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Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says he will be intervening to ensure that cruise ships pay the required US$2 head tax for each passenger.
"In real terms it is not fair for land-based tourism to be saddling the burden to provide this vital support for the industry and the cruises are not playing a part, while they demand so much of us," Bartlett told journalists at a press conference at his office in Kingston yesterday.
The tourism minister, who was responding to recent concerns raised about the use of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), said the costs for accommodating cruise ships had to be borne by Government.
He cited, for example, that the Courtesy Corps, which provides security and deals with anti-harassment programmes, had to be funded by the TEF.
The TEF is financed by a US$10 charge paid by each stopover visitor to the island, but the US$2 fee that should to be paid by cruise passengers has not been collected for several years.
Between 2005 and the end of last year, more than six million stopover visitors passed though the island, contributing US$61 million or J$5.4 billion to the TEF.
SuperClubs chairman John Issa said this week that "up to now not one penny of the cruise ships' three-quarter billion Jamaican dollars has been paid to the TEF.
He claimed also that there has been no public reporting that the cruise passenger ships' three quarter billion dollars (US$61 million) has not been collected and no reasons given as to why this is the case.
He urged the Government to drum up the will to tighten the legislation and ensure that the monies were collected to safeguard the development of the island's tourism product.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Bartlett, however, admitted yesterday that the collection of the head tax would pose a challenge for the Port Authority, given that it was not being done before.</span>
"When you have to pick up on it and it wasn't really implemented on day one with the energy that it should have been, it puts you in bit of problem at the second phase, especially when you have to tell them why it has to be and, worse yet to show them what they owe," Bartlett said.
He said he has been to cruise lines himself on the matter and has had discussion with the Port Authority.
According to Bartlett, the Port Authority entered into a contract with cruise lines in 2004 at which time a head tax was agreed on, based on the volume of passengers.
Issa had also taken the current and previous administrations to task over use of monies collected through the TEF. The fund, he said, was established to improve roads and infrastructure as well as beautify tourist areas, but alleged that it was being used too loosely.
The tourism minister said contrary to any view, the TEF does an annual report which is tabled in Parliament every year.
"The mandate of the fund is very clear and is written in laws, rules and regulations which govern the use of the fund and this has never been breached, at least not under my watch," Bartlett said.
He said just under $1 billion has been spent from TEF under his watch for works on projects such as the development of Devon House, Hope Gardens, Ward Theatre, beautification programmes across island, loans to small hotels, resort development plans and a number of heritage projects, among others