Get rid of the crime in Jamaica and everyone abroad will retire in Jamaica. How difficult is it for the government both JLP and PNP, to understand this fact. Property value would go go sky high, we would become the Hawaii of the Caribbean.

Yes we need to cut crime in Jamaica. I would like for you to name one or even half a country that don't have crime. We don't need to price out our people with sky high property prices. And tell me why do you think that we [Jamaicans] want everyone to retire in Jamaica? We are not a nursing home, neither do we want to become one , some yes , everyone no, and no we don't want to be the Hawaii of the Caribbean even though we have crimes we are UNIQUE. ONE JAMAICA Stay JAMAICA. I'm proud to be Jamaican, crime or no crime.
Thank you very much

chuck-o ease up nuh man.we have a crime problem. yuh caan run from that with all this talk bout nursing home. nursing home can bring plenty foreign exchange. put yuh head to the wheel and tell me how we going to solve the crime problem. yes jamaica nice but with less crime we could be nicer.

Read www.jamaicagleaner.com today it's sad to see what's going on in our lovely country

Alex if you read what I wrote you would have seen that my opening words were "YES WE NEED TO CUT CRIME IN JAMAICA" and "SOME YES EVERYONE NO" meanig some retired. I'm sticking by what I've said about Jamaica becoming a nursing home we don't need to become one, we get plenty foreign exchange from tourism. Do you think if we become overexposed all retired people with all the foreign exchange would still want to come to Jamaica? We don't need to market Jamaica as such. What we need to do is educate and invest in our people and country. Get rid of corruption then maybe we will have less crimes. When I finish my course in criminalogy and political science I might be able to help. I'm sticking by my words no nursing home, no sky high property prices Jamaica nice nuh r.......
Good day Alex

Fi Real Chuck-O

Chuck-o if i was close to u i would shake your hand. The only thing Jamaica need right now is to make a way for the people them so that they can afford to send there kids to school and dont have to a worry bout how them a go find money fi pay them picney school fee, the system in Jamaica right now is really messed up and the government is not doing any thing to make it better and i think that is really sad, so before they can think about nursing homes for oversea resident that need to retried they need to make the country much much more better for the people that live there and dont have anywhere esle to go.
concern Jamaican, New York

I second that Chuck O

Play to your strengths. You have a beautiful island that is very attractive to foreigners who visit there and long to live and invest there, like me. I fell in love with the island and the people 8 years ago and built a home there but I have not always felt welcome, nor safe. Half of your people live outside the country largely because there's not sufficient work there to support everyone. Outside of tourism and the potential for retirees to invest there where are your future opportunities? The more unemployement there is the more crime you'll have. You need a healthy economy to survive and thrive. No country can survive without foreign investment of some kind.

I totally agree with chuc-o Jamaica is just minor and can,t provide enough assistance for their own residents,retirees from other foreign countries are well off to moniter their ownselves bringing nursing homes to jamaica is just helping them get better care for less.What jamaica needs to do is give the people a chance to go where the nursing homes already are show foreigners how to care for seniors make better money come home build Jamaica and cut crime. Texas-----------------------.

That's the vibes!! Jamaica don't need any more marketing, use some of the money that is used to sell Jamaica to help the poor and needy and put it into the economy so that taxes don't have to be so high. Jamaica has no government to defend its people we are a sell out country. And even though the crime is bad and is an issue to be address this is still a beautiful country all we need is a government with a vision for the people and not just for themselves and the big man.

Great thoughts here.

We'd like to thank everyone for keeping it civil and productive.

And lively.

Jamaica rely on Tourism so of course we have to do something about CRIME.Right now the people of the United States are telling people not to go to Aruba because of a terrible thing that happened there in May of this year to a Spring Break Student.Do we want that to happen again in Jamaica.It did happen before in case you forgot.
We need to protect the citizens of Jamaica and the Tourist that keep our economy going against all the crime that is taking place.I know there is crime in every country but, that is not the answer here.The Jamacian Government "MUST" do something in their country if they realy and truly want to keep not only tourism but even Jamacians living abroad who would like to come back home and do business which of course is going to put money in the pockets of all the people who are desparate to work.

