Tweet
if this money is being audited EVERY QUARTER by an independent firm (who reports to both sides of parliament). Mobay seriously needs to recapture some of the money she generates in order for her to be maintained properly. I have always said that.
May we have a bit of the head tax too Portia?
ASKS THE QUESTIONSMark Cummings
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Montegonians are upbeat following Prime Minister Portia Simpson's announcement of a raft of infrastructual developments for the resort city.
Take the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose president, Pauline Reid has long argued that the absence of vital infrastructure was stifling the growth and development of the resort city.
Reid was quick to commend the PM's announcement and rightly so, as the loss of production time and resources, as a result of the oftentimes lengthy delays experienced on the Bogue Road cannot be overstated.
Among the announcements made by Simpson Miller at a People's National Party (PNP) mass rally in Sam Sharpe Square on June 3, was the dualisation of the Bogue thoroughfare. At the meeting she also announced that the government has taken a decision to give the National Works Agency (NWA) full responsibility for the maintenance of the North Gully.
And the city's North Gully, which runs from Upper Salts Spring Road to 'Dump Up Beach', off the Howard Cooke Boulevard, has been a source of concern for quite some time.
Over the years, the gully has overflowed its banks on several occasions, spilling tonnes of debris on several of the city's major thoroughfares and flooded many businessplaces, resulting in million of dollars of losses.
And while this was happening there were constant bickering among the St James Parish Council and the NWA about whose responsibility it is to maintain the gully.
On one hand, the NWA was saying that it was the duty of the local authority to do the job, while at the same time, the council said it was the NWA's responsibility.
The PM's announcement has therefore settled that score on that matter.
During her recent budget presentation, the prime minister also announced the long-awaited construction of a convention centre in Montego Bay and the plans to construct a modern children's hospital for Western Jamaica.
While these developments are deemed beneficial to Montego Bay and it environs, I believe more will have to be done, if the resort city is to realise its full potential.
The lack of capital injection in basic infrastructural projects in the resort area, and the inability to undertake the maintenance of existing projects on a timely basis, are preventing the city from delivering a world class tourism product.
It is against this background that the St James Parish Council recently passed a resolution, calling for that local body to receive a portion of the head taxes collected from cruise ship and airport stopovers.
The local authority wants US$2 for every visitor arriving by air and US$0.50 each, from cruise ship passengers who visit the island through the city's various ports.
The funds, it said, derived from these taxes should be designated to the local authority to be spent on selected projects in St James in general, and Montego Bay in particular.
Based on the current levels of tourist arrivals in the resort city, the council believes it would rake in roughly $J120 million annually over the next few years, if the proposal is implemented.
I believe that the proposal is worth considering.
The council which is oftentimes strapped for cash, contributes in a significant way to the development and sustenance of the tourism product in Montego Bay.
Why then should it not benefit directly from the head tax collected in that city?
In several municipalities across the world, the local communities benefits directly from every visitor who arrives through the port facilities in their respective communities.
It is about time government takes a serious look at allowing the local authority to benefit directly from such taxes.
Failing to do so could continue to hinder the growth and development of the tourism product.
May we have a bit of the head tax too Portia?
ASKS THE QUESTIONSMark Cummings
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Montegonians are upbeat following Prime Minister Portia Simpson's announcement of a raft of infrastructual developments for the resort city.
Take the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose president, Pauline Reid has long argued that the absence of vital infrastructure was stifling the growth and development of the resort city.
Reid was quick to commend the PM's announcement and rightly so, as the loss of production time and resources, as a result of the oftentimes lengthy delays experienced on the Bogue Road cannot be overstated.
Among the announcements made by Simpson Miller at a People's National Party (PNP) mass rally in Sam Sharpe Square on June 3, was the dualisation of the Bogue thoroughfare. At the meeting she also announced that the government has taken a decision to give the National Works Agency (NWA) full responsibility for the maintenance of the North Gully.
And the city's North Gully, which runs from Upper Salts Spring Road to 'Dump Up Beach', off the Howard Cooke Boulevard, has been a source of concern for quite some time.
Over the years, the gully has overflowed its banks on several occasions, spilling tonnes of debris on several of the city's major thoroughfares and flooded many businessplaces, resulting in million of dollars of losses.
And while this was happening there were constant bickering among the St James Parish Council and the NWA about whose responsibility it is to maintain the gully.
On one hand, the NWA was saying that it was the duty of the local authority to do the job, while at the same time, the council said it was the NWA's responsibility.
The PM's announcement has therefore settled that score on that matter.
During her recent budget presentation, the prime minister also announced the long-awaited construction of a convention centre in Montego Bay and the plans to construct a modern children's hospital for Western Jamaica.
While these developments are deemed beneficial to Montego Bay and it environs, I believe more will have to be done, if the resort city is to realise its full potential.
The lack of capital injection in basic infrastructural projects in the resort area, and the inability to undertake the maintenance of existing projects on a timely basis, are preventing the city from delivering a world class tourism product.
It is against this background that the St James Parish Council recently passed a resolution, calling for that local body to receive a portion of the head taxes collected from cruise ship and airport stopovers.
The local authority wants US$2 for every visitor arriving by air and US$0.50 each, from cruise ship passengers who visit the island through the city's various ports.
The funds, it said, derived from these taxes should be designated to the local authority to be spent on selected projects in St James in general, and Montego Bay in particular.
Based on the current levels of tourist arrivals in the resort city, the council believes it would rake in roughly $J120 million annually over the next few years, if the proposal is implemented.
I believe that the proposal is worth considering.
The council which is oftentimes strapped for cash, contributes in a significant way to the development and sustenance of the tourism product in Montego Bay.
Why then should it not benefit directly from the head tax collected in that city?
In several municipalities across the world, the local communities benefits directly from every visitor who arrives through the port facilities in their respective communities.
It is about time government takes a serious look at allowing the local authority to benefit directly from such taxes.
Failing to do so could continue to hinder the growth and development of the tourism product.
Comment