Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer

( L - R ) Forstmayr, Little-white

THERE ARE still mixed views among tourism stake-holders about the impleme-ntation of an open foreshore beach policy for Jamaica, guaranteeing free access to all the island's beaches 10 years after an official debate on the matter began.

Chapter six of Jamaica's Tourism Master Plan notes that there have been "public demonstrations calling for better access to beaches for the Jamaican public". It also suggests that another bone of contention is that denial of access to beaches owned by pri-vate hotels, as well as exorbitant fees charged when access is granted, infringes on citizens' rights.

Exclusion

The Green Paper prepared in 1998 by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority titled 'Towards a Beach Policy for Jamaica' noted that "with increased tourist and residential development along the coastal strip demanding exclusive use, fewer good beaches are being left available for public use and the erection of fences on some hotel properties has reinforced the impression of exclusion of Jamaicans from certain beaches". At the time, the Green Paper evoked a sharp objection from the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), which expressed concern that the proposals would damage the tourist industry.

But Josef Forstmayr, general manager of Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Hanover, says the problem lies not with the hoteliers, but with the failure of the authorities to maintain and equip public beaches. He said the island's public beaches were far more beautiful and vastly superior to hotel beaches.

Pressure authorities

"We (hoteliers) sit on the crappiest beaches in the island. I am serious. All the best beaches in Jamaica are in public domain, but they are in terrible condition; they are not properly maintained," Forstmayr said. "Every other hotel beach in Jamaica is either man-made or man-improved, because it wasn't such a great beach in the first place."

Forstmayr, a former president of the JHTA, said pressure should be placed on municipal authorities to implement maintenance policies to safeguard public beaches.

"We should insist each parish identifies three of their beaches that they wish to have maintained, with proper changing rooms, showers, proper bathrooms.

"They must be maintained through the Budget, through the parish councils, and you could come to the Tourism Enhancement Fund and say, 'We have a problem, we want to build and equip a beautiful public beach'," he added.

Educate public

Lennie Little-White, operator of heritage tour attraction, Outameni Experience, in Trelawny, argues that a public-education campaign should be launched to raise citizens' awareness and help prevent the harassment which hoteliers fear might increase if their beaches are open to the general public.

"When I go on the beach at a place as conservative as the Cayman Islands, each hotel has to create a little pathway that you can walk down to the beach.

It is ridiculous to tell me I can go on the beach, but I have to get there from the sea," Little-White said.

Cecil Cornwall, chief executive officer of the Western Hospitality Institute, agrees with Little-White's views and believes harassment could rise with the liberalisation of beach access.

"I don't think they (hoteliers) don't want them to use the beach. It is just that it is just going to drag up the tourist harassment and we can't afford it," Cornwall said.