7NJ0100A0128 7NJ0100A0128 ZALLCALL
MAKING ENDS MEET
Your area, your answers
SECTIONS H AND I
www.news-journalonline.com
STREAKING THE NIGHT
Businesses
put focus
on enticing
tourists
By VALERIE WHITNEY
BUSINESS WRITER
DAYTONA BEACH — Beach
Street business owner Mario
Stemberger loves special
events.
‘‘I’m for all the special
events because I’m for the
city,’’ said Stemberger, owner
of the Dancing Avocado Kitch-
en.
Stemberger’s gung-ho atti-
tude about special events
comes despite the fact that the
crowds generated by such
events as Speed Weeks, which
kicked off this weekend, often
make it impossible for his lo-
cal customers to get in.
Still, he is not alone in
looking forward to the events,
which also include Bike Week,
Spring Break and Black Col-
lege Reunion.
Special events play a major
role in the area’s economy.
The visitors they attract here
and the dollars they spend can
make the difference for a busi-
ness.
But there is no guarantee as
the area, like other parts of the
state, has struggled in recent
years to attract visitors after a
succession of hurricanes. Will
this year be another winner or
a wash? And, what if any im-
pact, will lower gas prices
have on the events?
Lenny Santiago, spokesman
for Daytona International
Speedway, said officials are
looking forward to a success-
ful Speed Weeks.
‘‘There is a lot of media at-
tention in the Rolex this year,
and we’re happy about that,’’
Santiago said.
In addition, he noted por-
tions of Speed Weeks will be
broadcast on ESPN.
‘‘They do a lot of ancillary
programming (about racing)
and that will help keep fans
aware of the events,’’ he said.
Santiago said officials ex-
pect the Daytona 500 stock car
race to sell out, and they are
taking steps to ensure the Pep-
si 400 is more of a success than
it was last year. Some fans
stayed away because of bad
SEE TOURISTS, PAGE 13A
valerie.whitney@news-jrnl.com
THE FAST LANE
Keeping you on track for today, tomorrow
Parental
control?
How can
parents mon-
itor what
games their
children are
playing on
Xbox, Wii or
PlayStation?
INNOVATIONS,
PAGE 8B
Fast forward
WinePod, 100-calorie snacks top list
of cool things to expect in 2007.
USA WEEKEND
Location, location
There’s a 77-square-foot London flat
available — for only $335,000. Really.
REAL ESTATE, SECTION F
Vol. LXXXIV
No. 28, 12 Sections
© NJ 2007
News-Journal Corp.
15 23:47:12 01/27/07 B
News-
The Daytona Beach
SUNDAY
EDITION
Journal THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF VOLUSIA & FLAGLER COUNTIES
FINAL EDITION
JANUARY 28, 2007
12 sections; 182 pages
TODAY’S FORECAST
The next 24 hours will be very chilly.
High: Upper 60s. Low: Upper 30s. PAGE 8C
$1.25
SPEED WEEKS 2007
Peter Ntankeh, who recruits Jamaicans for jobs
at local hotels, brought dozens of people over in
2006. Now, many of those workers are
unemployed, and their work visas have expired.
Daytona
Jamaican
workers
stranded
By SETH ROBBINS
STAFF WRITER
One Worker’s Woes
DAYTONA BEACH — For a week, Tarika Campbell
went to sleep hungry.
Her head rested on the floor near a dozen other
Jamaican workers stuffed into a small two-bed-
room apartment. Unable to afford food, Campbell
hid in the hotel rooms she cleaned. There, as the
waves rolled ashore outside, she drank cups of tea
— her only nourishment.
Falling asleep, she thought of her 3-year-old
daughter, Jamila, in Kingston, and cried.
‘‘I have nothing,’’ she said, in her apartment off
Nova Road where the Jamaican workers gathered
to discuss their troubles, miles from the city’s
beachside tourist hub.
