Beneath the warm, friendly disposition of the men who take tourists on scenic, relaxing raft rides down the Martha Brae River in Trelawny and the Rio Grande in Portland, lies deep anger.

The raft captains, as they are termed, believe they are being underpaid, and those in Trelawny want the owners of the attraction – River Raft Ltd – to beautify the area, employ effective marketing strategies, provide them with new uniforms, health and life insurance, death and retirement benefits, as well as a proper classification of their jobs.

“River Raft charges each customer US$42 (J$2,100) and out of that we only receive $623,” Samuel Zinckey, the head raft captain of that company told the Sunday Observer.

“That’s robbery,” he charged. “The reason we survive here is because we do a little carving on the side and sell these products to our customers.”

Zinckey’s frustration was echoed by the rafters employed to Rio Grande Tours in Portland. The fee there is US$45 (J$2,250).

“We only get J$1,000 per trip, and out of that we have to pay the apprentices $350 to take the rafts back up the river,” one rafter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

“How do they expect us to survive when some of us have not even worked for over a month,” he said, adding that “now is the slow season”.

Rio Grande Tours is operated by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) – a standards monitoring agency of the tourism ministry.

It employs a total of 120 raft captains who take tourists eight miles down the Rio Grande. The adventure begins at Grant’s Level in Berrydale, about six miles outside Port Antonio. Here, the guests board the two-seater bamboo rafts for the two- to three-hour trip downstream, ending at Rafters’ Rest in St Margaret’s Bay.

“It’s a very long trip,” one captain said. “And it also takes a lot of energy to battle with the strong current in the water, so I think we really deserve more.”

When the Sunday Observer contacted TPDCo for comment, a spokesman, Barrington Payne, expressed surprise at his captains’ complaints.

“TPDCo has always enjoyed a good relationship with the rafters, so I am a little surprised that they took their complaint this far,” he said, noting that he had only recently received a letter from the rafters’ president for a pay increase.

He admitted, however, that the company could not, at this time, consider a pay increase because of a reduction in business.

“We have a lot of expenses,” he said. “We also have to pay the captains upfront on a weekly basis. We are in a difficult financial position, coupled with the fact that the number of visitors is declining.

“What they did not mention,” he said, “is that TPDCo provides them with free T-shirts, cushions for the rafts and life jackets.”

In addition, he said, the company has to pay for public liability (insurance), and security costs at all the points of dispatch.

According to Payne, devastating flood rains late last year and earlier this year forced the company to suspend operations twice.

“But we have to manage the business, taking into consideration the best practices that will not be to the detriment of the captains,” he said.

Payne said the facilities at Berrydale and Rafters’ Rest are currently being upgraded in anticipation of new business from an expected influx of boutique cruise ships and mega yachts to the newly-opened Port Antonio Marina.

“2003 will be a wonder year for the captains as a result of the development taking place, and we are positioning ourselves to ensure that captains will be the major beneficiaries,” Payne said.

The downturn in tourism, fuelled by the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, has also affected the Martha Brae rafting attraction, and operator Johnny Gourzong made a veiled reference to this when he was contacted.

“They (raft captains) are hardworking men and they also have desires and perceptions,” said Gourzong. “I am only saying, in running a business you have to be mindful of how the industry is doing, and rafting is no different.”

But remuneration is not the only grouse among Gourzong’s 92 rafters. Their job classification, it appears, is proving a bother.

“The company wants to say we are sub-contractors when they give us T-shirts, sick leave, other benefits and even a Christmas bonus,” Zinckey said.

Said another captain: “All these benefits, and we are classified as sub-contractors.”

They complain, too, that they are having difficulty talking with Gourzong, alleging that he “doesn’t listen” to them. Their union, the United Allied Workers Union, is now in wage negotiations with the company, they said.

“We are willing to work, but we need to be taken care of,” said Zinckey to nods of approval from his co-workers.

Gourzong, however, is adamant that he treats his rafters well.

“When my operation is compared to other rafting operations and attractions, I know that the benefits I provide are vastly superior to other operators,” he said.

According to Gourzong, a partner in Summerfest Productions, promoters of Reggae SumFest, among the many benefits his rafters enjoy is a machine that loads the rafts onto a trailer which transports them back two miles upstream to South Seal where the ride begins.

That machine eliminates the cost to the rafters of getting their bamboo rafts back to the start of the ride.

“This machine uses electricity,” explained Gourzong. “I have to employ drivers, insure the vehicles. I spend almost quarter-million dollars each year to buy tyres.”

He said, too, that the “leave” the captains claim they get is a “loss of income benefit that they enjoy in the event of illness”.

“It’s not sick leave, or vacation leave. I put it in place because I am a compassionate person,” he said.