“Dah beach is mine, I can bade anytime; Despite what they say, I gine bade anyway.” – Jack, The Mighty Gabby, 1982
FEW THINGS RILE UP Barbadians like a threat of devaluation of the dollar or talk of privatisation of the beaches.
Last week, managers at three South Coast hotels moved swiftly to deny they were designating sections of the beach near their properties for guests only.
Visitors also told the DAILY NATION they were against “privatisation” of the beaches as they liked to interact with locals.
While there is no overt privatisation, online readers said the proliferation of chairs on the best spots on the sand, stated clearly the intentions of some hoteliers. Here are some of their views.
Angela Maria: Look, some of wanna does got the entire beach, or the prime spots, tek up with those chairs. Sometimes, the only spot locals can find to sit when they go to certain beaches is in the water. If I come down to the beach and I can’t find any place to park my . . . because of wanna beach chairs, then I gine make use of an empty one. Either that or take it up and shift it so that I can relax on the beach that my money (taxes) does pay for on a regular. I want to know what right hotels have to cover an entire beach with their equipment so that locals cannot use said beach comfortably. Doing so is as good as saying: Keep out.
Ron Grant: You put down a hundred chairs and umbrellas evenly spaced on a section of the beach and then say you are not “designating sections of the beach”. This comment not only for the hotels mentioned here but for all those who engage in this practice along our beaches.
Celia Harewood: I agree that hotels should not take up all the beach with chairs. This is becoming chronic in Bim and should be regulated. Chairs should be placed when a guest requests one. They can place it where they want, leaving the rest of the beach available for public use. Hotels know exactly what they are doing using beach chairs as a cover to commandeer sections of the beach for their private use. There needs to be some kind of official monitoring and regulation to prevent this covert practice. If not, we will soon see fences and barbed wire.
Simon Patrick Jn-Louis: You guys flood the beach with chairs and other beach equipment, taking up all the space and refuse to move them till it’s late. Barbados beaches are not local, they’re private; so sad.
Philip Matthews: Hope these hotels can also think of the locals. The hotels take the best part of the beach. Show you care by putting picnic tables and put public use on them. A little kindness goes a long way.
Judy Stanford: And so it begins . . . slowly taking over the beaches one chair at a time.
• Sherrylyn Toppin is The Nation’s Online Editor.
