Should the US withdraw travel alert for Jamaica?
In the wake of reports of tension and sporadic violence in the West Kingston region, pending the arrest of Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, the US Department of State issued a series of travel alerts for Jamaica. The first one was on May 22 and the second on June 15, 2010. The last travel alert expired on June 23, 2010. However, one day after it expired, a new alert was issued. This latest travel alert will now expire on July 23.
Here is a small section of the travel alert issued by the US Department of State.
Jamaica
June 24, 2010
The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens about sporadic violence between government security forces and criminal gang elements in Kingston, Jamaica, and its surrounding areas. Since May 23, 2010, Jamaican security forces have been engaged in operations to root out illegal weapons in formerly gang-controlled neighborhoods and apprehend suspected gang members in various areas of Kingston and Spanish Town. The Government of Jamaica has imposed a State of Emergency in Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine’s Parish (which includes Spanish Town). The possibility exists that police operations and/or violence could spread beyond the greater Kingston and Spanish Town areas. This Travel Alert replaces the Travel Alert issued on June 15, 2010 to provide updated information on the security and airport situation. This Travel Alert expires on July 23, 2010.U.S citizens presently in Jamaica should monitor local news and radio frequently when venturing out from their homes or hotels in the Kingston area. U.S. citizens traveling to or from the Norman Manley International Airport should use the South Camp Road route and avoid the Mountain View Road airport route. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise heightened security awareness and maintain a low profile.
To view the entire document, click on the link Travel Alert U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs
I think that the United States has a right to protect its citizens, but I truly do believe there is no longer a threat, (well no greater threat than usual). Particularly, since Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke has waived his rights to an extradition hearing in Jamaica and is safely in the United States of America
I think that this unrelieved travel alert will send a wrong message to tourists wishing to travel to the country. However this is my opinion, what’s yours? Do you think the US should withdraw the travel alert for Jamaica? Have your say…
Tags: Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, criminal, extradition, Gangs, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, tension, Tivoli Gardens, tourists, travel alert, US Department of State, violence
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29 Responses to “Should the US withdraw travel alert for Jamaica?”
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The U.S. reserves every right to protect its citizens, even if it means affecting our major method of income. It can be argued that national healing and social reformation will come only at some sacrifices. And the influx of tourists may just have to be one of these temporary sacrifices.
It may seem as an unkind thing to say, but imagine what a great tourist attraction we would be minus all the guns on the streets? All the ‘non-state-run’ communities controlled by the state?
And, what of the impact that would be had if a tourist was directly affected by sporadic violence in Jamaica? Would that not taint the picture of Jamaica abroad much worse than ever before.
After the July 23 expiry, the government can focus much more explicitly on repairing our image. Whereas the Jamaican proverb says that we must “Learn fi dance a yard before yuh go abroad,” an appropriate adjustment could read “we mus learn fe dance a yard before we get dance partner from abroad.” Right now our priority is our internal affairs.
There really should be a method of editing before publishing embarrassing grammatical errors.
Accept my apologies for errors…but you get my points?
Since the unrest errupted on May 23 the army and police have been able to restrict the turmoil to a small section of the island. The US travel advisory is no longer necessary as with electronic communication the world knows that the danger have been contained. We in foreign are at time more up to date on what is happening in Jamaica than those in Jamaica. With so much ammunition and guns taken off the street the US must be aware that Kingston and the rest of Jamaica is now a safer place than prior to the first issunace of the alert; thus the travel alert is useless.
I travel back and forward to Jamaica all the time, so do a lot of people from all over the world. Nobody complains about Jamaica being excessively dangerous. Personally me feel safer in Trenchtown or Waterhouse than parts of Detroit or the Bronx. So the USA government should say : tourist man go to Jamaica !
They need to stop making it seem worse than it is and give people to right information.And once again it’s not the whole country having problems. We are handling it….
They certainly should. It think it is unfair to prolong this advisory.
I think you’re asking the wrong question. The USA do have an obligation to protect their citizens and as such would have no choice but to issue a travel alert in the face of an official State of Emergency declared by the Jamaican government.
You state yourself that the conditions for the travel alert are no longer there. Does the same not follow for the declared State of Emergency? Maybe you’re trying to just make people realise the obvious without being accused of political bias.
