Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, etc. etc....

[Tuff Gong]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, etc. etc....


Mon Aug 21, 2006
Bahia Principe workers stabbed

Work at the Bahia Principe Hotel construction site in St. Ann is again being overshadowed by gloom.
In the latest mishap, two workers on the project were stabbed at a house in Salem, St. Ann.

Reports are that the workers who had rented the house were found suffering from stab wounds and were taken to hospital.

One died before reaching hospital while the other was pronounced dead on arrival at the St. Ann’s Bay hospital.

The names of the men have not yet been released.

The Runaway Bay Police are investigating.

Bahia Principe workers stabbed

[Gen]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, etc. etc....

[img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] mi belly ...this hotel full a joke...

mi a tell yuh seh if I was working on that site...mi woulda leff by now ..cause even though mi nuh believe inna duppy...yuh can't help but wonder...and if a nuh duppy is a human sabotaging the site..so mi woulda juss leff..cause mi might be next fi get hurt...tan up inna the wrong place and next ting yuh know mi flat pan mi back a travel towards the light [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[Tuff Gong]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, etc. etc....

[ QUOTE ]
[img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] mi belly ...this hotel full a joke...

mi a tell yuh seh if I was working on that site...mi woulda leff by now ..cause even though mi nuh believe inna duppy...yuh can't help but wonder...and if a nuh duppy is a human sabotaging the site..so mi woulda juss leff..cause mi might be next fi get hurt...tan up inna the wrong place and next ting yuh know mi flat pan mi back a travel towards the light [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

The whole place fi close dung and dump up back!

[Blackstar*]

Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing, etc.

There is no way I would work on that site - they couldn't pay me enough.

[Blackstar*]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing, etc.

Duppy at BahÌa hotel?

<font color="grey">
Two senior policemen, one with his gun out, tried to restore calm at the building site of the BahÌa Hotel, St. Ann during a riot. Work was halted after workers protested and three persons were shot. - Norman Grindley</font>

Workers on the BahÌa PrÌncipe construction site in Pear Tree Bottom, St. Ann, and residents of nearby communities, say the site is haunted by ghosts.

Some think the property is roamed by the ghosts of the previous owners, while others think the spirits of long-deceased Arawaks have come back to claim their land.

Since work on the hotel started, construction has been put off on at least two occasions. Even before actual construction began, the site faced opposition from environmental groups who believed the construction would compromise the ecological balance in the area. With one riot, two collapsed sections and a fire later, workers and residents are convinced that the site is cursed.

One worker who has been on the site since work first began, told THE STAR, "Da place ya nuh so right. Every minute supp'm happen. Mi feel seh a duppy, dem mussi feel like wi a tek over di land. People a drop off a building an wi nuh know why. All today [Sunday] we have a funeral. More time mi have di feelin fi no come back."

Other workers and residents of the nearby Discovery Bay community, also claim that the unusual events have been influenced by forces from another realm. Although several theories have been put forward, one story remains constant among several of the persons with whom THE STAR spoke. Several men who slept on the site are said to have seen a woman with long hair riding through the grounds on a white horse. They say this woman was a member of the family that owned the land.

Another worker, Ryan, willingly told THE STAR a much-talked-about legend. He says the previous owners of the land were unwilling to sell, despite lots of offers from various people. Some time in the 1990s, the owner mysteriously disappeared and his body was later fished from the sea. The land was now up for grabs. Ryan says the accidents are occurring because the family is upset about the construction and "is working to get them off the land."

Further down the road from the site, THE STAR met Rob, 50, who has lived in Discovery Bay all his life. He repeated Ryan's story but his version had a few twists. He said the land was controlled by two other family members, after the owner's death, but said the relatives, a man and a woman vanished soon after. Rob says this is the woman who has reportedly been seen riding the horse.

Rob says "nothing whe buil down deh won't succeed" and told THE STAR: "A nuh bad cement or nothin wha dem a seh, a jus so it go. It was a unfair deal. Out deh cursed man. Mi not even did love it when dem start buil' out deh, an mi seh mi naw go look no work."

A resident that was found sitting in a bar told THE STAR what seemed to be a tall tale. He said the site is haunted by the spirits of old Arawaks who lived in the area until Columbus' arrival in the 15th century when they were forced away. The resident says the spirits are now exacting revenge on the new team of Spaniards that has come to build the hotel.

But although most workers feel that the site is cursed, there was at least one person who spoke of the possibility of sabotage. He said that the workers are not satisfied with the working conditions and salary. "Workers nah get wha dem fi get. Anyone could easily get frustrated."