‘‘I can’t send money to
About the Story pay her school fee. If she
In November, News- did not have a father,
Journal reporter Seth she would die of hun-
Robbins was tipped ger.’’
that about 30 Ja- Campbel l, 24, had News-Journal/
JESSICA WEBB SIBLEY
maican workers with spent her mother’s fu-
expired work visas neral money to come Tarika Campbell of Ja-
who had been cleaning here and clean hotel maica paid employment
rooms for the area’s rooms along Daytona contractor Peter Ntankeh
largest hotelier were Beach’s oceanfront for $1,200 last year after sign-
ing a contract for 40 hours
scrambling for jobs lo- $7 per ho ur, so she
cally after the man might send money back a week at $7 per hour clean-
to her family in Kings- ing hotels in Daytona
who recruited them
ton. Seven months later, Beach. Here’s a summary
couldn’t get them the
she has saved little, of the work she actually
full-time hours he’d working less than the got:
promised. More on 40-hour work week and BEST CHECK: At the
what happened after year of employment
Robbins started asking promised by her con- height of the summer in
questions, PAGE 12A July, her two-week pay
tractor, Peter Ntankeh. stub shows she worked 73
She is not alone.
hours.
‘‘It’s all over Daytona,’’ said Diego Handel, a
WORK WANES: In Sep-
Daytona Beach lawyer and expert on immigration
tember her biweekly hours
law. ‘‘These contractors take full advantage, and
it’s exploitation to the max because these are very fell to about 48.
News-Journal/NIGEL COOK
vulnerable people.’’ WORST CHECK: After her
ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA UNDER WAY: Cars streak through the infield Sat- The hotels — which need a constant supply of visa expired, Campbell
urday night at Daytona International Speedway as the Ferris wheel shines in cheap labor in an area with low unemployment — worked less than 24 hours
the background. An international lineup of drivers was participating in 70 do not provide for the workers’ welfare and often during a two-week period
cars that began the twice-around-the-clock endurance race that ends this af- in October, after taxes tak-
SEE WORKERS, PAGE 12A
ternoon at 1:30. More coverage in RACING EXTRA, SECTION D, and PAGE 13A. ing home only $148.
P MORE ONLINE: For the latest results go to: news-journalonline.com P seth.robbins@news-jrnl.com
THE WAR IN IRAQ
Thousands march in protest
By BOB DART Locals
Bred to be bad? COX NEWS SERVICE
protest
When pit bulls are sent to the WASHINGTON — By the tens of
thousands, the slogan-chanting, ‘‘There were
Halifax Humane Society, they
placard-waving, troop-support- grannies for
seldom leave.
ing, president-opposing, peace- peace, baby
LOCAL, PAGE 1C demanding marchers came from boomer types,
across America Saturday to call (college) cam-
for an end to the Iraq War.
Miami before the Super Bowl If President Bush won’t heed
pus peace
groups. Really
There’s the big game, of course. But with a week to the call for peace, then Congress
must, they demanded. a cross sec-
go before the Colts play the Bears, the opportunities tion of peo-
‘‘We’ve got to insist that the
for visitors are as diverse as the city. ple,’’ said
Democrats elected in November
TRAVEL & ARTS, SECTION G to end the war find a collective Kathy Brace-
backbone and stop Bush,’’ said well, of the lo-
Margaret Knapke, who came in a cal chapter of
Coming van from Dayton, Ohio.
‘‘Why would (Bush) listen to
Associated Press
A variety of signs are held during a protest Code Pink,
Monday: us? He hasn’t listened to anyone organizers said included people who came
which partici-
pated in the
else,’’ said Rose Lynn Scott, a
Fit moms on 300 buses from 40 states. More Iraq
news, PAGE 18A.
march.
