From Dean Gray.
MONEY spent by Jersey Tourism promoting our beautiful Island, with the obligatory ‘life enriching’ strapline, is money down the drain. No wonder our tourist numbers are diminishing – one only has to go out in St Helier on a Saturday night to see why.
Last Saturday night, after a nice meal out with the family, we decided to make our way down to one of the hotels at the Weighbridge for a late drink. What a joy!
Walking through Snow Hill, we were greeted with swarms of seagulls having a feed on the mountains of chip papers and rubbish discarded by Saturday-night revellers. We then waded our way through said revellers all congregating in Mulcaster Street, taking great care to avoid the vomit and equally colourful language that seemed to be coming from all directions.
Having successfully navigated our way through this, we found ourselves not on another planet, but outside our lovely new bus station, transformed for the evening into a urinal for all those poor souls who couldn’t be bothered to use proper toilets and thought it a good idea to empty their bladders in public.
It’s bad enough that Jersey residents are subjected to this, but spare a thought for all those poor tourists who have paid good money to come to our Island only to be faced with the same binge-drinking culture that blights the UK.
We need to take a good look at downtown St Helier. Perhaps some of our newly elected politicians should shadow the police and our Accident and Emergency doctors and nurses to see just how far away from a life-enriching experience we really are, and do something about it.
La Grange,
Rue ès Viberts,
St Mary.
