In it Caribbean there is a paradisiacal beach where, as unusual as it may seem, its inhabitants do not have the right to use itis a wide expanse of white sand bordering the turquoise sea, whose beauty leaves you paralyzed.
In 2020that same stretch of sand was sold to a private developer to be converted into a multimillion-dollar luxury residential and resort complex. A concrete wall was built and the beach was closed to locals.
If after reading the title you think about Tulum because in the Jaguar Park that operates the Mexican Army have prevented access to the beaches, you are “warm”, but it is not about that also beautiful beach, because the residents have demonstrated and protested to enforce the law, in addition to demanding free movement in them.
In reality it is about the Mammee Bay beachwhere it is common to observe fishing boats docked after a day of work and children playing in the sand
Fishermen living in the nearby community of Steer Town were suddenly prevented from accessing the waters where they had launched their boats for generations.
Entrance to the popular swimming spot, the Roaring River, was also blocked when the government sold the surrounding land to the China Harbor Engineering Company to build private residences.
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“How can you use a beach or a river for (hundreds of) years and, in a matter of days, you no longer have access to it?” said to BBC Devon Taylor, co-founder of the Jamaica Beach Environmental Movement (JaBBEM).
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The battle for Jamaica’s beaches: privatization
For many foreign travelers, Jamaica is synonymous with white sand beaches and swaying palm trees.
In 2024, a record 4.3 million tourists flocked to the island, and while many came to splash in their crystal clear waters, these same beaches are increasingly inaccessible for their own jamaicans.
Of the island’s 1,022 kilometers of coastline, only 0.6% is public and freely accessible to local residents, JaBBEM reported.
“Our cultural ties to natural spaces have been decimated,” Taylor said.
The privatization of Jamaican beaches has been developing for the past seven decades, but as the number of foreign-owned resorts and real estate developments has multiplied in the past five years, the closure of places beloved by locals such as Mammee Bay.
Currently, only the 40% of whats $4.3 billion that Jamaica generates in tourism revenue stays in Jamaica. However, all-inclusive resorts are booming on the island’s beaches.
Hotel growth takes away the right of residents to use beaches
By 2030, the construction of 10,000 new rooms throughout the island, many of which, including the 1,000-room Hard Rock Hotel and the 1,350-room Moon Palace The Grand in Montego Bay, are located on the coast and will further restrict Jamaicans’ access to their coastline.
What does the law say about beach use in Jamaica?
Much of this phenomenon is due to a relic of the nation’s nearly century as a British colony: Beach Control Act of 1956, which grants the State ownership of the coastline and stipulates that Jamaicans They have no public right to swim or access the beach without permission.
This law continues to allow the government to transfer coastal areas into private hands.
“Al isolate Jamaicans from the sea, of their traditional fishing practices and livelihoods, the community is being destroyed; In one or two generations, it will no longer exist,” said Marcus Goffe, a lawyer representing JaBBEM.
It was not until the formation of JaBBEM in 2021 that Jamaicans’ fight for beach access gained momentum.
Residents protest, but are ignored
The residents increasingly demand the repeal of the Beach Control Law and currently there are five court cases ongoing that seek to ensure access to beaches for residents throughout the island.
These include Mammee Bay Beach;
- Providence Beach in Montego Bay (where Sandals Resorts International plans to build overwater bungalows);
- Bob Marley Beachwhose Rastafarian communities fight a $200 million luxury resort;
- Little Dunn’s River y Blue Lagoonwhich has banned local rafting businesses from operating since August 2022.
“In Montego Bay, there may be four public beaches left,” said JaBBEM coordinator Monique Christie.
Demand against Sandals Resorts
Christie is also one of 10 people who recently filed a lawsuit against Sandals Resortswhich aims to privatize Providence Beach, where she and her family have swum since she was a child.
“It is not just a question of rights. Communities like ours are closely linked to our land and our natural environment: our seas, the air, the coast, the flora and fauna,” Goffe told Lebawit Lily Girma for BBC.
Few beautiful free beaches in Jamaica
On the few beautiful, free beaches on Jamaica’s north coast, such as Dead End Beach and Discovery Bay, families with children enjoy reggae at the hotel bar and restaurant, while fishermen clean and sell their catch.
In major resorts such as Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, guests of private resorts are increasingly isolated from these milieus of local life.
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