations for major government projects in JA. We just do not have any follow-through.

[Assasin]

Thank you for this post Stoni. I agree with all your saying. First we do the analyst to see if it is fesible. That is the first thing, Execution is needed. building the town around the product and entertaing p the tourist and welcoming them is important at this point. If we can't do that we will never see the potential. There are basic entertaining thing that we can do by also showing our streetside art including music, local art and culture to attract people. This will result in real money and investment in Falmouth.

[Islandman]

So the question is who is the "we" to do those things?

The tourist board? The Falmouth local government? The chamber of commerce? That is where is gets more difficult and partnerships that benefit multiple parties are required.

I believe that what we are saying is already known by the authorities, but getting it done is where we fall short.

[Assasin]

It is not difficult I-man. It was done by Leo Windman(SP) and the Ochi crew years ago. First thing need to be done is form a group with this interest at heart like Falmouth Crusie Shipping assocation. People with interest take active part and address issues and become an advocate group. Also we need to have data to see what tourist want, and that is very easy by asking them to do a simple survey on their visit.

The Parish council have to take responsible for their role and if not they take action. Central government and Tourist board will have to play central part in training, promotion and standards. From my experience tourist board pay more attention to organise and advocate groups.

There are roles for the individual, the government and private interest but the fact is we are two selfish. There is enough room for private and public interest. Others do it successfully, why can't we?

[Islandman]

It is not technically difficult, it is logistically difficult for us because we do not think that way.

Call it selfish or whatever, the result is the same. We find these things difficult to organize and even more difficult to maintain. It is not just the government either.

[Assasin]

No, not just the government. What people have to realise is that it us us(we) people from communites eventually make up the government and what is most lacking is the fact that we fail to see how interest groups. advocacy group and think tank etc. work.

One simple example is in Jamaica people go into politcs to get unto school board, in America people go unto school board to get into politics.

[Stonigut]

That is the key point Sass, not the government. Ultimately many people don't rely on the government to survive, we need to tap that entrepreneurial, survival spirit.

Excellent examples of spirit and passion and a little get up and go creating value without any government help.

1. Pelican Bar: talk about tun yuh hand, it gets no better than this.
2. Jamnesia surf camp: dream, vision, get up and do it, love this one.
3. Don't know the full story on little Ochi but creating a restaurant in Alligator Pond takes some real bravery, truly amazing story and from what I saw my first time there in 90's to what is there last time I visited in 2009 really great stuff.
4. Hellshire this has come from nothing, still this is one place that could be much better, even with the little improvement that has been done, had to take one of my kids to take a leak and that experience was pretty tough and I had to pay for it too!

I am sure there are countless others but those really standout in my mind. It is really about one individual seeing an opportunity an pulling mind and limited resources to make it a reality, without the passion and personality you really don't have anything, even if you have a bunch of money.

[Don1]

North Coast Hwy.... wikid project wid oodles of value add. Poor execution

Spanish Hotels... a mixed bag. Big employment effect and some local supply stimulus. But more warehousing of persons creating a silo effect on income generated...plus huge environmental costs

[Assasin]

True but we can't forget government policy influence every single business with interest rate, access and progressive or unprogressive laws.

Not to mention the corrupted behavior. If we both selling beer but I have to pay taxes and you don't then you more or less have a huge advantage.

[Islandman]

With all the problems with the highway project, at least everybody can use the damn highway!

Major roads are one of the few things infrastructure-wise that we can say has clearly improved over the past decade or two.

Telecom would probably be the other, we can see where everybody benefit from the taximan and hairdresser wid dem likkle phone to Muadib and him bredin dem working on dem mobile money project.

But lawd the white elephant dem a run rampant through the towns and lanes, hills and valleys!

[Stonigut]

True, but the thing about doing something, anything in life, if you waiting on something or somebody your chances of doing it are much reduced. What I find extremely funny is watching cnbc during the last couple years and hearing these new breed American business men crying about government and their influence on the business climate stopping them from doing their thing while others like Buffett buying stuff through the tough times like a bargain sale. These new breed are the most coddled business class I have ever seen, it is not capitalism it is welfare capitalism, if government don't make everything perfect them paralyzed.

If you have a vision, passion, capital and do your homework and you are brave then there is no reason to wait on the train that may never come.