Bottom line: if the conditions for a travel alert aren’t there, then neither are those for the declaration of a State of Emergency. SoE comes before TA… The ball is in Jamaica’s court, not the USA’s.
I think that the travel alert should be lifted because simply most tourists wouldn’t have ventured to those part of Jamaica, travel alert or none. If you would go to those parts of the island then its because you have family there and you would know whether it would be safe to go to kingston. I’m going to Jamaica next month and even if Dudus wasn’t captured that wouldn’t have stopped me. What does he and his crew have to do with me sipping a pina colada on a resort by the beach. Who should be alerted is the people of Jamaica who’s economy has suffered almost irreparable harm because of Dudus, Rev. Miller, and everyone else who was involved in that mess.
I think they should because its killing jamaicas tourism. its like saying because something is going on in california you should’nt visit new york.
I know alot of people who cancelled their vacations because of it and i cant explain enough its very safe. I cant wait to come back to my favorite place on earth!!!!
Yes the US should withdraw the travel alert
NO, NO, NO because Jamaica is not safe and the lawyers want to end the state of emergency and that would let the criminals go back to business as usual. Jamaica needs at lease a year of house cleaning.
It’s ok for the US to let people know that there have been problems in a couple of areas of West Kingston. I travel between the US and JA twice a year and I was in Kingston during the “unrest”…I never felt threatened, I never go to Tivoli Gardens or Denham Town anyway. I think the incident got blown out of proportion. On the news in the US, they made it sound like half the island is at war. Most tourists go to the north coast and the US should make it clear that this is quite a ways away from Kingston. I live in Los Angeles…it’s like a war here every day in the ghetto…not much different than what happened in Kingston.
sure,it should be lifted,this is not mexico,most tourists are safer in jamaica then even some of their own countries..the allinclusives,thats whats doing it,until those monsters get a grip on crime,so people can visit and move arround freely…the other thing is these people that get a free pass from the crooked jamaican government,all these years they should be building roads,keeping jamaica beautiful[infrastructure]..i hear they dont even pay taxes,yet they have made billions in jamaican tourist trade over the years,even if these crooks give them that much privilege,they should themselves have a conscience…yes the usa should remove the travel alert by now,if not immidately,afterall don’t forget people have to go back to work in that industry,young girls coming out of school etc,need to be employed,till they find their own nich..
@ US Attorney And Dean I agree with you. @ Rani Yes the usa is obligated to protect it’s people , but it’s not that serious. I went to Jamaica April, Friends went May29th , June, I’m going back next month. My point no problems no harm done to anyone, It’s only In kingston and with the state of emrgency and curfews they are getting more of the criminals.Jam Girl where do you get your information from?
They can end it now, nobody even sees them. Where is the voilence they claim to be happening anyway. Yes they have a right to protect their citizens but I think its being over done.
DUH!!!!! YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO KEEP THE TRAVEL ADVISORY ON. AS AN AMERICAN LIVING IN JAMAICA MY EXPERIENCES HAVE BEEN ONE OF HOSTILITY BY MANY OF THE MAN A YARD JAMAICANS AND DEM ACT LIKE NOTHING A GWAAN
The recent troubles in Jamaica were confined to Kingston and,some surrounding areas and not “Island-wide” as some sources would have us all believe. Crime is a “world-wide” issue and affects us all therefore “seek and ye shall find” and stopp this wholesale bashing of a beautiful island and its people.
NO!!! It is great publicity for Jamaica. We competed with the FIFA world cup for the Headlines. Tourist always like a challenge. They go to the middle-east in droves. Every time the name Jamaica is mentioned it is free advertisment. Some tourist think Bob Marley still live in Jamaica and want to come to meet him. Writing from Japan where I am interacting daily with people from over 50 countries.
I go to Jamaica 4 times a year and have never felt threatened by anyone there,The Jamaicans are most happy and fun loving people on earth.
They also have the best rum and ganja on God’s
green earth.
My wife says “If you don’t believe in God,Go to Jamaica”
the advisory should have been lifted long ago. the jamaican people need tourism dollars especially since the global economic collapse. i am an american and upset at the US media and the US gov’t for over-playing this issue. having returned from a trip to jamaica, i felt completely safe. i usually travel once per year but booked another trip for this Oct and then Jan of 2011.