>PLEASE LET US ALL HELP TO KEEP THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY SAFE FOR EVERYONE>

'Caring'/now there's a quaint euphemism/for a relative in a halfway decent 'assisted living' aka nursing home in Florida runs a good US$5-10,000 a MONTH, plus 'admittance fees 10 times those figures in Florida which runs thru money like water thru a sieve. Been there/done that to the tune of US$480,000. If you're real lucky, your loved one will get a Jamaican nurse/caretaker who makes paltry US wages for an amazingly high degree of constant and genuinely heart-felt attention. If you're not, you pay a fortune for blithe indifference. Nursing homes in Jamaica for non-Jamaicans will not trickle down any support for the majority of Jamaican workers, let alone citizenry. It will only fund governmental regulatory agencies and the 'healthcare' and pharmaceutical industries...

Let me just say something about nursing homes.As a nurse who has no intention of going to Jamaica to work in one I do think every Parish in the Island should have one of their own.I am not saying this because of the older people that are returning home to retire because, the majority of them built their homes to return to and they have the income to hire someone to take care of them.They love their country but had to leave to go abroad to make a living for themselves and the family they left behind.After working very hard for years if some would like to return to Jamaica to retire and do not have a home {would'nt it be a good thing to have some decent Nursing Homes they could live out the rest of their lives in, in their own country}Do not forget that they would be paying to stay there so again that is income for the people of the country also.
I think the people that is giving against building homes should stop and think that they might just end up in one.I would only wish that they are built and run by private citizen who would have more compassion for the elderly and not the Government who do not give a hell about the young what says the old.

Tobago is remarkably safe. What are they doing right that could work here?

Janice I'm sorry that sometimes you feel unsafe and unwelcome, nursing homes won't make you feel any safer. If all Jamaica needs for peolpe to feel safe and welcome is nursing homes then I rest my case. Some retirees, not everyone. I'm not against investment in tourism.
We should look at the long term educate and invest in our people. We won't have to migrate we would be educated with better jobs {not provided by working in nursing homes} when tourism dries up {we all know tourism seasonal }and all the retiree are gone what do we do? Education is the way forward for Jamaica. We should strive for a better educated Jamaica. Education is our way out of crime and poverty not nursing homes

As a visitor to your beautiful country I would suggest that you look after your own first. I see first hand how you people live for family' and even though a few nursing homes would provide a few jobs, Jamaicans would get a mere fraction of what (maybe 2% if so much) their counterparts would get working the same job in the UK, Canada or the US, one get paid £300 a wk, $450, and in the Us $500. A Jamaican would get $2500.00 what can that do in Jamaica absolutely nothing. Something too expensive to run take to the hungry countries where we can exploite the people are always the way for the big and mighty. As Chuck-O said "education is the way out of poverty and crime" not cheap labour. Get your MP and local community groups involved in this debate. Build nursing homes for your own people some live in deploriable conditions give thanks for the weather you have because a lot of people would have died if you had winter. Look after the old they are national treasures and should be treated as such. Don't sell your people short Jamaica. EDUCATE AND INVEST and you'll see the transformation, result, and difference with your people and country. Positive vibes is Jamaica, imagine when you get positive results from investing in your people. "KNOWLEDGE IS POWER". See you next year Jamaica.
Keep it real

Chuch-o no matter what you say Nursing Homes should be built in every country in the world for the least unfortunate elderly who has no one to care for them when they are old and sick. Please read my message again.I did not say Nursing Homes was going to make anyone safer.Nursing Homes are built for the OLD---SICK----ELDERLY and if we all live to become old some of us will be happy to go into one to get the care we cannot give ourselves at home.That is what I'm trying to get across.I said I'm a nurse so I know what Educatiion is and how Important it is .
Tourisim can go away (BUT WE ARE ALL GOING TO GET OLD SOME DAY)

This is a very good topic; I would like to add my Ten Cents to this discussion.
It is quite obvious that all participants in this forum care about Jamaica, so we should not
Discard or undermine each other.

