Press Secretary Clint Watson. (File photo)
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRESS secretary Clint Watson said the government is still in talks about how to ensure access to Cabbage Beach.
The lack of access to the beach through one route has been a recurrent problem for years. The entry point in question to the beach has been closed on weekends, angering business owners in the area.
“They’re in talks,” Mr Watson said last week. “The Minister of Tourism has said that they are talking. It’s one of those funny situations. The area, the property that we normally use to access the beach is of course private property, but of course you know the beach doesn’t belong to anybody. So the issue here is how to create access and that’s the challenge, how do you negotiate that, how do you work around it. The Minister of Tourism should have an update for us, they still have another meeting yet to go and he will provide an update on that after that meeting. But that is the issue there, how to provide access because it is somebody’s land.”
Access Industries owns the land that provides an entry point to the popular beach. When the entry point to the beach was closed last June, the company said this was for safety purposes while clearing work for a hotel was being done. Former Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said at the time he was blindsided by the move.
In 2016, former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who was in opposition at the time, marched with protestors to remove a fence blocking the same access point.
During his last term in office, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham had fences erected by private homeowners to cordon off access to beaches torn down.
Mr Ingraham said no Bahamian should be forbidden from going on any beach as no beach in the country was private.
Comments
Sickened 2 years, 7 months ago
It's not really hard to resolve. Ask the owners if they wish to sell a piece of the property to the government so that Bahamians can have access. If they say NO then that's it, end of story. Government will have to ask someone else to try and buy some land. Problem is government don't like to pay for land. They just take it or change to rules so you can't do anything with it. Thankfully this group has plenty money to take government to court and will obviously win if government tries to take it.
tribanon 2 years, 7 months ago
Nothing but an intended distraction from cruel Davis's gross incompetence on so many fronts.
ForeverDreamer 2 years, 7 months ago
ERROR
The_Oracle 2 years, 7 months ago
Angering "Business owners" who pay no rent, insurance, have no bathrooms or "shop front" as required by law. If they pay some Vendors fee to government i'd be surprised. Beach access by boat will always be possible. But that would require "investing" in their business. What a strange concept.
bahamianson 2 years, 7 months ago
Whay about the eastern and western roads beach access?the rich people just get to put a gate up or pit a large mound of sand up to prevent us frkm accessing the beach. That is wrong!
Sickened 2 years, 7 months ago
It is wrong; but it's also wrong that the garbage left over ends up either in the ocean or on the 'rich people's' property.
John 2 years, 7 months ago
As efforts continue to exclude ordinary Bahamians from one of the most lucrative industries in the country, government appears balls less and helpless in assisting its people. Don’t be like the US when is shipped most of it’s manufacturing jobs abroad just to avoid a certain sector of it’s society from benefiting from these industries. Now some four decades later, the USA is virtually crippled by one of the greatest supply chain failures in its history . Shelves remain empty if basic and essential items and the shortage of goods demonstrates to the world how lacking the US in on producing goods (and services) to sustain itself. The tourism industry cannot continue to grow and exclude Bahamians from the economic pie. There is an opportunity cost to Bahamians for every tourist that visits this country and Bahamians should not continue to financially support tourism with higher taxes and increases in the cost of living but should now, and even before be benefiting with lucrative jobs, modern and well maintained infrastructure, including airports, seaports, roads, electricity a and water supplies and medical facilities and services that are accessible and affordable. Bahamians must benefit because if tourism and not suffer in spite of it. Else the tables will tournament on those who are hoodwinking and bamboozling us. They can build more ships and larger ships. They can build more hotels and larger hotel properties. But there is still only one Bahamas. And Bahamians want their things ms boy. And fry want it now!
Sickened 2 years, 7 months ago
The Bahamians being left out of the free beach access are not investing in the tourist business. They are free loaders who only want access because it is free. Try and charge them even $5 a day for access and tell them that there are certain rules they must follow such as not taking a shit in the bushes and covering it up with sand, and they will be screaming from the dune tops about how unfair they are being treated.
Flyingfish 2 years, 7 months ago
Who tf is pooing in the bush if there are hotels all around with bathroom facilities
DWW 2 years, 7 months ago
Eminent domain
temptedbythefruitofanother 2 years, 7 months ago
anyone with access to a jetski or a small boat can access the entirety of Cabbage beach at any access point they choose. Climbing over private property to access the beach is an issue because,....well it's private property. NOONE is denying Bahamians access to the beach.
It is the jetski operator thugs and their drug dealing accomplices who beat and rape unsuspecting tourists on a daily basis when given unobstructed access to the beach that are ruining things for everyone. Why haven't these criminals been stopped?
U.S. Embassy in Nassau: Jet Ski Operators Sexually Assaulted 5 Tourists in 18 Months
https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2016/01/a…
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