Salt River Mineral Spa

I am compelled to comment on the tragic deaths at Salt River Mineral Spa.  The first incident happened a few weeks ago when a 6 year old girl drowned.  The second happened more recently when a teenager was electrocuted when she came into contact with a wire which was illegally connected to the JPS electrical system.  These incidents once again raise the issue of how business is to be conducted in Jamaica and the need for proper governance of those businesses.

Due to a lack of growth in the economy over the last twenty years and therefore the lack of available jobs, many persons have sought to go into small business ventures.  This is the sector that the government wishes to encourage as it provides employment for those who would otherwise have no way of making a living.  However there is an attitude among small business owners that there is no need to comply with government regulations especially those concerned with safety.  Thus we have unlicensed persons doing hair dressing on the sidewalks, vendors selling food without having food handler’s permits, persons driving unlicensed, uninsured “taxis” and persons operating tourist destinations with limited or no measures in place to secure their safety.

Now I am not opposed to any of these business ventures, what I am opposed to is their operation without regard for the law.  The establishment of small and micro businesses is vital to the future growth and development of this country.  However this needs to be done in a structured way including the registration of all persons involved in businesses.  Markets and areas for vending should be established and rigorously enforced, all taxi and bus operators must be licensed, all sellers of food must have food handler’s permits and all tourist destinations must have precautions in place to ensure the safety of those who are using it.  The punishment for breaching these requirements must be stricter and must be properly enforced.  Simply closing the facility or confiscating the goods is not enough; the punishment is to act as a deterrent to others who would seek to disregard the safety of others or the rights of others.  An example of this is that many times persons have to walk in the street because the vendors take up the sidewalk and this puts them at risk of being hit by an automobile.

Too often we ignore the consequences of our actions on the basis of persons needing to be able to make a living but as we have seen in these incidents and in many others those consequences can be quite deadly.