CHAIRMAN OF the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) of Parliament, Dr Wykeham McNeill, has taken issue with portions of the COVID-19 protocols published by the Ministry of Health that are to govern the tourism sector and has warned against giving false impressions about the safety of the new operating environment.
The ministry also requires that all ground transportation for tourists be arranged by a business that has been cleared to open.
But Dunstan Bryan, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health & Wellness, said that public-health workers and the policymakers never intended to give the impression that tourists coming into the island could expect a risk-free environment.
The permanent secretary told the PAAC that his ministry was not responsible for the marketing of Jamaica as a tourist destination and, therefore, was unable to control the messaging to prospective visitors.
However, McNeill told the permanent secretary that the ministry had a duty of care, especially in a pandemic.
