The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

A VETERAN water sports operator has criticised the lack of oversight in the industry, telling The Tribune yesterday that at least 75 per cent of the persons involved in the sector could be described as "gangsters with no respect for rule or law."

The operator, who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said problems in the industry stem from inaction by government and law enforcement over the years, which has allowed a serious issue to fester into a "catastrophic problem."

He spoke to this newspaper as concern grows about how poorly the sector is regulated.

"The Port Authority has two Jet Skis and (Royal Bahamas) Defence Force has two but they don't patrol, if the port people were doing their jobs, those men would not be able to move out that zone (on Cabbage Beach) with the tourists," the operator said.

"Half of the men on these beaches with Jet Skis are not even Jet Ski operators. They come out there and hustle with no licence and they give us who work hard a bad name. We want this industry to be regulated because all these funny characters need to go.

"I can only speculate that there is some under the table deal going on. Here you have it, for years you have had people complaining about this issue and nothing has been done. I am shocked that the country is shocked. These things don't pop up," the operator claimed.

"Now again, while the spotlight is on the industry, I am begging everyone from the prime minister to any concerned citizen to take this matter seriously because if it isn't corrected, we will lose our tourism product," the operator concluded.

Earlier this week, police said they arrested a Jet Ski operator after a Canadian woman alleged she had been raped after he took her on a ride from Cabbage Beach to a nearby cay.

A man was arraigned in court yesterday in relation to the matter.

Police have since said the suspect in question was not a licenced water sports operator, but frequented the beach to solicit work.

"He is not a (licenced) Jet Ski operator. He does not have a licence to work as such. He was just out there soliciting work," Assistant Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander told The Tribune.

Monday's report also led to calls by Tourism Minister Dionisio D'Aguilar for the government to "get serious" on its plans to regulate the industry or risk an erosion of the country's tourism product.

"We can no longer run from this or step around this particular problem," Mr D'Aguilar told The Tribune when contacted for comment on Tuesday.

"We need to get a handle on this now, not later," he said.

Mr D'Aguilar went on to call for an immediate "plan of action" to prevent similar alleged cases from occurring; a plan he said he was prepared to organise himself.