SEE PROTEST, PAGE 18A PAGE 18A
Ditch the sit-
ter, put the
kid in a
stroller and
go to fitness Remembering ‘Tippen’
class. Herbert M. ‘‘Tippen’’ Davidson, president, CEO and co-editor of The Day-
ACCENT tona Beach News-Journal who died Tuesday, is remembered as a patron of
the arts and an inventive newspaperman. People from all over the world
Books 7G Deeds 5F Letters 2B Sudoku 6G have written expressing their appreciation of him, and we share some of
Business 1E Horoscope 7E Movies 6G Travel&Arts 1G their sentiments. PAGES 4B-5B. An appreciation, PAGE 1G.
Class. 5E,6F Ideas 1B Real Estate 1F Puzzles are P MORE ONLINE: news-journalonline.com/special/tippen P
Deaths 4C Innovations 8B Sports 1D in the comics
Magenta Cyan Yellow Black
7NJ1202A0128 7NJ1202A0128 ZALLCALL
12A Sunday, January 28, 2007
As rain falls, American and Jamaican workers for Peter Ntankeh wait for their checks recently outside his office on Mason Avenue in Daytona Beach. Some Jamaicans who came
to Daytona Beach on work visas say Ntankeh, who recruited them, did not hold up his end of the bargain after charging them $1,200, as well as failing to renew their visas after
paying him another $250.
No visas, little hope for immigrants
WORKERS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
are not vigilant in checking for
immigration violations, Handel
and the other immigration ex-
perts say. ‘‘We police it (illegals)
more than any other place,’’
said Harold Lueken, executive
vice president for Ocean Wa-
ters, the largest hotel operator
in Daytona Beach.
Even so, between September
and early January, a group of
Jamaicans worked illegally in
hotels run by Ocean Waters.
They began their jobs with
valid work visas. But the man
who brought them here, Ntan-
keh — a West African native
with limited knowledge of im-
migration law — failed to up-
date the visas, even though the
Jamaican workers gave him
$250 each to procure extensions.
Ocean Waters management
did not know the workers’ visas
had expired — relying on Ntan-
keh to keep track — and the men
and women fell into the crevices
of Florida’s underground econ-
omy.
Afraid of immigration author-
ities, the workers took erratic
hours offered by Ntankeh and
the hotels, sometimes only earn-
ing $80 a week cleaning rooms
where guests paid hundreds of
dollars a night to stay.
Now, some don’t even have
that. Ocean Waters dismissed
all of Ntankeh’s employees after
being questioned by The Day-
tona Beach News-Journal and
learning from Ntankeh himself
that the workers he was provid-
ing the hotelier were illegal, ac-
cording to Lueken.
‘‘We rely on the contractors to
police this,’’ Lueken said. ‘‘If we
hear of any issues, then we ad-
dress them.’’
Ntankeh says the U.S. govern-
ment is processing the visa ex-
tensions, and he has done
everything possible to get them.
He denies all the allegations
his workers make against him.
But that does not help the Ja-
maicans who fear deportation at
any moment.
‘‘To him, we are like slaves,’’
Campbell said. ‘‘If you’re work-
ing and can’t even buy food,
then you are a slave.’’
Still, the Jamaicans say they
do not want to return to jobs in
their home country that pay just
a few dollars a day, and they fear
being barred from the United
States for overstaying. So, they
stay hidden.
And the most any visitor will
hear from them is a gentle rap-
ping at their door asking:
‘‘Housekeeping.’’
DEMAND FOR DIRTY JOBS
Campbell and her Jamaican
friends are part of a growing
wave of foreign workers who in
recent years have become the
backbone of Florida’s service in-
dustry, according to immigra-
tion attorneys. The hotels are a
magnet for poor people from
countries in Eastern Europe
and the Caribbean.
They work long hours in dirty
jobs for little pay — the ones
many Americans don’t want.
But this also makes immigrants
easy targets for exploitation by
the contractors who provide the
jobs, and as in the case of the Ja-
maicans in Daytona Beach, also
guarantee a place to stay, food
and proper documentation.
‘‘In reality, it is the contrac-
tors’ responsibility to ensure all
the documents are correct,’’
said a federal official with U.S.
