by Dr Lester Simon

1.You want unimpeded access to our 365 beaches? Be careful what you wish for. Here is access 2026 and beyond.

2. Let’s assume, rightly or wrongly, that there are at least three reasons why owners of hotels on the beach are concerned about unimpeded access to the beach. These reasons may include safety and security, privacy and harassment, and sanitation.

3. Some of us locals who are pushing for beach access are the very same ones who dirty-up the environment away from the beach, including our yard, outside our yard and any and everywhere in Antigua. Look at the innumerable times good citizens have had to go on cleanup campaigns to pick up other people’s garbage that are thrown uncaringly all over the place.

4. I put up my hand and plead guilty. One night after playing music in a band at a restaurant, I stupidly tossed some food into the bush. Immediately, I remembered that one of the band members worked in sanitation and thought that he was probably too ashamed of me to tell me I was wrong. I immediately apologized but the damaged was already done, even though I felt like groveling at the vermin invaded food to retrieve it. And yet, the very next day, I was the same one who cursed openly when I found two empty Guinness glass bottles on the grassy knoll near my workplace, waiting for me or someone else to park and get punctured.

5. Some people are just too blinking nasty with no broughtupsy, and others need a constant reminder, an embarrassing incident, or a legal penalty for enforcement of what they already know. This means that the beaches, must have not just lifeguards but all kinds of guards to keep us in check. Are we willing to pay at least one dollar for unimpeded access to the beach? The money is but a small token reminder that whilst you may dirty-up your private room, you are not entitled to dirty-up anywhere else, even if you pay taxes.

6. Safety and security on the beach are not just for hotel guests. If I were a thief, the wide-open beach is one perfect place or worksite where I would ply my trade on whomever. You are relaxed and carefree and I am watching and waiting and besetting to take all you have; and if you don’t look sharp, I would take you as well. Are we willing to pay at least one dollar to ensure safety and security on the beach. Again, the measly dollar is simply a token that nothing in life is free. There is no such thing as free, unimpeded access to our 365 beaches. Swim and float over that.

7. Privacy is a slightly complicated issue. One of the important mantras I learnt from swimming is to never swim alone. If per chance I have to, I swim in shallow water such that any emergency can be mitigated by at least trying to crawl ashore. Some people die or encounter a medical problem in sea water for reasons unrelated to the sea. They just happen to be there, at sea.

8. Everyone has the right to privacy, off or on the beach. It has been brought to my attention that private, nude beaches with stark naked people exist in Antigua. This secluded information was exposed to me. I didn’t go looking or swimming for it. It just floated in the atmosphere to my disinterested ears. That’s the naked truth. People just love to bring me news, as if I am a daily observer. It was also brought to my attention that privacy is a double-edged affair in that some guests reportedly do not want too much privacy and are wantonly seeking to find the secret place where they can “rent a dread”. I do confess that this is old news, and I acknowledge it may not be current… depending on the tide.

9. It may be that harassment will decrease in concert with improvement in the other factors that help to change the environment and atmosphere on the beach. It is difficult, but not impossible, to be responsible in one regard and totally irresponsible in another.

10.When it’s all said and done, or before it’s all said and done, reality must step in as we try to balance the need for unimpeded access with the implications and complications of unimpeded access. This native idea that since the beach is ours we can do to it and with it whatever we want, whenever we want, cannot hold water, including sea water.

11. Someone somewhere must me laughing at the nonsense, the sheer stupidity, that more than 500 years after Christopher Columbus, sensible people, nationals, investors and visitors, cannot solve this matter of access and responsibility.

12. Unimpeded beach access is not rocket science. We are not going to another planet. We have one beautiful earth and in Antigua 365 beaches that are more than enough for all of us to enjoy safely and responsibly.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: COMMENTARY: You Want Beach Access?.