I will not make this a political statement or try to be political; many of our fellow Jamaicans migrate not because we wanted to, but to further our education and economic status, many of us would be left behind in an Education System that does not provide for all. Example, the system in Jamaica fails a lot of students, who migrate and become lawyers, Nurses, Engineers, and so on. If most of us had remain in Jamaica who knows what we would become. The education System needs a total overhaul and proper funding; this is the backbone of all Successful Countries, its people. All other industries are secondary and will therefore be successful as a result of an educated society.

The second part of this statement have to do with those who remain in the system and are working professionals, quite a bit of these individuals are opt for migration due to better opportunities and the fear for ones life. In the past migration was a result of lack of opportunities and education requirements, but today it is also about the fear of being extinct. The further brain drain on a society that is densely illiterate produces negative results.

What "healthcare"???????????

The educated when they become old might need a place to rest their weary heads have someone hold their frail wrinkled hands,look into their eyes and tell words of encouragement.When tourisim dries up the old retirees will still be there for the educated (doctors,Nurses,admittance personal,administrative co-ordinator and the list goes on and on to assist to them) These are what i call educated people.Let us start training in that field and help to stamp out poverty which then stamp out crime.Nursing Home is not just a Home to put some one and turn your back on them.It is a place to live out the rest of our lives untill the good Lord take us home.Until then we need especially doctors and nurses to assist those elderly people.Do not forget that doctors visit is still required and nurses work around the clock in most Homes.Nurse's Aide do most of the work and they also have to be trained and become certified to get the job.

I agree with Meme "What Healthcare" We have Cuban Doctors doing the jobs Jamacian Doctors should be doing.Do you think all those Cuban Doctors were trained in Cuba? If that is the case then we all need to have our heads examine.Jamaica have some good doctors but they have private practice and live in big mansions and they do not care about the Poor.The public Hospitals are in deplorable contitions and the X/Ray machines are never working.You would have to sell your house to pay for a (Private Hospital Bill) if you do end up in one..

Nursejane or jursejane I did not address you in any of my mails I address Janice if you are Janice then I addressed you.
I'M STICKING BY MY WORDS THE WAY FORWARD FOR JAMAICA IS "Education ,Education if you want it any other way I'll say EDUMACATE JAMDOWN AND WE WILL have a better country. Silver and Gold will vanish away but A GOOD Education WILL NEVER DECAY. Good day .

nursejane or jursejane you are completely missing the point. Read what I've wrote from top to bottom and you will see that I'm not against taking care of our own. I'm one Jamaican who is never afarid to say I'm Jamaican regardless of circumstances good and bad. I'm 100% Jamaican so please don't get me wrong. The good thing about Jamaicans we take care of our families. Show me one Jamaican that would'nt walk to the moon for their love ones. EDUCATION is a sure way out of crime and poverty not nursing homes.

