Black Immigrant Daily News
The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is concerned in light of the recent brazen, violent incidents on island including the stabbing of an American tourist that left the woman fighting for her life.
Chairperson for Tourism with the DLP Courie Cox is calling on government and Barbadians to take urgent stock of the current crime wave understanding that its impact could be far reaching and drastic especially with us being in the thick of the Winter season.
In a release, Cox said, “Many Barbadians already do not feel safe in this country and if things continue on this path, Barbados will become less attractive to tourists and foreign entities who want to travel or conduct business here.”
And he stressed, “Whether you are a tourist or local, there are no words that can ease the mental and physical trauma of being attacked, robbed and violated.”
Furthermore, Cox added, “After such a harrowing experience, her life will never be the same. I can’t fault this lady or any of her friends or family if they never return to Barbados. But, I wish her a full recovery, a safe trip back home and I hope the assailant is caught and brought to justice.”
Taking slight solace in the fact that “although there has been a rise in crime and gun violence, attacks on visitors to the island are still not a frequent occurrence”, the DLP Spokesman is aware and conscious that there is “a knock-on effect” from the increasingly brazen crimes against locals and this most recent incident.
The serious wounding of the 40-year-old American comes almost two weeks after Jamaica was slapped with a travel advisory from Canada on December 28, 2022. In the alert it was indicated that for certain areas in Jamaica the Jamaican government has reinstated the state of emergency until January 11, 2023. Jamaica also carries a Level 3 Alert from the US for crime since October 2022.
And to those persons who are arguing there are destinations around the globe with more violence yet they still receive high tourism arrivals, Cox remains adamant, “Barbados has historically been a tourist friendly destination and we should strive to remain that way.
“Why should we compare ourselves to countries where police sirens ring non-stop and armed soldiers patrol the streets in full military gear? That is not the Barbados I grew up in and it’s certainly not a Barbados I would want to visit if I was [sic] a tourist.”
NewsAmericasNow.com
