Mrs. Bent of the Jamaican Constabulary Force said, in her meeting about the police training academy at Tranquility Bay, that they had NEVER had a community complaint about a training facility. Well, then this is historic - isn't it. I am complaining about the 100 recruits running through TB this a.m. at 6 chanting and yelling and making all kinds of ruckus. It is unnecessary and thoughtless and I think it should stop. Am I crazy?

If this is true it could end up hurting the tourist business. Who would want this to happen while on vacation in a nice quite town. I hope when we come this winter it does not change our feelings about Treasure Beach. Also you are not crazy just right.

No you are not crazy. Far from it. Actually, this is the second complaint, the first being the speeding cars addressed in another recent thread. Another letter to Mrs. Bent is in order. She responded promptly to the last one. Chanting and yelling at that hour is totally unacceptable. We were informed that the recruits would be running, but we were also assured that they would not disturb the peace and quiet in our village when they leave their compound.

Complaint,

Can you guys find some thing else to fuss about. The sports complex, the ambulance services, the canal,is Round Hill a part of Treasure Beach, the this, the that OMG! I mean when will this stop. If they are training officers then that should be a good thing for the community..Gosh! people come to grip with yourself..you are all fighting over nothing so much now, that the real focus of things gets lost in the fussing, and it goes unheard.

I used to love coming to this site so much, because it keeps me in touch with my family back home, and yes I am a born and bred jamaican and Treasure Beach citizen,so before the questions arouse as to whether I know what I am talking about or not, let me answer that.

People stop the fussing and fight..it is pure non-sense

Complaint, you are not crazy. The police have no business creating a disturbance at 6 a.m.

My 2 cents, are you suggesting people should not bring up what they feel are legitimate issues about the police training facility, the sports complex, the ambulance, and the canal? I think it would be wonderful if we heard about more good things and saw more pretty pictures, but I think it's unrealistic (and wrong) not to keep discussing matters of importance to the whole community including your family. I will say I agree with you on the Round Hill discussion, but that's probably because it's not important to me so I skip over it.

to "my 2 cents":

chances are that if you were living here, you too would be disturbed by the constant stream of speeding vehicles, no ambulance service when needed in an emergency, threat of an oversized sports complex and what elements that could introduce to this little community, the canal - which not only is an eyesore but could prove to be dangerous, police drilling loudly at 6:30 in the mornings etc.

i used to love coming to treasure beach .. but am already looking for another quiet unspoiled place for my next holiday.

this place is changing too quickly for me.

I mean, when liviing in the united states, life still goes on. I live here and whenever I go on vacation to Myrtle Beach, Florida etc, normal livly hood and business still goes on..come on do you want the world to stop as soon as you come around. (remember it is still I residential community, and will have residential noises..gosh!! well look for some where else then, life will still go on with out you. I am not for all the new developments going on in the community, such as tourist buying out all the land and making it a retirement home, or vacation stop for them and their family, just remember Treasure Beach is a small commuinity and still host local people who have to make a livly hood when you have vacation and gone back to where ever you cometh from.......and I am finito'

Amen! good bye

my 2 cents.
U said it all, i couldn't agree with u more.
thank u.............

this board cracks me up. HAHAHAHA. too funny.

i have a question about the ambulance services? what is it they were complaning about? cuz as far as i know ambulance service in jamica especially the rural areas is not very effective as it is here in the u.s

i was in treasure beach last week and i saw a flyer at a spot where i was at. it had a picture of a bus turned into a ambulance alerting the resident that they are now back on track for only severe emergencies, e.g if u not breathing etc and they dont transport the sick.

i had to appaluad the effort cuz i know it must be private citizen doing it, but to me it still is not very effective if when called they gonna pick and chose if they should go assist or not.

This is for people that like to vacation in Jamaica !! NO ONE ELSE !!
If you vacation in Jamaica, no matter if it is in the big city, small town, are rural countryside, there will be night and early morning noise of some kind.
SO no reason to complaint if you are a tourists visiting Jamaica !! Afterall, it is Jamaica !!
If you are a light sleeper then bring ear plugs with you !!
ONE LOVE !!
Mike

If the citizens don't feel safe they complain about the police not doing their job.....now that the po po are actively present you guys are complaining. WHEN WILL YOU GUYS BE PLEASE??

The citizens on Old Wharf have not been complaining about lack of police protection. No matter where you live, being awakened at 6 a.m. by 100 loud people is not acceptable. These recruits weren't protecting; they were on some training exercise and being loud and rude at the same time.