Wow !! everybody. I have not spoken to my well educated, vivacious, opinionated friend Chuck-O in a while, only to find her her particpating in a rightous debate about our beautiful country. Everyone's opinion is well appreicated, but if you are not born and bred, in jamaica, then you would not understand how important education is. I am a citizen of Treasure Beach living in the US, so I can tell you a thing or two about my country. jamaican children are by far the most educated children in the world, and that is when the parents are able to send their children to school. Our main focus should be on our children at this point, not deterring them from their education, by building Nursing homes, so they can grow up to start cleaning other people's filt, "yes I said that" I am not discriminating against filt cleaning, because the filt cleaning done by my loving mother is what made me who I am today, a Nurse, but who wants that for their children? Why not build more schools, affordable schoold at that, so our children can achive all that they can, and not have to work as hard as their parents. In case you did not know, we jamaicans take care of our own. We do not leave them on others to take care of or to become a statistic. Yes doctors lawyers, nurses and all other professionals do get old, but that is why we all have chilren, yes to help us when we get old, not to cart us off to nursing homes, like they do here in america. Any way you look at it education is the way to go. Let me give you an example, the clinic at Olde Whaf, how many from the Treasure beach area works their, and what positions do they hold, certified filt cleaners of course.Where are our counlers, our doctors, nurses, physologist, social workers and instructors? All of these people are needed to rehabilitate someone. I assure you they are all foreigners brought there getting paid for a job that our own children should be educated enough to do. I am not downing the developement of our country, but dont forget the education system, dont forget the children, yes provide jobs, but make it an equal developement, place a little bit here, and a little bit there, so we jamaicans dont have to run away from our country to make money. This is just my opinion, not a general statement. I think I do qualify for that since I am from there, and if visitors can say what they think,from what they have seen by visiting or purchasing property there, then I think I should give my two cents worth.Now i am not saying for all you visiters to stop investing in properties, neither am I discourging anyone from investing, but please do your business, and protect your business, but dont try to run the darn thing, ok, leave that to the government. If you want to help cut down on crime, then do what you can, but dont give opinions, and sit back and critisize if you cannot help. One love one aime one destiny lets push for that. If you are not educated as a nation, you cannot progress as a nation, we are just going to be sitting duck, being run by different nation, as what is happening in Iraq...one love my people. Keep up the good work BREDS, and also Rebecca, now there is someone who came and saw, and help good job rebecca, and many thanks, for giving us jamaicans who are away from our country a mean of communications.
Hey Chuck-O you owe me an email.

Quotes around the word 'healthcare' like the words
'caring' and 'assisted living' and other such oxymorons/euphemisms in the text were meant to connote a facetious tone-of-voice... Healthcare in Jamaica is largely non-existent. Healthcare in the US is a juggernaut of an industry.

CHUCK-O,PLEASE EXCUSE MY MISTAKE .I'M NOT JANICE.

One way to help educational efforts on island is to start small, one kid at a time. Sponsor a kid for a vocational school, like H.E.A.R.T, a culinary/hotel training school with one-year courses. There's one in Whitehouse, about 1 hour from TB. Few kids on island are lucky to go on to university. Many can improve their lives, find a career, with vocational training. It costs very little to anyone living abroad to help somebody you know with the gumption to make it on island/and the rewards are tremendous.

I'm trying to understand the feelings that I'm reading here and it sounds like you don't want your country overrun with foreigners. I'd like to understand that but it conflicts with the very principles of my nation. I live in Texas and I abhor anti-foreigner (translation: primarily Mexican in Texas) sentiments so I guess to be consistent I'd have to be offended by them, regardless of the country. I gotta say Chuck-O to tell a foreigner he/she can come invest there but no opinions allowed is not reasonable. Futher, if someone said that to you while you're in this country (U.S.) I bet you'd complain loudly.

If mainstream US knew that most of its banks were Scots/Canadian/Dutch-owned, its government supported/price-fixed sugar by Dominicans,let alone lots of its high-end real estate and industry (no, not Japan), there'd be considerable hue and cry...
but then the current regime is very good at smoke and mirrors, as is the Republican and evangelical right-wing/School prayer anyone? It's only natural, Janice, to expect xenophobia to some degree in ANY country. It a have/have not perception as old as time...

I TOTALLY AGREED WITH CHUCK AT SOME POINT
EDUCATION IS OUR BEST WAY OUT OF CRIME AND POVERTY
TOURISIM CANNOT GO AWAY. WE NEED TO BUILD MORE SCHOOLS, NOT NURSING HOMES, WE NEED TO INVEST IN OUR COUNTRY BUT HOW CAN WE INVEST WHEN THERE IS SO MUCH CRIME, CRIME IS EVERY WHERE YES, BUT WE NEED TO EDUCATE OUR PEOPLE.

