Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

With most public beaches in a state of deterioration, Government, through the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), is seeking to have beaches rehabilitated and remain accessible to the public.

Seventeen of the island's 87 public beaches do not meet minimum safety standards, environmentalists say, and the rest are either in a state of disrepair or have no facilities for changing, toilets, solid-waste receptacles, parking lots or security. Squatting is also a major problem, they contend, particularly on fishing beaches, where the beaches are in poor condition owing to illegal sand mining and beach erosion.

Speaking recently with The Sunday Gleaner, Ainsley Henry, manager of coastal zoning and watershed management at National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), says one beach is to be reopened as early as August 3. The Salem Beach in St. Ann, he says, has been leased to a private developer who has been instructed to put in basic conveniences such as toilet facilities and changing rooms. A fee will be charged by the developer for the maintenance of the facilities.

Seeking partnerships

The Boston Beach in Portland is also to be rehabilitated in a similar fashion. The property has been leased to the Portland Parish Council.

"This is one of the routes that we are seeking to use to rehabilitate the beaches. There is always a problem with money, so we are seeking to work smarter ... So, we are seeking partnerships, in some instances for those [beaches] that we own, to get them to a point where we can be justifiably proud of them," says Henry.

According to Henry, NEPA, through the NRCA, will ensure that every parish has a public beach in good condition, especially in areas where there is a large number of people who need regular access to the beach.

"It's not that we are not mindful of the lack of access. That is something we are committed to correcting, and we are committed to ensuring that the public beaches that we have conform to the highest international standards," he says.