Kingstown is dirty, dangerous and unfit as a cruise ship destination
By Peter Binose
The Unity Labour Party government is in yet another crisis situation as cruise ships cancel Saint Vincent as a cruise destination.
According to my Ministry of Tourism informant the following are some but not all the reasons
1/ a dirty City
2/ not wheel chair friendly
3/ numerous complaints from passengers
4/ danger of disease from rat infestation
5/ Little Tokyo dangerous for pedestrians, disgustingly dirty and falling down
6/ no in town speed limit enforced with dollar buss’s racing through the town at break neck speeds
7/ tourist sites not up to international tourist standards, some unsafe
Three ships have been withdrawn and will visit new destinations, abandoning Kingstown and its filth and infrastructure that is falling down, raw kitchen sewage flowing in the open roadside drains. Pavements in bad condition and obstacles placed on them by vendors. Food and vegetable vendors selling on the pavements with no wash or toilet facilities provided by the government, dirt and road grime blowing on and coating exposed fruit. People spitting next to food stalls and vendors with dirty hands and filthy finger nails.
The ships in question are the P&O owned Azura [3100 passengers] the P&O owned Ventura [3050 passengers], West Indies Cruise Line MV Adriana [300 passengers] only been to Kingstown twice recently but will now go to Bequia, three others are also currently under serious review of withdrawal from Kingstown.
This is yet another crisis for the ULP caused by the incompetence and fiscal duncmanship on behalf of the comrade, and will cause further hardship to the city traders and also to all the small people at the cruise ship berth who are all on the verge of going broke, whilst still being expected to pay their rents to the government.
All the ULP can say is “Labour Loves You”, but it appears they only love your money, while poor Vincentians live and work in squalor the regime is stinking rich and the people poor as Church mice.
Have a lovely cruise and then have your holiday ruined by visiting the garbage bin of the Eastern Caribbean.
This is yet another nail in the coffin of tourism in SVG. The loss of tourism means the further loss of jobs for our young people. Instead of creating jobs the ULP government is doing a great job of destroying them.
Another section of our tourist industry the bareboat charter business has also all but collapsed. TMM SVG out of business, TradeWinds moved to Bequia, SunSail gone to Saint Lucia where according to them everything is better by far.
Tourist arrivals by air are down 48% and the whole tourism industry is on the verge of collapse. LIAT are still bringing tourists luggage one and two days after they arrive and takeoff delays are now the normal, some of both problems are magnified by the use of the wrong type of aircraft which are seriously affected in inclement weather, carrying reduced passenger numbers and luggage weight.
Almost every holiday villa in Bequia is empty and apartments and hotels throughout the state are crying.
Perhaps one of the causes is the opening up of Cuba to the US and Europe, Cuba reports a 15% increase in tourism since January to July of this year. Whilst the cruise ship business is about to slip down the drain in SVG, Cuba is becoming the hottest cruise ship destination, but I am sure the comrade will not mind them having our cruise ships, Marxist solidarity is all powerful. After all he has sent all our cash to Cuba via the Argyle airport project so sending them our tourists as well will be regarded as a hoot on his part.
But really when you look at our neighboring islands like Saint Lucia, so far this year they have reported record numbers of tourists in all sectors. Obviously Eric Anthony is not fiscal dunce. So although the Cubans have affected us to a certain degree we can only blame our own Ministry of Tourism and the government that controls it and the man that controls the government, yes you comrade I am talking about you.
Comrade if I may dare to ask that you spend more time on getting things right and less time trying to finish the work of Maurice Bishop we may all be better off. I blame you comrade because you told us you are in full charge of everything, every square inch, and it’s all happening on your watch.
Ring the bell comrade, ring the bell
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