You're so right (Tiverton) about xenophobia (and everything else you said) but I won't support it. And, I surely won't accept it when it's thrown my way. I went to Jamaica totally color-blind (and naive) but my color was pointed out to me every day in every way. Then I went off to the Peace Corps in Haiti where my education continued. I'm still learning and asking questions but, sadly, I was far more content before.

In light of this issue, I highly recommend reading 'OFF-WHITE', a memoir by LAURIE GUNST, just published. Her previous book: 'BORN FI DED: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE JAMAICAN POSSE UNDERWORLD.'. She's the former sister-in-law of Rus Banks -- and a superb writer on race relations.

Janice not wanting Jamaica to become a nursing home country has nothing to do with the colour of your skin (are all retiree white , black people never grow old or do they just die young?) Don't play the race card, that's a cheap shot. Please don't deviate from the point I made, it's nothing to do with colour, it's about what we need to do as a nation to make our people & country move forward. With education we all can strive for a better Jamaica. Why not be happy for us. We don't want nursing homes instead we want better education for our children and ourselves. We can go on and on about xenophobia but this is where I personally draw the line. May you go to Haiti with a open mind and not a naive Janice.

As an observer of this thread and a moderator, can I please ask that you FULLY READ what people write before responding.

There have been several instances of mis-understanding what has been written, leading to posts that have misinformation in them.

While this usually doesn't matter when the topic is 'Where's the Best Place to Stay', it becomes much more important when talking about weightier matters such as this.

Again, just make sure you READ what was written and respond accordingly. You'll raise the level of discourse and will hopefully help shed some light on the topic.

Thanks,
-TBNet

Its all well and good wanting more schools, but what about the parents who can't find the money. Education is the key but subsidised schools would be needed for those less fortunate as they are the ones who are missing out on the important foundation for life... school. And we need more establishments like Heart NTA to teach the workforce of tomorrow a trade, there are too few of these and they need to be made more accessible to the youngsters. As for the nursing homes, if retired Jamaicans want to come home and end up in a nursing home fine ... hopefully Jamaica produces a fully trained workfocre of nurses that will take better care of him/her than those in a foreign land. I know Jamaica is an island in financial bondage with a high murder rate to boot, but I just wish those in charge cared enough to get their priorities right... EDUCATION FOR ALL AND EFFICIENT CRIME MANAGEMENT OVER HIGHWAYS!!!

Perhaps the level of discourse could look at persons and places that are being ravaged by natural diasters.

Most human beings do empathise with those who are at risk from the current natural disasters as St Bess has suffered too. But Jamaica is also suffering from a man made disaster and needs to be addressed. I don't want to imagine Jamaica in famine, in civil war or as somewhere that is inhabitable by law abiding citizens...I never want to be afraid to visit Jamaica because of poverty/crime or a deflated economy and inflated cost of living forces me to flee. There is so much to be done but far too many heads in the sand. Not only do I pray for those along the gulf coast but I pray for a better future for Jamaica.

Talking about EDUCATION-----EDUCATION yes it is a good thing but the EDUCATED who are in the right places at this time to help with the crime wave that is taking place in that little island seem to be of no help what-so-ever.As a matter of fact it looks as if they are closing their eyes to what is going on around them because they have people to protect them when they go out on the street to preach to the community pointing fingers and putting blame on poverty.

POVERTY plays a part but the Rich Educated in their fancy offices and you know who those people are,are no better than the ones that is doing the crime because sometimes they are behind the crimes themselves.Corruption--Corruption -This Party- Blaming-That Party. For the sake of God think about what you are all doing ,gather around a big table and try to fix what it is that is crippling your country. Such a small and beautiful country destroying its reputation and its people on a daily basis because you are turning you heads the other way or "Like one other person writes Burring your Heads in the Sand".EDUCATED PEOPLE PLEASE DO WHAT EDUCATED PEOPLE SHOULD DO.Put your education skills to work and stop the crime-wave.