Sun, sand and savagery: Whatever happened to Jamaica, paradise island?

- The Independent: "Whatever happened to Jamaica – for so many years Britain's pride and joy? Since independence in the early 1960s, the drug barons have taken over, hopes of social equality have faded and there's a pall of violence. Tourists rarely see anything of the twisted side of island life, as they hardly ever venture outside the stockaded beach resorts and private beaches advertised as 'paradise'. Tourism contributes an estimated $1bn a year to Jamaica's economy and has become a part of Jamaican life, with hordes of vendors, hustlers and 'guides' ready to hound the unwitting visitor. Yet this 'paradise' of holiday brochures is just as often derided as a criminal backwater."