Jamaica A Culturally Untapped Gold Mine…

I had the dis­tinct hon­or of return­ing to Jamaica again, this time as my adopt­ed coun­try, the United States, cel­e­brat­ed Thanks Giving. With me was my wife, Cheryl, as usu­al. This trip was by no means a joy­ful occa­sion as we returned to pay our last respects to my aunt Viola who tran­si­tioned recent­ly in the United States and will be laid to rest in her beloved Jamaica as per her wishes.
Aunt Viola, or as we called her ‘Auntie Kisses,’ was the sweet­est soul, the kind of per­son one would refer to in the local ver­nac­u­lar as ‘mi gud up, gud up aun­tie’.
May her soul rest in peace.
My wife is not Jamaican in the true sense of the word, but don’t tell her she isn’t, espe­cial­ly when there is much to be cel­e­brat­ed about our beau­ti­ful Island.
She is the penul­ti­mate child to her par­ents; her baby sis­ter Grace and her­self were both born in New York City, while her old­er sib­lings were born right here a yaad.
So I thought Port Royal would be a good place on Thanksgiving day; she would get to see where it all start­ed for me as a young police recruit in January 1982 when we board­ed that JCF truck for the Police Training School.

The entire Fort Charles facil­i­ty, includ­ing the premis­es that for­mer­ly housed the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s train­ing facil­i­ty and the Jamaica Coast Guard, is an impor­tant part of Jamaica’s his­to­ry. It is a his­to­ry that was gross­ly unkind to the enslaved Africans on the Island, which makes pre­serv­ing this bit of the past all the more impor­tant for the young peo­ple grow­ing up and for posterity.
Admittedly, my con­cern for the his­tor­i­cal sites on Port Royal is not only about pre­serv­ing the his­tor­i­cal rich­ness of the site but ful­ly exploit­ing every cent pos­si­ble from this attrac­tion as part of the brand-Jamaica package.
Imagine the pos­si­bil­i­ties if these facil­i­ties were to be upgrad­ed, pre­serv­ing the past and look­ing to the future. Tours, gift shops, restau­rants, things Jamaica, and many oth­er attrac­tions. This would go a long way in improv­ing the Island’s tourism prod­uct, con­sid­er­ing that cruise ships are actu­al­ly stop­ping by that old city.

There is much to see in Port Royal, a place rich in his­to­ry and burst­ing at the seams with pos­si­bil­i­ties. This clear blue sky in Port Royal, Jamaica, is unri­valed anywhere.….

This sign fails to men­tion the year of the earth­quake. For the record, the earth­quake hit Port Royal on the 7^th of June, 1692. No one both­ered to read the sign they cre­at­ed before erect­ing it.

Competent peo­ple are work­ing to tell the sto­ry of Port Royal. Imagine the employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties if there was a vision toward the future.

A view of parts of the Kingston har­bor over­look­ing the JCF’s port Royal precinct from the deck of a pop­u­lar eatery.

On the oth­er hand, the Bob Marley Foundation has done a won­der­ful job pre­serv­ing the Reggae icon’s legacy.

Let’s take a look at what we are allowed to photograph.

A side view.

I have always thought that a pic­ture is worth a thou­sand words, so I hope these images con­vey the sto­ry I aim to tell about the untapped poten­tial of our great country.

Then there is this trea­sure where I grew up in Bonnett District, north­east Saint Catherine. I wish I had a dol­lar for each time I went into this cave to col­lect water car­ried on my head dur­ing my childhood.

Do not come for me about the attire, (laugh) remem­ber I was attend­ing my aun­t’s funeral.