The Tribune

YESTERDAY’S closure of the entrance to Cabbage Beach brought a sense of déjà vu.

When vendors discovered the entrance closed off yesterday, they forced open the locked gates and set about taking their belongings – placed across the street from the beach – back down to the sand.

In 2016, when vendors found a fence blocking off the entrance point, they tore it down in protest – and a number of them were arrested and charged as a result. Back then, FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis, before he was Prime Minister, said the party would expunge the convictions of anyone involved in the protest – though by 2018, a number of those protestors were saying they felt abandoned by Dr Minnis on the issue. They were subsequently discharged when police officers failed to show to testify.

Well, the issue has come back right to Dr Minnis’ doorstep with the beach access being again closed off by the somewhat ironically named Access Industries.

On one level, the issue is simple. Access Industries owns the land, and the company has decided to close it off amid plans for a condo-hotel on the property.

But it is a very emotive issue – as shown by people being willing to risk arrest and going to court over the matter.

Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar said he was “blindsided” by the move to close off the beach entrance.

Blindsided about the closure perhaps, but the situation should be no surprise, we’ve been here before. More to the point, we’ve been here in court too. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled the public land is the part between the high water and low water marks – although that is not very well distinguished and depends on decades-old surveys, but also ruled vendors had no right to be on property owned by private owners – which would be the land above the high water mark. As for the entrance way to the beach, the court ruled that was a private access way over which the owner could set terms and conditions of its use. In other words, the owner can define who gets access – and close it off if they want.

An executive with long-time involvement with Atlantis who understands the issues spoke in 2016 too, cautioning that “emotions are taking over” and that “it’s an issue of property rights, not birthright”. He said: “A path was allowed; it’s not a right of way or easement.”

So while the government might not have been expecting this, it ought to have known the legal position with regard to the Supreme Court ruling. It is more than two years since that ruling – the legal position shouldn’t be a surprise.

Mr D’Aguilar may be talking yesterday about what the developers’ intention may be and whether they intend to “seize the land and deny access to the vendors” – but they don’t need to seize the land, they already own it.

That said, Access Industries must have known this would stir up a hornet’s nest when they took this action. Without warning or notice, they blocked off the entrance knowing what the reaction was in 2016. Just as bad, they picked up other people’s belongings and placed it on the other side of the road without the courtesy of telling people in advance.

The company’s actions are far from those of a good neighbour – but it’s their property.

Why the company has done this, knowing the emotions surrounding the issue, is hard to say. In a statement last night, the company said due to “safety” concerns during construction, the access point would be closed. The statement said clearing work had begun – and that access to the beach was still available through Beach Club Drive. Unhelpfully, the company also suggested people “consider Junkanoo Beach or Montagu Beach” – which is a comment more likely to stir the pot than to make peace.

With election season around the corner, making such a move without advance notice seems an unnecessary provocation. We talk about the need for good corporate citizens in this country – this move is not a step towards that.

In the meantime, let’s get creative with access to the beach and do the same as in many other countries if this can’t get resolved and have a flotilla of small boats bringing people to the beach. Where one business prevents access, let’s have some entrepreneurs find another way.