Tourist Murder Makes Coki Point A Priority For deJongh Administration

After the July 12 tourist incident, suddenly funds and resources are available for the renovation of the Coki Point Area - did the local population deserve any less?

Coki Point Beach will now be the focus of an intense Government renovation after a tourist was murdered in a shootout July 12.

You knew it was going to happen, but that doesn’t diminish the outrage we should all feel at the intensity of the response of this Administration to the July 12 shootout at Coki Point.

Now that a tourist has been killed by the crime and violence we have been forced to endure on a daily basis, a “comprehensive plan” for the renovation of Coki Point has been announced by Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr.

In a news conference Thursday, deJongh outlined the 10-day plan that includes closing the beach and executing a number of initiatives that should have been completed long ago for the local population, but are now priorities because a tourist was caught in the crossfire. And not one time in the broadcast was the fact that a local man was also killed even mentioned. It’s all about the tourists.

Anyone would think the problems at Coki Point are a new development.

All of a sudden we see the deteriorating landscape; the piles of debris; the open and visible sale of drugs and other contraband; and the disgusting bathhouse and other facilities at the once picturesque location.

And all of a sudden there is money and staff to execute improvements.

The day after the shootout, Commissioner of Housing Parks and Recreation St. Clair Williams was quoted as saying that although $500,000 in funds had been given to his agency by the Public Finance Authority for Coki Point renovations in 2005 that his agency had not yet received the funds. Suddenly, these funds will be available by August 2 to clean up the beach.

Staff will be pulled from other projects to get this done – projects in process to serve the local community – to make sure every effort is made to lure the tourists back to the beach. Trash that has littered the area for years will be removed. Surveillance equipment will be repaired and upgraded. Roads leading to the area will be fixed – now that a tourist has been killed.

We are not impressed.

None of these actions are initiatives that should not have been undertaken long ago. Nothing outlined in the “comprehensive plan” is beyond the purview of routine government responsibility that should have been undertaken with the tax dollars these agencies have received on an annual basis to perform their normal, routine functions.

The irony is bitter – the night before the now infamous killings, there was a shooting at Coki Point. Does anyone even know who was involved in that? Was there a manhunt and mobilization of law enforcement to track down those involved? Has there been this type of intense response to any of the other 44 murders in the Territory this year? The answer is no.

There is no question that there has been fallout from the incident that has affected the perception of St. Thomas and its desirability as a tourist destination. Carnival, NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean have canceled shore excursions to Coki Point as a result of the incident and the negative publicity has been global, spread rapidly through stateside media and the internet. There is no question that the tourism product is important to the economy of the Territory – that is not the point.

Nothing the Administration and law enforcement are addressing in this plan to convince the outside world that you can walk the streets without dodging a bullet are safeguards that the local population is not entitled to as well.

It is perhaps the most blatant example of the disregard for the local community demonstrated to date by this Administration and sends a strong message to everyone in this community about where we fall on the priority list.

And if they think that cleaning up Coki Point for marketing purposes is going to have any influence at all on the growing crime epidemic sweeping this community, they are only fooling themselves.

If we aren’t safe, then no one is safe.

Apparently this Administration doesn’t care about that.

Share on Facebook