On no island like Bonaire

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Sure, now that people will be encouraged to leave all their valuables behind in the trucks, their laptops, their jewels, their mink coats, you want some 10 year old kids to "take notes" while the thieves loot the place. That sounds like a completely safe environment for them. The thieves will simply babysit the kids while the kids take notes on who to report to the police. Completely credible, and I'm sure you can convince the kids to do it for a buck or so, throw in a pack of cigarettes and it's a deal.

Can you go any further over the top? I leave my fur coat with the cats back at the hotel...

Since when is a 10 year old a teen?

Are you telling me you have never hired a "guide"?

 

[Mossman]

Can you go any further over the top? I leave my fur coat with the cats back at the hotel...

You leave your cats behind at the hotel? What a bastard. I take them diving with me in a big ziplock baggie to make sure no one steals them.

Since when is a 10 year old a teen?

Kids are growing up really quickly nowadays, you'd be surprised.

Are you telling me you have never hired a "guide"?

On Bonaire? Heck no. I only exploit children in Mexico.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

You leave your cats behind at the hotel? What a bastard. I take them diving with me in a big ziplock baggie to make sure no one steals them.



Kids are growing up really quickly nowadays, you'd be surprised.



On Bonaire? Heck no. I only exploit children in Mexico.

 

[Mike]

You leave your cats behind at the hotel? What a bastard. I take them diving with me in a big ziplock baggie to make sure no one steals them.

 

[driftwood]

Ummm my faux pas. As I read the thread over I see Firstdive was the originator of the idea..So he gets the kudos and the new job!

Actually Vince, someone other than Firstdive came up with the idea. He saw a working example of how it could be applied to the situation on Bonaire and I applauded him for his insight.

There is one basic fact about the economy on Bonaire. There is damn little primary employment on the island outside of the service industry. You have the salt operation, a couple of communication stations, and the oil transfer station. Expanding the service industry be a couple hundred entry level jobs would be a real boost.

I don't give a damn who gets the credit for the idea. The prize should go to the person who actually does the work on the ground and turns the idea into a reality. This is a very elegant approach that can be made to work for parties, except the thieves.

 

[driftwood]

I think it would totally work, and there are many historical examples to back this up. I believe the Mafia refers to this as "paying for protection".

This is the way I see it working.

First, the thefts are by a small group of locals on an island where everyone pretty much knows everyone.

Second, if the program is run out of the Marine Park, they make sure that all local labor laws are addressed and the tourist knows the "watcher" is legit. Just part of the island briefing we all go through.

Third, a kid watching Karpata or Thousand Steps will have a lot better shot at tips than watching sites like Buddy's Reef. A kid can bag $20 a day easy at the prime dive sites, if he tells the driver to lock his/her car (an essential part of the program). If there is a broken window and no arrest, the kid loses the site (and income). How much is that steady income worth for an unskilled worker on Bonaire? That is the reason the idea will work and why bribes will fall on deaf ears.

Will all the dive sites be "watched", of course not. Will sites like Karpata, Thousand Steps and Hilma Hooker have watchers, absolutely and they will be prime money makers. The number of "watched" site will expand till it is not worth the kids time to watch a certain site.

 

[DiverVince]

There is one basic fact about the economy on Bonaire. There is damn little primary employment on the island outside of the service industry. You have the salt operation, a couple of communication stations, and the oil transfer station. Expanding the service industry be a couple hundred entry level jobs would be a real boost.

Well I'm not quite sure that's a really accurate portrayal if you mean "service industry" in the context of tourism (which is what I suspect you mean). After all, the "service industry" is also the largest in the US. Granted the biggest driver of the economy from what I've observed is the tourist service sector. However I must say, there appears to be more & more jobs being added to the local economy.

Specifically, construction for the last 5 years has been booming and new construction activities are ongoing. Additionally, I do visit many of the businesses on the island that the average tourist does not patronize; ie electrical, plumbing, general hardware, appliance, fabric, pharmacy, insurance, accounting etc. etc to name just a few. They all appear to be doing well.

With the building boom I've noticed quite a few new businesses which have sprung up.
Additionally from what I understand there will be a large new food shopping center to be built (forgot the name) which will carry superior products to the offerings at Cultamara & The Warehouse by the new round-a-bout currently being constructed on Kaya Industrial.

So from what I see the economy and the infrastructure on Bonaire is definitely growing and is being developed.

 

[pilot fish]

The collective silliness of the Bonaire Boosters' suggestions on how to solve the crime problem on Bonaire is pathetic. I reread my PADI training manual and nowhere in it did it say anything about paying kids "tips" to protect dive gear? I even read the travel brochure on Bonaire and no mention of that laughable suggestion there either .Of course suggesting the "police" on Bonaire, or the Dutch Gov, do thier job is never mentioned. I mean, why do that?

A bad and dangerous problem involving criminals breaking into rented condos and hotel rooms, with the criminals ripping safes from the wall with crow bars, theft of tires from rental cars, car batteries missing, stealing dive gear left out to dry on hotel and condo balconys is met with humor, cheap jokes and all the seriousness of jay walking or a parking ticket offenses. You Bonaire Boosters must see how you are very much a part of the problem?

 

[pilot fish]

DV, truth be told, the ONLY thing that is BOOMING on Bonaire is crime i.e., break-ins of rental condos and hotel rooms. Now, a new twist, as reported on this board, theives are ripping safes from the wall and stealing tourist money and passports from thier rooms, even, sometimes, while tourists are asleep in the other room. Doesn't that concern you?

You suggest hire out of work kids for protection? You actually think that is safer than having the Boniare "police" do thier job? :shocked2:Ohhhhhhhhhhh, they don't ever do thier job in stopping crime on Bonaire? Oh, yeah, I see your point. Great solution The Bonaire Boosters need to get together and rethink this.


In short, there is a reasonable expectation that a person that goes to Bonaire to dive, vaction, relax, should be able to do just that and not have to CONSTANTLY be on guard against crime. If that vacation spot, that dive locale, is not offering you protection from being a crime victim, why go there? Why spend your dive dollars, time and fuss to become a crime victim on vacation? If an island does not protect tourists, as Bonaire does not, why the hell go there, when there are plenty of dive places around the World that have more respect for the tourist?

Well I'm not quite sure that's a really accurate portrayal if you mean "service industry" in the context of tourism (which is what I suspect you mean). After all, the "service industry" is also the largest in the US. Granted the biggest driver of the economy from what I've observed is the tourist service sector. However I must say, there appears to be more & more jobs being added to the local economy.

Specifically, construction for the last 5 years has been booming and new construction activities are ongoing. Additionally, I do visit many of the businesses on the island that the average tourist does not patronize; ie electrical, plumbing, general hardware, appliance, fabric, pharmacy, insurance, accounting etc. etc to name just a few. They all appear to be doing well.

With the building boom I've noticed quite a few new businesses which have sprung up.
Additionally from what I understand there will be a large new food shopping center to be built (forgot the name) which will carry superior products to the offerings at Cultamara & The Warehouse by the new round-a-bout currently being constructed on Kaya Industrial.

So from what I see the economy and the infrastructure on Bonaire is definitely growing and is being developed.

 

[jdcpa]

Please understand that I don't have a dog in this fight, but I couldn't help myself.

On the way to work yesterday I came upon one of those flashing signs from the Sherriff's Office in the median of the road and it said "Help Prevent Crime.....Lock Vehicle Doors".

When I saw that I thought of this thread and busted my gut laughing. Seems our local Sherriff does not know the proper way to prevent crime.

Sorry, but I could not help myself.

Back to your normal bickering.