MONTEGO BAY, St James — Montego Bay hotelier Robin Russell has lashed out at the authorities, who he said are turning a blind eye on the harassment of tourists by cabbies and shop owners, along Gloucester Avenue, ‘Hip Strip,’ in the resort city.

“I think the ‘Hip Strip’ needs direction and the direction has to come from the parish council [municipal corporation] and the Government. The number one issue [along the ‘Hip Strip’] is our security. And the truth be told, we have to get serious about security and harassment,” the outspoken Russell stated.

“What we have realised… is that 75 per cent of the harassment comes from authorised vendors: taxi operators, shop owners…”

Russell, who operates a hotel along Gloucester Avenue, alleged that one ground transportation operator has racked up a number of charges, including a sexual harassment charge against a visitor and is still allowed to operate along the strip with impunity, something which would be not allowed in other jurisdictions, such as the Bahamas.

“When I go to the Bahamas and a taxi-operator overcharges you, there is a form that you get and you fill it out. And in that form the person has to answer to those charges and if they are found guilty their licence is revoked. And it is something as simple as that. In Jamaica there is one taxi-operator, and I know him personally, that has 13 charges against him. One of them (charges) is attempted rape against a visitor and he operates freely every day. Everybody knows, but nobody is doing anything about it,” he alleged.

Russell was speaking at the Invest MoBay breakfast forum hosted by the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Royal Decameron Hotel last week. The forum was held under the theme “Unlocking the Opportunity in Tourism — Reviving the Hip Strip”.

Meanwhile, Russell argued that if entertainment is to form an integral part of the nightlife along sections of the ‘Hip Strip,’ then the Night Noise Abatement Law needs to be reviewed.

“For entertainment to flourish we need to speak to what is the Night Noise Abatement Law of certain areas. We need to zone these areas so somebody that lives on Cornish Road cannot call and lock down Margaritaville with 1,000 people in it at 10 o’clock because they want to sleep.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett who was also in attendance at the forum decried the decline of entertainment activities in the tourist resort city over the years.

“You know when you go to Cuba and Tropicanna blows your mind every night. And you go to Buenes Aires and the Tango is there and you say, ‘Oh, My God’. When you come to Jamaica where is reggae to blow your mind every night?” Bartlett questioned.

But Russell articulated the “need to also sell our culture”.

“When I see that tours are now going into Trench Town, it speaks volumes. That is what people are looking for. They are looking for that true Jamaican experience and a lot of us in here might not like it because it is dancehall, because it is reggae, it is sometimes things that we don’t like, but we have to embrace it because that is what the Japanese tourists coming to Jamaica want,” Russell remarked.

And Ian Dear of Margaritaville expressed that even while his company manages to thrive, the experience along the ‘Hip Strip’ has steadily declined over the past decade.

“I have been operating on the ‘Hip Strip’ for the past 23 years as Margaritaville and what we have been seeing is a steady decline in the overall experience on the strip. In the last 10 years, and rightfully so, it has been said that the ‘Hip Strip’ is no longer ‘hip’, it has disappeared,” Dear argued.