Yes to tourism development, but leave our beach alone!

The glorified white sand of the Rocky Point Beach in eastern St Thomas is reason enough for residents to believe that their community qualifies for tourism investments.

With almost a kilometre in coastline, the area is often utilised by residents of neighbouring communities, with a small fraction operated by fishermen who have established a fishing village where they also dock their boats.

And while several residents joyed at the mention of a major potential tourism advancement to attract and serve a wider community, there is one condition that they hold dear to their hearts – ‘do not deprive us of the beach’.

“From I was a little lad this is the only place I know. I have been fishing here more than 30 years until I now have my own boat and engine.

“We the fishermen utilise a little part of the beach and we satisfy with that, and the public also uses the beach because it’s white sand, but otherwise there is a lot of land here that can be used for tourism. I would really like to see some development for Rocky Point, especially for the young people because a lot of them in the parish not doing anything. I am an old man but I still have to think about the future of the ones coming up,” shared Cecil Thomas.

The treasured beach spans several communities and is often the recreational choice for other areas, including Barking Lodge, Springfield, Pera, Golden Grove, Duckenfield, Dalvey, Amity Hall and Bath.

“I would like to see hotels, and Rocky Point is a good place because it’s very attractive and everybody who visits here loves it. If it gets the development it can give Negril competition, but we know they tried to displace a lot of people who were already set a certain way when Negril was being developed, and we wouldn’t want to be disappointed by being told to move from here when these hotels come, and that our boats cannot be docked here and people take away our good beach where we cannot bathe as we have a like.

“Mi feel say it will cause another Paul Bogle rebellion in eastern St Thomas if they should take away this beach from us,” said the elderly fisherman.

Maurice Blake of Barking Lodge, who shared that he often visits the area to have lunch or just to enjoy the serenity and view of the parish’s only white sand beach, said he, too, is excited about any development prospect available for the area.

According to him, “Development is key. The new road now being built is going to shed some light on the community. I know that maybe things will get more expensive, such as land, but likewise, more employment opportunities are going to be here so it will be an answer to the high price problem because more people will be working and be able to afford what they want.”

Further, he added that “Rocky Point has a lot to offer, including fresh fish and fresh food because of the farmers, plus it’s a very peaceful area.”

Earlier this year, executive director of the Tourism Development Fund, Dr Carey Wallace, announced that Rocky Point is among 10 beaches that have been selected for development over the next three years under a beach-development programme.

The other are Watson Taylor Park in Hanover; Success, St James; Priory, St Ann; Rio Nuevo, St Mary; Murdock Beach, St Mary; Winnifred Beach, Portland; Guts River, Manchester; Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth; and Crane Road in St Elizabeth.

The development will include restaurant, bar, lifeguard huts, parking, security, signage, utilities, Wi-Fi, restrooms, entertainment and a unique feature.

According to Carey, beaches will be positioned as revenue centres that will be free to the public. Consultation will be done with each community to get their approval and their input on the proposed plans.

Beach activist Carla Gullotta, when contacted, said while she welcomes the programme, the community must be an integral part of the beach development and should have an input in the plans. Also, she said the community members who work on the beach should be allowed to continue their livelihood on the beach after it is developed.

“If developments are to be promoted, I think development should include the fact that you do not eliminate or put aside those who have been managing the beach until now,” she said.

Further, she said the developers must also ensure that keen attention is paid to the environment, and that there is no damage to the environment, as has happened on other local beaches where construction was done on the sand.

In addition, Gullotta also expressed concerns regarding whether or not access will truly be free for members of the public.

“It should not become a place where people will have to pay $300 or $400 to go to the beach because that will be a burden for the family. Imagine a family of four having to pay $1,200 to go to the beach to spend two hours?”

The Tourism Enhancement Fund beaches programme is, however, part of a larger plan by the Government to improve the standard and access to beaches on the island. This will be done through the Beach Access and Management Policy, which is currently at the draft stage. Last October, the policy Green Paper was tabled in the House of Representatives and since then, as part of the policy development process, the Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal and Climate Change has been hosting a series of virtual consultations with a number of stakeholders. The public has also been invited to make recommendations.

The policy, however, is seeking to address issues, including the country’s long-standing problem with access to public beaches, a lack of good standard public beaches, divestment of public beaches without public consultation, concerns about fees and the cost for entrance to some public bathing beaches, loss of physical and visual access to the coastline due to extensive coastal development, and the prohibitive costs of access to beaches that have been divested.

Other concerns such as beach squatting, lack of maintenance and beach amenities, coastal erosion, noise pollution and a lack of safety measure on the beach will also be addressed in the policy.

Formulated in the policy to comprehensively address the issues are six goals: establishment of effective institutional arrangements for the regulation and management of beaches; increase physical access to the foreshore, the floor of the sea and the water column above it; expansion of beach-related recreational opportunities; institution of measures for pollution control and safety for the protection of users of the coastal resources; management of fishing beaches and protection of the traditional access rights of fishermen, and protection of coastal resources and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Key policy measures being proposed under the policy are fixed fees for public recreational beaches; revised or set fees for commercial recreational beaches; establishment of hotel beach passes; Cabinet approval for beach divestment; development of a beach access plan for each parish; public access sensitisation and awareness campaign; engagement of local community-based organisations and benevolent societies in the management and sustainable use of bathing, and the leasing of public bathing beaches to private sector and community-based organisation.