Protestors call for increased access to Little Dunn's River

After Monday's protest at the Blue Lagoon in Port Antonio, the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement (JaBBEM) moved its activities to the Little Dunn's River beach in Ocho Rios on Tuesday, with a two-hour sit-in outside the facility.

Little Dunn's River was closed in August 2022, but has since been allowed to reopen to the public on Saturdays and Sundays.

JaBBEM President Dr Devon Taylor wants the facility to revert to being open seven days a week.

It was a handful of placard-bearing protestors who converged on the site but the tooting of horns and clenching of fists by passing motorists in support of the action added to the protest.

Some placards read: “Beach access = human rights”, “2 days a week is not beach access” and “who owns Jamaican beaches?”

“The group is advocating for the rights of the Jamaican people to access their beaches and rivers and for the rights of the vendors to also earn a living from these spaces just as how anyone else is earning in hotels and villas and restaurants and guest houses,” Taylor told reporters.

He said community members also need to benefit from tourism.

“The local people need a piece of this pie as well called tourism. It is an environmentally friendly product, it's a community product and we are vouching for it. There are almost four, five miles of beach access from Priory to Ocho Rios and there is no access for the communities in and around St Ann,” he added.

Taylor said the protests will continue if nothing is done to address the situation.

The group's protest on Tuesday precedes Thursday's Sutton Street Court hearing of a petition filed by JaBBEM in relation to the Bob Marley Beach in St Andrew.

- Carl Gilchrist

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