Immigration and Customs En-
forcement. She asked to remain
anonymous because the agency
may conduct an investigation
into Ntankeh and his business
Tanka Resorts Management.
‘‘The employees work for the
contractor.’’
05 22:28:13 01/27/07
Peter Ntankeh, in his Mason Avenue office, recruits Ja-
maicans to work for Ocean Water resorts in their 21 Daytona
Beach-area hotels. Before contracting with Ocean Waters
starting in the fall of 2005, Ntankeh washed cars and did odd
jobs as a handyman along with running his courier service.
. ‘‘You never know who you are
A Miami Republican, state
Rep. Juan C. Zapata, recently
filed a bill that would fine or
withdraw certain privileges
from businesses found to
knowingly employ undocu-
mented workers. He could not
put an exact number on how
many businesses use illegal
workers, but anecdotal evi-
dence told him that the practice
is widespread in the agricultur-
al, construction and hospitality
industries, he said. He added the
new bill would not allow the
companies to claim ignorance
when using a subcontractor.
HANDYMAN TURNED RECRUITER
In 2005, Ntankeh shuttled
workers to beachside hotels,
part of a small courier service
he owned. Based upon this rela-
tionship, Ocean Waters resorts
offered him a contract to use for-
eign nationals he recruited in
their 21 Daytona-area hotels.
Before contracting with
Ocean Waters starting in the fall
of 2005, Ntankeh washed cars
and did odd jobs as a handyman
along with running the courier
service.
‘‘I used to think he was a good
man,’’ said O’Neil Roper, who
helped Ntankeh recruit workers
in Jamaica. ‘‘He is not a good
man.’’
In September, Ntankeh set up
shop in a licensed recruiting
agency in Jamaica. Christine
Kelly, one of the company’s
owners, let him use her office af-
ter he said he would award some
of his jobs to Kelly’s applicants.
Kelly, however, discovered
Ntankeh had asked his appli-
cants to transfer money to him
in the United States. This was il-
legal, said a Jamaican Labour
Ministry official, because he
was not a Jamaican citizen and
did not have a license. Kelly re-
moved him from her office and
called the authorities.
Soon, police and other govern-
ment officials knocked at Ntan-
keh’s hotel room in Jamaica
where he continued to recruit
workers.
Investigators could not prove
he accepted money from appli-
cants. But the Labour Ministry
still closed his business and
forced him to leave the country,
according to news reports.
A Jamaican Ministry of La-
bour official who asked not to be
identified said, ‘‘The jobs may
be legal, but this man does not
have a license. . . . We are in a
battle here.’’
News outlets around Jamaica
carried reports about the clos-
ing of Ntankeh’s business. Still,
he recruited Jamaicans from a
Daytona Beach office.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
News-Journal/JUSTIN YURKANIN
‘‘He had those jobs (to pro-
vide workers),’’ Kelly said, by
phone from her office in Ja-
maica. ‘‘But he was totally dis-
organized and was misleading
the people.’’
BROKEN PROMISES
The Jamaicans came here in
three separate groups, the first
arriving in February 2006, the
next in April and the last in
June. Ntankeh brought over at
least 80 people, and many said
they did not receive much of
what he promised for his $1,200
fee, which is more than a quar-
ter of an average Jamaican’s
annual salary of $4,200.
The workers’ contract stated
lodging and food would be pro-
vided for the first three weeks
they were here, said Vijay K.
Sharma, Ntankeh’s former op-
erations manager.
‘‘When they came,’’ he said,
‘‘he didn’t have any place for
them to stay. They were wait-
ing for food seven or eight
hours. And, they were sleeping
on the (local office’s) carpet.’’
In the contract, Ntankeh also
promised them 40 hours of
work each week.
Sharma said Ntankeh sent
workers to clean the hotels, but
the managers rushed the work-
ers through the job. When they
finished, they were told to
leave, earning money only for
the few hours they worked.
