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1:51am (UK)
Jamaica Tourism Chiefs Angered at British Travel Advice
"PA"
The British Government’s travel advisory warning residents to avoid “certain routes” in Jamaica following riots on the Caribbean island was premature, local tourism officials said.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued the advice several days after police killed two elderly men in Montego Bay late last month, prompting residents to block an airport road with burning buses and throw rocks at officers. No injuries were reported.
“Visitors should be aware that there are high levels of crime and violence, particularly in the Kingston area, and tourists should avoid certain routes,” the advice, issued on October 28, said. “(But) the vast majority of visits to Jamaica are trouble-free.”
It went on to mention the disturbance in Montego Bay’s Flankers community, saying “the demonstrations resulted in some inconvenience for tourists who had to travel by alternative routes between hotels/resorts and the airport”.
Now Jamaican tourism officials have criticised the advice as unnecessary.
“I think the travel advisory is premature and I do not think it was necessary for the British Government to have added Flankers to their advisory,” said Godfrey Dyer, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association.
He said the incident did not threaten anyone’s life, and that inconvenience to tourists was minimal. Dyer added that he was working with Jamaican official to have the advisory withdrawn.
British officials were not immediately available for comment.
Between January and September, nearly 110,000 British tourists visited Jamaica, an increase of 20% on the same period last year, officials said.
Police killed David Bacchas, 63, and Cecil Brown, 66, on October 25. Authorities initially said Bacchas, a taxi driver, and Brown, a passenger, fired on officers and that two weapons were recovered from the taxi. Later, however, police changed their story to say the men were caught in crossfire as officers pursued gunmen in the area.
A second passenger, 52-year-old vegetable vendor Audrey Stephen, was shot and wounded in the hip, and said a dozen police had opened fire for no reason. Protesters accused police of killing the two in cold blood.
Top police officials later visited the community and apologised, promising a quick investigation. Several officers were suspended from duty, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Police have been struggling to quell violence on the outskirts of Montego Bay, where tourist areas remain virtually crime-free.
The Caribbean island has one of the world’s highest rates of police killings, according to London-based human rights group Amnesty International. Last year, officers killed 133 people on the island of 2.6 million, and since January, at least 106.
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