Jes?s Castellanos, project manager for the construction, told THE STAR that all the incidents that have occurred on the site are "still under investigation." He said he was therefore unsure of the causes of the incidents but admitted that "he was concerned about the frequency."

Castellanos said he was aware of rumours that have been swirling around the site and in the community. "There are rumours everywhere, I could write a book. I can't recall all of them," he said.

In relation to talks that the site is haunted, Castellanos said: "It's one of the rumours on the road, but I personally don't think it's anything like that. I don't believe in phantoms." He said the land was acquired legally and that "there were private negotiations with the private owners. Any issues we had, the court dealt with it; there are no issues relating to land."

Castellanos acknowledges the possibility of sabotage and said that even though "we're generally on good terms with the employees, there will always be people that are not happy. But the Jamaicans have worked very well."

He added also that this was a delicate phase and that no accident would happen once the construction was done. He also stressed that the building was strong and on completion would be able to withstand an earthquake of up to 7.5 on the Richter scale.

[Blackstar*]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing, etc.

'What man plan God wipe out'



When I was growing up I used to hear my grandma say 'what man plan God wipe out', perhaps one of the truest sayings about life. Each and every one of us has at one time or the other fashioned the grandest of plans only to see it come to naught for no other reason than it was not supposed to happen. Often-times we console ourselves with yet another commonly used phrase: 'It was just not meant to be.'

The developers of the BahÌa Principe Hotel currently under construction at Pear Tree Bottom in St. Ann must be beginning to feel like this 1900-room hotel was just not meant to be.

This very controversial project to build what will become Jamaica's largest hotel has been hit by disaster after disaster. In short, this project 'just salt'.

From jump, this hotel, in my estimation, should never have been considered. The area where the construction is taking place is one of Jamaica's most beautiful natural areas, and is a habitat for a variety of wild life, including birds and the endangered Jamaican boa and it is a nesting area for sea turtles.

If you read the environmental impact assessment on this project you would see that this 'development' can only do more harm than good. But, hey, that's just me and in Jamaica we know that nobody cares about anything except money, especially the US dollar. Let me quote you something from the environmental impact assessment (EIA) under the heading Social Impacts.

a) Jamaica's north coast is suffering the effects of intensive development with inadequate infrastructure.

b) Local people are being excluded from amenities which include access to the beach.

c) Fishermen are being displaced.

But whoever was handling this investment clearly didn't give a rat's [censored] about all that, and all the other numerous concerns mentioned in the EIA report, so construction was allowed to go ahead.

And this is where man's plan is, well - being wiped out. The thing is, in this instance I don't know if it is being wiped out by God or by some Arawak duppy or by just a greater spirit of justice. Whatever it is, something is going on and it's not good, at least not for Bahia.

In May, a judge stops construction when he quashes the environmental permit allowing construction. Also in May, an 800-foot section of the construction collapses and three workers are injured. In July, three workers are shot when about 600 employees riot over late payment of wages. Then in August, another section of the hotel collapses, killing one person and injuring 15 others, and then just recently, I got word that there was a fire at the construction site. Is that a run of bad luck or what?

If this had happened to a regular person building a house, people would swear that somebody 'obeah' him/her or that the person was involved in DeLawrence.

Somebody reading this is going to find a plausible explanation for all of these occurrences and I suppose that there are. But how would they explain so many things happening in such a short period of time? Once is unfortunate; twice, an unfortunate coincidence. What then do you call the third and fourth incidents? BahÌa Principe doesn't even have Annie Palmer as an excuse. So how are they going to explain what is happening now?

For BahÌa Principe's sake, I hope that these incidents end when the construction does, because if they continue when guests begin to arrive, people researching the history of what went on before the hotel was completed are going to put two and two together and come up with 22, and then the hotel will not only be the biggest hotel on the north coast, it will also be the biggest white elephant out there too.

[Tuff Gong]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing, etc.


Another Bahía Principe hotel worker dies
published: Thursday | August 31, 2006

Twelve days after the bodies of two of their colleagues were found in Salem, St. Ann, construction workers at the Bahía Principe hotel site at Pear Tree Bottom in the parish are again in mourning as another of their co-workers died yesterday.

Reports are that Everton Harris, who lived in Roaring River, St. Ann, was on his way to the worksite, about 7:30 a.m., when he attempted to hop on to a trailer. According to the police, Harris lost his balance and was run over by the left rear wheel of the heavy unit.

On August 20, the bodies of Damion Wedderburn and André Coke were found on separate premises on Back Street in Salem with stab wounds. Both men were residents of Nannyville Gardens, St. Andrew, and were employed as construction workers at the hotel.

