Jamaica Beach Activists File Court Cases
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- Jabbem filed injunctions covering five beaches—Mammee Bay, Little Dunn’s River, Blue Lagoon, Bob Marley beach, and Flankers/Providence beach—with the first trial scheduled for later this month.
- Devon Taylor says investors in 2019 fenced off Mammee Bay and hired armed security, prompting community protests that escalated to gunshots when the fence was ripped down and concrete walls erected.
- Beach Control Act of 1956, retained from colonial rule, gives the Jamaican state ownership of the foreshore and seabed, forming the legal basis for the all‑inclusive tourism model activists call “plantation tourism”.
- Blue Lagoon Alliance alleges the 2022 closure of the Blue Lagoon, promised to reopen in 90 days, was actually intended to permanently block public access roads for private villa development.
- Matthew Samuda announced government plans to build Harmony and Success beach parks and to require developers to carve “corridors to the sea”, while still allowing “qualified rights” that could involve fees.
- Narra Act, passed to speed post‑Hurricane Melissa rebuilding, is feared by campaigners to weaken the older Prescription Act that protects public access routes, concentrating power in the Prime Minister’s office.
- Andrew Holness proposed a beach access and management policy in March that modernises legislation but still permits “qualified rights”, a point activists argue leaves room for continued restrictions.
Why it matters: A court ruling in favor of activists would preserve free, legal access to essential coastal resources for local fishers and vendors, while curbing developers’ ability to enclose beaches for profit. The case also tests the 1956 Beach Control Act and could reshape Jamaica’s tourism‑driven land policy.
