BUSH. stayed at Negril hideaway

WESTERN BUREAU - Barbara Bush, the daughter of US President George W Bush, left Montego Bay on Sunday afternoon after vacationing in Negril last week with several friends, airport and tourism sources confirmed yesterday.

The trip was apparently to have been secret and only came to light because a late flight by American Airlines caused the 22 year-old and her entourage, including several Secret Service Agents, to change carrier to Air Jamaica for a flight from Montego Bay to Baltimore for a connection to Washington, DC.

"A little bit of unusual activity aroused curiosity and a few people found out that it was Barbara Bush, the US president's daughter," said one worker at Montego Bay's Sangster International Airport. "But nobody really recognised her."

Barbara, named for her paternal grandmother, has a twin sister, Jenna.

She is among several well-known persons who have vacationed on the quiet in Jamaica in recent weeks, including new Canadian prime minister, Paul Martin, who was in the island over the Christmas holidays, shortly after he replaced Jean Chretien.

The young Bush arrived in the island at about midday last Tuesday and was immediately whisked away to a private cottage in Negril, security sources said yesterday.

She and her friends apparently soaked up the Jamaican sun and the waters along Negril's famed seven-mile beach without anyone knowing that the daughter of the American president was nearby.

The Observer was reliably informed that shortly before her departure on Sunday, Barbara Bush and a party of about five had a light afternoon at the Sea Grape Terrace Restaurant, at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay. The group of young people arrived at the restaurant at about 3:00 pm and stayed for about an hour.

"While there, they ate vegetable salad and had a few glasses of blended fruit punch," one hotel employee said. Their bill totalled a little under US$275.

According to hotel sources, the group was casually dressed, wearing sweat tops, shorts and slippers. They were in a jovial mood.

"She said she liked the place (Jamaica) and that she would be back," a source who had a tangential hand in making the arrangements for the visit, told the Observer yesterday. "She had a wonderful time in Jamaica and had a lot to say about the warmth of the Jamaican people."

However, Jamaican tourism officials and the local police were still tight-lipped about the visit last night.

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