Atlantis puts ban on teens

By ALISON LOWE
Tribune Staff Reporter

alowe@tribunemedia.net

UNACCOMPANIED youths are to be barred from all areas of Atlantis, resort chiefs said yesterday.

Announcing a clampdown in the wake of Saturday's double shooting, bosses at the resort also condemned irresponsible parents for using Atlantis as a "teen sitting service".

With the hotel already beefing up its general security levels in the last year, executives said they will now also "re-strategise on where our (security) resources are placed" as they continue to look for ways to ensure the safety of their guests and other visitors.

Speaking with the media yesterday, Chief Executive Officer George Markantonis suggested that the gun attack on two security officers came in part as a consequence of the hoards of unsupervised teenagers who hang out at the resort every weekend.

He went on to admonish parents, saying there is "no excuse" for them to dump their children on the resort "to police".

Mr Markantonis warned that Atlantis soon intends to block weekend entry to the property by any teenagers and younger children who are not joined by their parents or another responsible adult.

Two security officers, one a police reservist, were gunned down at point blank range in the rear part of the Marina Village shortly before 10pm on Saturday. Reports reaching The Tribune from police were that two teenagers carried out the attack because they had been previously moved on for harassing young girls.

Mr Markantonis claimed Marina Village and Atlantis has become a popular playground for locals, particularly teenagers and children on the weekend. Because of this, it is now a "huge challenge" for the resort.

He said: "We've tried to be as open-minded as we could over the years, particularly since Marina Village opened, but obviously we're not going to wait until somebody loses a life to make a decision on how to address the situation.

"When you have a lot of unsupervised kids runnning around something could happen. Certainly it's raised concern from our point of view and we intend to do something about it. We are not going to let an incident such as that which occurred on Saturday night happen again."

Mr Markantonis' statements, made during a press conference at Kerzner International's Executive offices on Paradise Island yesterday afternoon, came as police confirmed that two youths are in custody.

The pair - a 19-year-old, of Dolphin Drive. and a 17-year-old, of Collins Avenue - are likely to be charged today.

Meanwhile, one of the victims, 33-year-old Troy Feast, was yesterday released from hospital. Dwayne DeCosta, 46, is still being treated.

Asked exactly what steps will be taken to cut down on the number of local teenagers who flock to the resort on weekends, Mr Markantonis said a plan is still being worked out but it will revolve around "controlling all access points".

He suggested the resort makes no excuses about the oncoming clampdown.

"I understand a little bit (why parents might want to leave their kids at Atlantis unsupervised). Some might feel 'Oh it's new, it's really safe there', but the fact is its a business, it's a business that's crucial to our tourism industry and which employs thousands of people."

Mr Markantonis said the resort is closely monitoring any potential fallout from the incident but has seen none yet and does not anticipate any serious impact on its bookings as a result.

He said the swift reaction of security and police on the island - shutting down both bridges and launching a major search of all cars - received praise from Atlantis guests and other visitors to the island that night and was evidence of these agencies' ability to respond quickly in a crisis.

Published On:Tuesday, November 03, 2009