Jamaica fearful of collapse in tourism

From inside came a scream, followed by uncontrollable sobbing. As she stumbled towards the door of Maddens funeral home in Kingston, Evelyn Ruddock collapsed into her mother's arms. Nine months pregnant, she had just identified a decomposed body, her husband Humphrey, one of more than 20 people who died in last week's gun battle between police and gang members.

Bowing to a national sense of grief and outrage, the Jamaican government has announced it will assist with funeral expenses of those who died in the Caribbean island's worst violence since independence 39 years ago.

The sadness which has engulfed the island since last weekend's bloodshed will be followed by misery if, as expected, Western tourists are scared away. The violence took place miles from the chic resorts that flank Montego Bay, but many here expect a rush of cancellations. Tourism officials are upbeat, saying Jamaica has recovered from gangsterism before, but the country's economy cannot afford a decline in the two million visitors a year who bring in vital foreign currency.

"The images of roadblocks and gun battles in Kingston have [only] served to reinforce Jamaica's reputation for crime and violence," the Daily Observer newspaper said in a front-page editorial. "The upshot we expect is a heavy body blow to tourism."

The threat to tourism is greater if the violence recurs, as many expect it will in the run-up to next year's elections. The gangs have links to senior politicians. So far violence has been confined to the ghettoes of west Kingston but if it spreads from the capital to other areas of the island, there are fears anarchy could result.

"This is not a paradise for policing," said Detective Superintendent James Forbes, who admits he and his fellow officers are becoming outnumbered and outgunned by the drug gangs. And a tragic trend is that more police officers are killed when there is an election.

Leaders of the two main political parties are considering talks to ease the tension, but few expect them to head off the violence.