‘‘We slaves because if the ho-
tels call and say they want
someone to work for one or
three days, that’s the time he
(Ntankeh) calls you and comes
to get us to work,’’ said Narda
Musseden, one of Ntankeh’s Ja-
maican employees. ‘‘We sup-
posed to work a full 40 hours
every week.’’
The Ocean Waters contract
with Ntankeh, however, never
promised a certain number of
jobs to Ntankeh or hours for his
workers, Lueken said. Ho-
teliers employ foreign workers
from a subcontractor exactly
for this flexibility, he said.
The workers complained to
Sharma about their hours and
pay, saying they could not af-
ford the $160-a-month rent they
were paying for their Daytona
Beach apartments. Because of
their constant pleas, he eventu-
ally found the Jamaicans with
valid visas work at a local mak-
er of car electronics. Still, he
said, Ntankeh failed to pay his
workers on time, bounced
checks and mishandled funds.
‘‘He don’t know how to man-
age his business,’’ Sharma said.
‘‘He don’t know how to control
his checks. The money was nev-
er there.’’
Magenta
EXTENSIONS THAT NEVER CAME
Ntankeh said his money woes
stemmed from workers shifting
over to other contractors.
In early September, with
about 30 workers remaining and
their visas about to expire,
Ntankeh sent a memo offering
to procure an extension on their
temporary work visa for $250.
The workers handed him their
money and passports. Then they
waited for an extension that
never came.
When their visas expired at
the end of September, the em-
ployees working at the local
electronics manufacturer lost
their jobs. But Ocean Waters ho-
tels continued to employ Ntan-
keh’s illegal workers.
Ocean Waters confirmed the
workers’ visas when they began
to do business with Ntankeh,
Lueken said. But they relied on
him to maintain those papers.
None has received an exten-
sion, and the hotel dismissed the
workers this month when Ntan-
keh sent a letter to Ocean Wa-
ters about the expired visas.
getting into business with,’’
Lueken said. ‘‘We are anal about
complying with the law — over
the top.’’
Ntankeh insists the exten-
sions will come, conceding he
should have applied for them
earlier. He has refused to pro-
vide the workers proof he even
applied for visa extensions.
Ntankeh showed receipts to The
News-Journal, but U.S. officials
would not confirm if he had ap-
plied. He told the Jamaicans to
stay home and wait.
‘‘I understand they are upset.
There is nothing I can do,’’ he
said. ‘‘I’m the one who brought
them here; why would I steal
from them? Two hundred dol-
lars is nothing. If I’m going to
steal money, I steal good mon-
ey.’’
WASTED TRIP
The Jamaicans say they have
been cheated, and when they go
home will owe hundreds of dol-
lars to money lenders who
helped them with the initial
$1,200. They cannot wait for
Ntankeh’s extensions because
they have bills to pay here and
many still can’t afford the plane
ticket back to Jamaica.
‘‘They accomplished noth-
ing,’’ said Roper, of Daytona
Beach. ‘‘They can’t go back
Home. Most are still (too deep)
in debt.’’
If they return now, they won’t
face a three-year ban from the
United States for staying six
months past the expiration of
their visas. But many say they
THE ODYSSEY:
from Jamaica to
Daytona Beach
Gulf of
Coming from Kingston, Mexico
Montego Bay and the
parishes of Portland and
St. Catherine, the
Jamaicans left behind
spouses, children and jobs
for the chance to clean
hotel rooms along
Daytona Beach’s
oceanfront. Since their
jobs in Jamaica only paid
a few dollars a day, they
scrubbed hotel rooms for
$7 an hour, so they might
save some money to buy
a house, a car, or put away
a nest egg for the little
ones. Now, some say they
can’t even afford the plane
ticket back home.
