A new immigration policy requiring visas for Jamaican visitors to Bermuda has not been properly communicated to authorities in Jamaica, it is being claimed.

Just two days after the policy was announced, Jamaican authorities put the brakes on one traveller's plans even though his plans fell within the time frame exempting him from the visa requirement, according to his would be host.

"I worked a whole week for a one thousand dollar ticket to be thrown down the drain like that?

I don't think so," the irate local woman told this newspaper.

Home Affairs Minister, Terry Lister announced the new policy on January 15, its effective start date, adding that travellers who had bought tickets on or before that date and planned on jetting in before midnight January 21 would be exempt.

According to the woman, who was expecting a friend to arrive on the Island yesterday, authorities at Jamaica's Kingston airport refused to allow him to board an American Airlines flight.

She declined to be identified for this story. It is unclear whether the man was stopped by the airline or Immigration in Jamaica.

But the woman, a Bermudian, claims that Bermuda Immigration has not fully informed relevant parties of the policy changes because the Jamaicans did not seem to be aware of any written notification of the exemption.

The man was about to make his second trip to the Island and while his ticket had been purchased before January 15, the original travel date was moved forward from January 25 to avoid the visa requirement.

She said that the airport in Kingston had no paperwork from Bermuda to say that people can travel without a visa if they had booked their tickets before January 15.

"We were looking forward for him coming and he's not here, it's a big upset," she continued. "A few calls have been made to the Bermuda Department of Immigration and their response to the public is they are not getting involved and they had nothing to do with it. But we as the public are saying, why wasn't the paperwork sent out for people with pre-booked tickets, the question is what happens to these people who had their tickets?"

Minister Lister could not be contacted for comment by press-time yesterday. Efforts to contact Chief Immigration Officer, Martin Brewer or the Ministry's Permanent Secretary were also unsuccessful.

We were also unable to verify the woman's account of her friend's experience in Jamaica.

As of last night the Bermuda Immigration web-site had not been updated with the policy change. And on Thursday the Jamaica Observer reported that, while Jamaica's foreign Ministry had been made aware that a change was in the offing, they had not received formal notification of the decision as of January 15.

The policy change is an attempt to crackdown on Jamaican drug smugglers and follows hard on the heels of an identical decision by Britain's Home Secretary David Blunkett.

And it means that Jamaican nationals with tickets purchased after January 15 have to wait for at least two months for entry visas as the arrangement took effect midnight on January 15.

Jamaican tourists will have to apply to the British High Commission in Kingston, which will vet them together with Immigration officials here to weed out potential criminals.

Applicants appearing on stop lists will have to wait two years before qualifying to enter Bermuda.