“You cannot just simply decide to take away a right of way or easement to any property”
House speaker says govt should establish laws offering greater access to the beach
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Speaker of the House of Assembly Halson Moultrie asserted yesterday that landowners on Paradise Island have sought to deny Bahamians access to the beach because of their apparent desire for “apartheid-type control” of the island.
Dozens of vendors and other supporters took apart the fence blocking the path that leads to Cabbage Beach yesterday morning.
“What is happening, I believe, is that persons on Paradise Island are seeking to deny Bahamians access to the beach because they want absolute apartheid-type control on Paradise Island,” Moultrie said.
“I believe the Bahamian people should resist that at all cost.
“You should never — as a matter of fact, I had a similar experience when I was studying meteorology in Barbados when Tom Adams was the prime minister where the foreign investors were trying to deny Barbadians access to the beach and the Bodybuilders Association led the opposition to that initiative, and today, Barbados has new coastal management laws — which I was proposing, mind you…”
Moultrie said the same or something similar should be done in The Bahamas where greater access to the beach is offered and existing access points are better guarded.
“It should have been done,” the speaker said.
“Those coastal management laws that would establish the datum level, establish the high watermark. It should be enacted so there is no question.”
The vendors’ belongings and wares, such as lounge chairs and umbrellas, were stacked on the side of the road with a sign from the developer advising that they could be collected up until Friday.
The developer, Access Industries, has said the decision to erect the fence was for safety as the Paradise Island beach project, a multimillion-dollar investment, gets underway.
However, Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar said the move “blindsided” him and his ministry.
He said he would await plans from the developer to incorporate the vendors into the project, but it is likely the vendors will continue to have access as per the status quo.
Moultrie represented the Cabbage Beach Vendors Association (CBVA) in 2016 after several vendors were charged with obstruction, destroying property and resisting arrest during a protest that saw the removal of a fence barring access to the beach.
At the time, protestors were joined by then-Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis; then-Free National Movement candidates Renward Wells, Duane Sands, Moultrie; and a host of Democratic National Alliance supporters, including then-Leader Branville McCartney.
At one point, the vendors blocked access to the Paradise Island Bridge.
The charges were later dropped against the vendors.
Yesterday, Moultrie said the vendors involved in yesterday’s fiasco faced a similar circumstance.
“Companies that own the land on Paradise Island felt that they should take it upon themselves to deprive the Bahamian people of access to the beach, which of course is illegal because no one owns the beach except beyond the high-water mark. In that instance, we took the matter to court,” he said.
“Those access to the beach on Cabbage Beach were available to the people from time and immemorial and you cannot just simply decide to take away a right of way or easement to any property.”
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