Kingston, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, the Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill, has moved to defend his appointment of Interim Resort Board Chairmen to facilitate the re-establishment of local Resort Boards.
Responding to claims made in the media by Opposition Spokesman for Tourism and Travel Service Development, Edmund Bartlett, who is reported to have termed the appointments as undemocratic, the Minister said “I find it laughable that the former Minister now has a renewed interest in the democratic process within the Resort Boards, seeing he presided over their demise and disbanded them in the first place. This is despite the fact that Resort Boards were intended to facilitate the participation of stakeholders through a democratic framework.”
Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill
Minister McNeill emphasized that “the process we have instituted is in fact democratic as the Chairmen have been appointed on an interim basis for a period of six months, and have been mandated to assist in establishing the Resort Boards, whose members will ultimately elect their Chairmen and executive in a democratic manner.”
Minister McNeill also dismissed claims by that the process may restrict the participation of tourism stakeholders and be abused by political activists. He said “we have engaged in consultation with stakeholders all across the island and they are eager to actively participate in the development of the sector. This is precisely what the Resort Boards will facilitate, and it is the stakeholders who will play an active role, hence claims of potential abuse and misuse of public funds are totally baseless.”
The Minister noted that “our discussions with stakeholders have confirmed that there was a disconnect between the administrators within the sector and the people on the ground as the deactivation of the Resort Boards under the previous administration had removed that critical link.”
The revamped Resort Boards are intended to facilitate consultation and ensure that the process of developing resort areas is managed properly. The Boards will act as advisory councils, with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) providing technical and secretariat support. The aim is to create a partnership between community, industry and government, while ensuring more participatory governance. The Resort Board Chairmen will also sit on the board of TPDCo. to ensure they play an active role in the development of the sector.
