RJSIMP, you seem to be against anybody travelling to Bonaire because of crime and that we are in fact promoting it by not hurting the government. Is this correct? I have an honest question which I do not know the answer to (I also know that it is an impossible question to answer because of how things are handled on the island). How many crimes occur every year on Bonaire? What is the average population on any given day (tourists included) on the island? How many crimes are reported in the United States annually? What is the population of the USA? As a percentage of population, which is worse? I ask this because I do not know the true answer but I wonder if it would end up any worse than where we live. You can replace USA with any country and ask the same.
First of all, I guess we need to understand the definition of a crime in Bonaire and the US or many other countries for that matter is different. In Bonaire, it is not a crime to break into a car/hotel and it is not a crime to take things that are not yours. Reason it is not a crime in Bonaire (even though there may be laws on the books) is because it is not prosecuted or enforced. In the US, those people would be prosecuted, locked up, and there would be a penalty for such actions. In other parts of the world, you would get a much worse penalty than in the US.
What I am talking about here is, would I have a resonable expectation in the US or other countries I visit that the law enforcement officials are looking out for my personal well being and personal property? You would have to answer YES! However, in Bonaire, you cannot answer the same because the local law enforcement does not look out for your personal property or personal well being for that matter.
Also, on a per-capita basis I wuld wager the robbery rate of Dallas, Texas against Bonaire any day. Dallas is not known for its low crime rate, and south Dallas is even worse. For comparison, Bonaire's total population is around 14,000 and with the touists (maybe 1200 weekly avg based on yearly visitors) we are talking at any given time 15,200 people. That is less the the population of many small towns in the US and well below the population of the Caymans which is 65,000 (not including tourists).
Since we don't have true crime figures from Bonaire since they don't really count many of the things we do as crimes, we can't know for sure. However, I would figure that at least all the shore divers have had their car gone through and if divers account for about 40% of the tourists, we can figure about 480 car breakins a week. That represents more than 3% of the whole population is exposed to crime every week in Bonaire.
On an annual basis, we are looking at over 160% of the population and tourists are exposed to some crime in Bonaire.
I highly doubt that would go unchecked ANYWHERE in the US and in many other parts of this world. It is definitely higher than I am willing to accept.
I hate that there is crime on the island. I am all for the governement/police changing how things are handled. However do you really think that pulling all tourist dollars out is going to fix the problem? It will just sink the island and it will in fact get worse. Crime would in fact shoot through the roof as the island economy tanks. Bonaire would become a place where it is just not safe to travel too. The crimes would be more serious and less "crimes of inconvenience".
This island's primary income is from tourists. I have found reports by the Bonaire officials that track exactly how many tourists come to the island and project revenue from that. Would a few people not going make a difference? Maybe not, but from 2005 to 2006 there was a significant drop in tourists and that caught their attention. If there was a dramatic drop off in tourism, I guarantee the government would want to know why and when the reason was determined (the crime rate) they would do something about it to make it safer and have higher standards. However, if there are only suttle changes, they can write those off to changing of the times, ecconomy, etc.. They will not do anything to change.
If the touists drop down significantly and the crime rates go up, do you think that would slow the tourists' exodus or speed it up? Of course it would speed it up and again, they would have to step in.
I want Bonaire to change however I will continue to travel there and hope to come up with a way to help them change their ways to improve the quality of life for all on the island (locals and tourists).
They will not change as long as they have no incentives to change. As long as you and others like you continue to go there in masses, change will be the last thing that happens except that there is a slow decrease in tourism there and eventually your prediction of higher crime may occur.
My goal is to get people to realize that by spending dollars there and going there, you are only enabling them to continue down the path they are on. The ONLY thing they listen to is the tourists dollars which makes us as a group very powerful to get change to occur, but not unless we act as a group.
The dive industry needs to step up and stop diving there for a period of time, explain to the businesses in Bonaire why they aren't coming there, and let things change. Then, hopefully, a better Bonaire would emerge for all of us to enjoy.
). FWIW, I will not be giving Bonaire any money next year because I will be going to Thialnd instead......or that is the plan right now.
now.
