The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Junkanoo Beach Association’s (JBA) president yesterday praised the Government’s plans to overhaul the destination as “magnificent for the whole product overall”.

Barron Coley-Austin told Tribune Business he has been in discussions with the Government and is backing its phased approach to implementing the upgrades so that no Junkanoo Beach vendors are displaced or disrupted.

“I’m not aware of anyone being displaced for us,” he said. “We don’t know what their plans are but our plans are that they should phase in one section and, as that opens, they should put the vendors that are here already into those newly- renovated parts.”

This “transition”, Mr Coley-Austin explained, will help create a system of seniority for the established vendors. Junkanoo Beach is to be expanded from its current boundaries, adjacent to the Margaritaville Beach Hotel and The Pointe complex, westwards to Arawak Cay.

The first phase expansion will begin from the western end of Junkanoo Beach that is “unoccupied”, with the redevelopment working its way back eastwards. Mr Coley-Austin said: “We hope that they [the Government] will work with us in conjunction with this to ensure that, as phases one, two and three are completed, we can phase the vendors into phase one, then phase two and then phase three so no one is displaced.”

“The JBA is suggesting that they put 13 new stalls on phase one, and we’re proposing that when they finish those first 13 stalls they should phase the vendors from the east end down into the 13 new spots.

“Then they should come into phase two where the present vendors are so, when they renovate that area, the transition can be fluid and then they can move the 13 new vendors back into phase one once we have been relocated back into phase two.” Mr Coley-Austin said the “switch” is the “best thing to do” so none of the vendors will be displaced.

The Association is said to be supportive of the proposed expansion as it has been years in the making. “Once we can put the political differences aside we can all work for one common goal,” Mr Coley-Austin added.

A government senator earlier this week pledged that no existing vendors will be displaced when the project to revive and upgrade Junkanoo Beach begins in the 2024 first quarter.

Randy Rolle, also the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation’s global relations consultant, told the Senate that a staged approach to the revitalistion will be undertaken so as to minimise disruption for vendors and tourists alike.

The head of the Government’s Downtown Nassau revitalisation efforts said: “I am also proud to announce that there is forward motion to begin the revitalisation of Junkanoo Beach.

“Groundbreaking is scheduled for the first quarter of this year. I would like to take this time to note that none of the current vendors will be displaced as this project will be rolled out in a phased approach, starting from the western end of Junkanoo Beach to the eastern end.”