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Jamaica’s Apartheid-like Beaches

Government sells off public beaches – Jamaicans refused access to most of their best beaches!! 

The bottom line is that……..almost every beach in this beautiful country of ours….carries a “No Trespassing” sign! Some are even heavily guarded by armed security personnel…..

The bottom line is that every few weeks another wall or fence goes up….keeping them in….and blocking us out of our beaches!

Elaborate security systems locking us out of the beaches we have swam in and romped in for decades….

  

The bottom line is that ……………Jamaica is beginning to look like an apartheid state…where pedestrian access to beaches in our backyards is only granted if we carry an id….or if we are honorary tourists!

best beach in the world, jamaican beachThe bottom line is that ……beaches are not a luxury…beaches are a public space that provide a different set of rhythm to renew public life. Beaches are democratic commonsthat bring people together as equals. The bottom line is that ….public access to the beach is integral to democracy and equality.

The bottom line is that……… successive governments in Jamaica have failed to put public space and the public interest over private power and hence ….our rights to Jamaica’s beaches are being severed.

The bottom line is that ………….the struggle to preserve public access to our beaches spreads from Negril point to Morant Point and everywhere in between…..but it is a struggle we seem to be losing….as Jamaicans battle with bread and butter issues…

The bottom line is that …………our civil rights and civil liberties are at stake here….the ability to “go to the beach” as we say in Jamaica…..is not just about recreation (although that might have been enough in a country so deeply traumatized)….it is more than that …..it is about our civil rights and our human rights…. to equal justice for all!!

The bottom line is that…………we must reverse the current situation…..we must fight for public access to our coastline….before we lose it all….we must fight ….through activism, legislation and our votes!!

The bottom line is that ……this is not only about the beach….it is about our livelihood….about our fishermen….and our farmers…..first they sell the coastline….then what…? How much of the Jamaican coastline… do we the Jamaican people…. currently have access to?

The bottom line is that……this may sound flippant and even farfetched….but the wanton sale of Jamaica by successive governments….. Is great cause for concern…..are they also selling us as cheap labour…..through the IMF, EPA agreements, security initiatives?….which will ultimately serve only to  militarize our nation and re-enslave Jamaicans?…..

The bottom line is that …..the sale of or beaches is part of the wider problem of the fundamental importance of land rights……for securing the enjoyment of a wide range of other civil, political, economic and social rights in Jamaica.

The bottom line is that …..We must demand of our political representatives… that they represent us on this matter…..we must actively engage the system to ensure that the constitutional provisions will go far enough to guarantee that our land rights…including our coastline and beaches…are protected!

The bottom line is that ……the complicity of the private sector in the sale of Jamaica….. must be dragged out into the open and named for what it is….The bottom line is that we…all of…as Jamaicans….must call out the private sector on the agendas they are setting for Jamaica….we must do this…for the sake of peace and stability in our country….

The bottom line is that….land is central to our long history and is tied to the continued abuse of the landless by the landed gentry….in this case private sector interests… with the complicity of our elected representatives….this cannot be ignored….

The bottom line is that ….the exploitable potential of Jamaica ….is serious business….as a people we are physically and spiritually linked to land….and we will not and cannot ignore the wanton sale of Jamaica….by those  whom we elect to preserve and protect our legacy….

That’s the bottom line…

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