Collapse

Prior to their demise, at least two other workers had been killed. One died after a section of the hotel collapsed. Several other workers were also injured. Another worker perished after he was hit by a motor vehicle in the vicinity of the hotel, which is under construction.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060831/business/business3.html

[Blackstar*]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing,

Five dead so far. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]
I'm really sorry about those men and my sympathy goes out to their families. RIP.

[Blackstar*]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, etc. etc....

[ QUOTE ]
Recently Ruddy Spencer a Union Head and Spoken Person on Labour rapped the MOL The Occupational Safety and Health Division in his Sectorial Speech. Of course as in typical in Jamaica, because he is on the Opposition the speech was not widely reported, but here is something on it. It was unspectacularly dumped inn the News in Brief Section.

Spencer concerned about labour ministry's safety division

[/ QUOTE ]

Ministry of Labour to inspect more construction sites
published: Saturday | September 2, 2006

Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

The Ministry of Labour will be re-directing its personnel in its occupational safety and health department so that it can conduct more site inspections on construction projects.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Alvin McIntosh, told The Gleaner that this was one of the moves being contemplated by the ministry to address the number of work-related accidents on these sites.

Mr. McIntosh was responding to a criticism levelled by Opposition spokesman on labour, Rudyard Spencer, who accused the Labour Ministry of being tardy in ensuring that construction sites are inspected as prescribed by law. More...

[Tuff Gong]

Re: Fiya bun at Bahía Principe Hotel


Substantiate Bahia land ownership claims

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Dear Editor,

We read on Page 8 of the Weekend Star published on Friday, August 25, 2006, the news story titled "Bahia Hotel Duppy" in which Mr Jesus Castellanos, project manager for the construction project, was quoted as saying that, "The land (at Pear Tree Bottom) was acquired legally and there were private negotiations with the private owners. Any issues we had, the court dealt with it; there are no issues relating to land."

Mr Dennis Morrison in his column on Page 3 (Section 3) of the Sunday Observer dated August 27, 2006, titled "Lessons from the Bahia Principe Hiccups", wrote: "The Bahia Principe project at Pear Tree Bottom...Grupo Pinero, a Spanish hotel chain entered the picture three years ago...Having purchased the land..."

We are the attorneys-at-law for the people claiming ownership of the land on which the Bahia Hotel construction is taking place. We also are representatives of the Pear Tree Bottom Land Owners Association Limited, which has filed an application in the Supreme Court of Jamaica since June 13, 2006 to represent the owners of the land who are also members of the association. The association intends to file a Recovery of Possession action to evict the Pinero Group off the land, shut down the construction project and demolish the building under construction.

Mr Castellanos and Mr Morrison, who are agents and/or servants of the Government of Jamaica, which has been sued in relation to ownership of the land at Pear Tree Bottom and in relation to perversion and obstruction of the course of public justice and conspiracy, must produce to the court and the Jamaican people documents from the Stamp Duty and Tax Transfer Office, the National Land Agency and Office of the Registrar of Titles substantiating Pinero Group's ownership of the land at Pear Tree Bottom.

Mr Castellanos must produce to the court and the Jamaican people court rulings (judgment/orders) settling the issues relative to ownership of the land.

If Mr Castellanos and Mr Morrison cannot provide documents substantiating Pinero Group's ownership of the land at Pear Tree Bottom, and if Mr Castellanos cannot provide court rulings settling the issues in relation to ownership of the land at Pear Tree Bottom, then Mr Castellanos needs to immediately pack his bags and go back to Spain, and Mr Morrison needs to resign, effective immediately, from all government-held positions.

Humphrey L McPherson &amp; Co
65 1/2 Half Way Tree Road
Kingston 10

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/h...SHIP_CLAIMS.asp

[Yuriatin]

Re: Fiya bun at Bahía Principe Hotel

Hell!

[Q3210]

Re: Fiya bun at Bahía Principe Hotel

[ QUOTE ]
Hell!

[/ QUOTE ]

A microsposm of what Jamaica is like, politically and comercially. Sad to say, but we nuh ready just yet except to borrow more to pay debt.

[Afrocentriclady]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing,

[ QUOTE ]
There is no way I would work on that site - they couldn't pay me enough.

[/ QUOTE ]
Fe real!

[mountaingal]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing,

i am appalled, fascinated, sorrowful (for the dead folks' families), and have a touch of schadenfreude about this whole thing.

that thing was destined to be a folly. the bahia principe people dem was too damn icariusish bout di whole ting... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70400-talktohand.gif[/img]

[niceniss]

Re: Bahia 3 riots, 2 collapse, one murder, fiya, 2stabbing,

[ QUOTE ]

that thing was destined to be a folly.

[/ QUOTE ]...you beleive in destiny ? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]