Thursday, October 02, 2008

Jolly Harbour Homeowners Association

There seems to be some confusion and disagreement about the actual number of properties in Jolly Harbour, but for sure the number is somewhere between 799 and 820. That's quite a big number of properties within a private community anywhere and for a small island like Antigua that is huge. I suppose that is why some of the leaders of the UPP ruling party met with homeowners recently to speak about tax as well as security concerns. It was an interesting meeting and you can hear more about that meeting at the JHHA website which I will speak about in a minute.
The Jolly Harbour Homeowners Association has been around for years and years but has only recently become a force to be reckoned with. I guess there are more members now and more problems to deal with. Since the estate of the original developer of Jolly Harbour sold it off for next to nothing there has been huge changes in the way the place has been managed from top to bottom. The vision seems to have changed with more emphasis being placed on milking the cow than on feeding it. That's the way i see it and that is just my personal opinion. Regardless of that there is no doubt that with many more people calling Jolly Harbour their home combined with new owners and new operational goals, there are seems to be more problems and more concerns about potential problems than ever before. With this in mind there is no doubt why the homeowners association has gained more members and with them more teeth. Two big concerns that keep coming up and are "security" and "the community charge" and both have been taken up by the board of the JHHA with CDAL the company that runs Jolly Harbour. It has been known for some time that because so many Jolly Harbour residents live abroad for most of the year that a proper online forum would be the best place for free and frank discussion. Two days ago I was asked to set up their forum. Today and tomorrow the website http://www.jhha-antigua.com/ will be emailed to as many members as we can find. If you are a homeowner or a "friend" of Jolly Harbour go and have a look. Homeowners are invited to register and take part in the discussion which I am sure will become very active before too long.