Is the ambulance service free of cost?the reason for asking is because,i live in new york and to call for ambulance service few weeks ago today i got a bill in the mail for $350 US,which i cant afford to pay.am thinking of calling breads and beg help.TB people please appreciate the little help u getting.

Puzzled, they are not police. They are TRAINEES.
Some may not ever become police.

I respectfully don't think that complaining about speeding in a residential community, with children, is fussing as you put it my 2 cents. Whether by police or not, it wrong and illegal. Myrtle Beach? Come on, so many po po, and so much "profiling" there that you wouldn't even think of speeding! If you LIVED in TB you'd understand that jobs and livlihood of families depend on tourists loving and returning to the area.Perspective my 2 cents, pespective please.

I have been visiting treasure over the past 25 years and have seen many changes.

The most disturbing has been the speeding by locals and visitors. I suggest there be speed bumps in the most dangerous areas. (Schools, Public Buildings, Blind Curves, etc.) However I don't see how the trainies can be singled as the cause, this has been a problem for quite some time. Just remember some of the horrific accidents and the persons that were involved, these people should loose their drivers licenses.

The second point is that Jason and others worked very hard to obtain an ambulance for this area, there was none, if you had an emergency you just had to hope you could beg a ride. I remember one young drowning victim that was revived, only to die after reaching the emergency room. To quote, "don't ever look a gift horse in the mouth", chances are he will bite you. Why would that horse ever give you another gift, be glad of what you have, other communities have nothing.

Last but not leaste, this training camp is a win, win for the community, each and every trainee gets a little time of to shop, dance, play dominoes, or what ever. When they get out the go to your bars, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. The money's they spend in TB is year round, not seasonal.

Love you TB, but discussion between parties is effective, endless bickering is not.

Yardy,

I never complain about the speed. I was just referring to the complaints of silly things, that the main focus goes unheard, because people gets so use to complaints that they basically shuts down as soon as we open our mouths. Example good ambulance services etc. Please remember all these services are free of cost. The foundation is run by donations only; try to keep up with what I am saying; then you have some one complaining about Round Hill being a part of Treasure Beach or not. Petty stuff. Thanks Ja Princess, you get me. I am not a visitor or a stranger. I might live in the USA, but I have not forgotten where I came from. I still think Treasure Beach is a wonderful place to live and visit, and you will not find a more friendlier people anywhere in the world, because they will open their hearts and home to anyone, and that is what is taken for granted mostly. People have gotten so use to over-running TB that when the changes comes such as; new developments etc, they are not sure how to handle it. Times are changing it is modern days, not donkey carts and bicycle and C50 motor bikes. Yes most of the money comes from tourist, but not all. Their are still fishermen, farmers, shopkeeper, who have been profiting from locals for years..so chill let the community grow..peace still luuv mi yard.

I sit corrected my 2 cents. There's another thread complaining of speeding and I unintentionally associated the two. Your point is well made, but I also ask that the speeding be stopped. All a we luv wi yard, now lets all luv one anada.

Yardy,

Cool beans, now if all of us were like you and I...how happy the world would be... : )

I guess I must be a bad guy because I found the Round Hill thread quite amusing and nothing more.

Tourism is important to the community and the community is important to the tourists. Tourism helps give people jobs and it brings donations (the ambulance, money, doctors, scholarships, computers, etc.) into the community. How people in the community act toward the tourists is what keeps them coming back. The tourists are used to noises like roosters because that's part of life. If they wanted to be in a sterile environment, they would go to a place like Sandals where everything is supposed to look perfect. But if you are in a Sandals, it's hard to even tell which island you are on and you never get to meet the people in the community. I would also say even if tourists want to be with the people in the community they are still on vacation and want to feel safe and not be bothered with ridiculous noises at very early or late hours.

so just stop all of lives normal living when the tourist comes, and cut out the regular homes and work...ok got it..yep we will close the schools the stores that sells regular clothing that tourist dont wear, the hair dressing polars, etc..yep got it

Too silly, Will Do. No one wants stores closed, beauty parlors closed, or anything else like that. There are noises that make sense no matter what hour they occur. For instance, if a fisherman is going out or coming in, they must do so when it's convenient and safe for them, not the tourists. People sing in church, and if others hear them, that's life - and it's probably a good thing. If a truck has to make a delivery very early in the morning, that's what should happen. I'm suggesting 100 screaming people outside your window at 6 a.m. is a bit much. That's all.

Either guests are welcomed genuinely and wholeheartedly and whatever may make their stay unpleasant is dealt with as best as possible.

Or, if guests are an inconvenience only tolerated for their financial contributions and expected to swallow what is given or go somewhere else, the community should be considering more appropriate modes of income. I can think of some, all unpallatable.