YES, I think it is FULL time they withdraw their restriction orders.Jamaica, is already on the mend, and things are changing very fast.
USA, you are our friend and best partner when it comes to TOURISM and IMPORTS/EXPORTS. We do not and cannot afford to lose your friendship.
Jamaicans love to travel to the States, and Americans love to visit our beautiful island.
The Government has taken steps to make sure all Americans are safe coming to our island, so please have no fears at the moment.
Please encourage ALL your americans, that Jamaica is SAFE and beautiful, so NO PROBLEM in coming as often as they can
Thanks America, withdraw now, let them come in the thousands as usual. God bless.
The US should inform travelers when it sees some sort of risk. A state of emergency is one such risk.
I don’t want to seem to be hitting back but does Jamaica issue travel advisories for these countries / areas that pose a clear and present danger eg areas where white supremacists, like the Ku Klux Klan, are alive, kicking, burning and more?
I can see the advisory now: Jamaicans are advised that when they see a whole posse of white sheeted figures with just the eye holes cut out approaching NOT to assume that it is a swarm of duppies. You are NOT advised to tell them that you are covered under the Blood. You are to run, run like hell!
Seriously though, there needs to be some thought to this too.
Most of the people saying that it should be lifted have not fully read and understood the Advisory.
It should only be lifted when the State of Emergency is lifted. After all, that is what the Advisory is about.
That is ashame,they make it seems as if the the dilema has jamaicans waring against the citizens of the united states,just another strategy for the tourists to stay away from jamaica,telling the law enforcers and prime minister Bruce Golding if you don’t get Mr.Coke and hand him over there will be methods of sobataging coming to put the island in deeper economy crisis…
Those are some of the methods been used to bully these days. In otherwords if you dnt do as i say,i will sanction your country with the food u imported from here.
So Marcus Garvey sey,a people who does not make their own arrangements to feed themselves,will always be the slaves for the ones they allows to feed them.
Ras Howard Henry.
The US continues to act like the leader of the pack in world affairs. As a Jamaican living in the US, there is always concern about crime. Luckily, I don’t live where the chances of being shot in a drive UP happens. (Think back to all the people that got shot in Miami, including kids recently).
Yesterday, its all about people getting killed for their gold jewelry in Miami. So then, will there be an advisory at the airport to so advise all the tourists who do go to Miami?
US advises citizens who travel abroad to check in with their embassies on arrival abroad so they can advise or disseminate pertinent information. That should be good enough. Otherwise, they should be advising all travellers into the US about their problems as well. (I just gave a bit of info on Miami, Florida. Countless other cities have their issues.)
Yvonne, you could always visit Miami. The weather is about the same as Jamaica. You may get an official alert.
the American government don’t love usjamaicans so they will do anything to us and because we so fool fool and want them visa, the Jamaican government would kill out we Jamaican just to please the American government, you think politicians nice them wicked, i hate politics now,American government will always use us and we laugh and love it.
All the Big Bad boys don’t live in JA, Jamaica is not the the big bad west, come on, this is a big joke, i too have been to kingston and town the same ting are always the same,,,, If you don’t like people then Ja not for you. The US white don’t like JA people anyway so they do treat JA people different anyway, I think that at the USA airport the JAMAICAN have their own terminal, i know this because i was there… I think it has been like that for many years.. I believe that they single out JAMAICAN because of our roots. Many Jamaican in USA bad talk their own fellow Jamaican. It all to do with their roots. where they are or should i say we coming from. This a different time now, the children of JA are the Kingdom of heaven and no one cant keep them lock in Jamaica,
As an American serviceman serving in Europe during the sixties, and at sea in U.S. Navy ships, I was sincerely grateful to know how high a value America placed on my life and safety. Value for life and respect of the property of its citizens is what makes America a great nation. I am a Jamaican and I love Jamaica, but I think there are some good things we can learn from others, especially when it comes to treating people with equal dignity and doing our level best to keep them out of harm’s way. People are extremely vulnerable when they are in a strange country, so for Americans, the advisory is justified.