SOURCE: News-Journal research
Cyan
ï
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
News-Journal/JESSICA WEBB SIBLEY
will still be penalized when they
go to the U.S. Embassy to inter-
view for a new visa. Query Leads
Ira Kurzban, a Miami-based
attorney and expert on immi- to Quandary
gration law, said it’s safer for
immigrants to use attorneys be- In November, Daytona
cause they’re policed by The Beach News-Journal re-
Florida Bar. When it comes to porter Seth Robbins re-
contractors like Ntankeh, he ceived a tip that about 30
said, ‘‘it’s very difficult to get
Jamaican workers with ex-
any control over what they do
and who they are.’’ pired work visas who had
been cleaning rooms for
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? the area’s largest hotelier
Daytona Beach attorney were scrambling for jobs
Handel, who studied under locally after the man who
Kurzban, added employers such recruited them couldn’t get
as Ocean Waters cannot simply them the full-time hours
rely on third-party contractors. he’d promised. Here’s what
They also have a responsibility
to know if their employees are happened after Robbins
working legally. started asking questions:
‘‘They need to do some due dil- RECRUITER RUNS TO
igence,’’ he said. ‘‘Immigration
HIS EMPLOYER: Peter
requires it.’’
At the Plaza Resort and Spa, Ntankeh, whose company
Lueken held a file containing is one of many that
background information on contract with Ocean
Ntankeh’s business and papers Waters Resorts, which
Ntankeh had sent Ocean Waters runs 21 Daytona Beach-
detailing his workers.
On one sheet was a list of area hotels, sends a letter
names, birth dates and visa about the Jamaican
numbers, and it clearly stated workers he was providing
when the workers’ visas started whose visas had expired
and expired — Sept. 30, 2006. months earlier.
But Lueken said the file might
JOBS DISAPPEAR: Soon
be incomplete.
‘‘This file no one has opened after Ntankeh’s letter
in probably, whatever,’’ he reaches Ocean Waters, the
added. ‘‘You do a deal with recruiter’s employees are
someone and you are relying on dismissed.
the person you are contracting
HOTELIER TO
with to be honest.’’
INVESTIGATE: Ocean
SHADY DEALINGS Waters Vice President
After learning of Ntankeh’s Harold Lueken said, ‘‘We
checkered past and the accusa- have not found any
tions made by the Jamaican
wrongdoing, but we will
workers, Lueken said he will
investigate their business with continue to thoroughly
him and may be willing to help investigate the matter. If
the Jamaicans if he discovers we find any wrongdoing,
Ntankeh used the Ocean Waters we will immediately notify
name in any questionable deal-
the authorities and we will
ings with the workers.
‘‘Everything you are telling go out of our way to help
me is news to me and our com- anyone who might have
pany,’’ he said. ‘‘We are going to been harmed.’’
look into it, and if everything is RECRUITER UNDER THE
substantiated, then this guy is
MICROSCOPE: Leuken
gone. And, furthermore, if we
says if the Ocean Waters
find out he has violated any law,
we will bring that to the authori- name was used in any
ties.’’ kind of wrongdoing with
The Jamaicans who Ntankeh Ntankeh, the companies
brought to Daytona Beach now
would sever ties
are either scrounging for work
immediately.
or taking chances on other con-
tractors willing to hire them il- WHAT’S NEXT: The
legally. Jamaicans recruited by
‘‘There are a lot of these cases Ntankeh remain illegally in
going around,’’ Handel said.
the Daytona Beach area.
‘‘Usually, these things work out
Many continue to work at
by the employees getting de-
local hotels.
ported and then there is no one
left to complain.’’
Daytona
FLORIDA
Beach Montego
Bay
St. James
Miles
Tampa
Hanover Trelawny
St. Ann St. Mary 0 30
Westmoreland
JAMAICA
St.
St. Portland
Andrew
Elizabeth St. Thomas
Kingston
DETAIL Manchester St. Catherine
Miami DETAIL
AREA
AREA Clarendon
Key West
BAHAMAS
Atlantic Ocean
CUBA
HAITI
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
Miles JAMAICA
0 100
News-Journal
Yellow Black