Fake and phoney are available elsewhere. and the word quickly gets around. OK JTB, contrived.

I sense that some have issues with advise being given by those not resident in the community. This can be a reasonable attitude if the topic dealt with needs a proper understanding of local conditions to create solutions. If not it can demonstrate an irrational fear of "Dem a tek wi ova!".

Valuable information may be available from some from outside. To reject this because of their source is unwise.

One can have a quite laid back vacation between an airconditioned room with cable tv, a fenced beach, unlimited food and drinks and protected from us by gates and fences.

This is not a visit to Jamdown but a secured stay in an architects vision funded by invisible investor$ and overlooked by accountant$. There will allways be clients for these.

Charm cannot be built, it takes several generations to invite it and more to care for it.

Charm coexists with kindness, care and attention. TB attracts because these are all present. They cannot be faked.

They can be lost easily. A course of bad mind, resentment or shortsightedness will transform everything.

If we insist that our traditions of old are noises at whatever hour, threatening masses of speeding metal and the division of the community between politics or planners, we just have not got it.

Our traditions go waaaay back, about 1,500 years. Try to remember, the clues are under our feet and in our blood.

What Turey wrote is one of the best and most meaningful things I have read here for a very long time.

As a visitor (I prefer to call myself a visitor instead of a tourist) I only wish to continue to come to Treasure Beach if I feel truly welcomed. I have been to many other places where it became quickly obvious I was only welcome because I was spending money. Instead, exactly as Turey says, I look to TB because of its non-artificial charm and the kindness, care and attention I feel when I am there.

Sadly, I believe TB is becoming more like some of the other places I have stopped visiting over the years. One has to do little more than to read the comments posted by some of the residents and people born in TB now living abroad to feel the resentment toward tourists. Many of them want us to put up with annoying situations and keep our mouths shut about them. They indicate we should keep quiet about anything that bothers us such as noises that are absolutely inappropriate. Some of them are saying we have no right to provide our ideas and comments about serious challenges facing TB such as the canal and the sports park. If we have a question or suggestion about the ambulance, some tell us it is a free service and we have no business making constructive criticism. They suggest if we do not like the things in TB that make us uncomfortable we should go elsewhere.

I work very hard for my money and I spend almost every vacation dollar I have in TB. It is getting to the point where I am thinking of not coming back because the attitudes of the residents seem to be changing. If my ideas and comments are not welcome, then I do not feel welcome.

To those people who seem to say they can get along fine without tourists, I say you are being extremely unrealistic and are not thinking ahead. Where do you think the ambulance came from? The scholarships? The medical and dental clinics? The books and computers in the schools?

What kind of job will you be able to get if you do not have the hotels and villas and restaurants to employ you? Who will buy the things you make to sell? Who will pay you to transport people in your boats and vehicles? I believe the economy in TB would be awful if it was not for the tourists. Treat them with kindness and respect or figure out a way to feed and raise your families without them.

Visitor,

Why do you assume that people born in TB and now living abroad harbor resentment towards tourists?
I would bet you that the people opposed to tourists participating in the opposition to the sports park are mostly current residents of TB.


Many of the abroad residents are seriously contemplating becoming tourists instead of returning resident since paradise has been lost.

It sounds to me like Free to Say who wrote something in the Ambulance string does not live in TB but was born there. It is obvious Free to Say harbors resentment against tourists and wants "objectors" to be quiet. Byrd in this string seems to feel the same way.

This Forum is not a scientific poll. All we know is the people who write things have access to a computer and care about what happens in TB no matter what their opinions are.

I have no idea if MOST of the people who appear to harbor resentment against tourists live in TB or abroad. That was not my point. I believe this feeling against tourists opening their mouths about controversial topics comes from people living in TB AND those from TB and now living abroad. I continue to believe tourism is VERY IMPORTANT to TB. If tourists are made to feel like they should spend their money but not open their mouth to say how they feel about something that will affect them then I think TB will be getting a lot less tourists. That would be very bad for the economy in TB.

There is no paradise anywhere. Reality is always present. However, TB is still and I feel will always be a very special place.

As for "Soon to be Tourist" statement. "I would bet you that the people opposed to tourists participating in the opposition to the sports park are mostly current residents of TB." I would guess those are in the minority and not fully understanding the positive impact of tourism to this area. I would further guess that if you asked TB residents on what they thought of tourists coming to the area the majority would have very positive answers.

Of course there is some negative to tourism. That is true anywhere and that is why there is no such thing as paradise. But the positive far outweighs the negative.