4
| THE VOICE MAY 2023
News Feature
‘AVOID JA RESORTS Jamaicans appeal to Black Brits to research holiday and help force change. EXCLUSIVE by Sinai Fleary
A
LEADING CAMPAIGN group has demanded British tourists boycott hotels and resorts that deny Jamaicans access to beaches across the island. This comes after two of Bob Marley’s children, Ziggy and Cedella Marley, backed Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement’s (JABBEM) drive, calling for all of Jamaica’s beaches to be made accessible to local people. JABBEM was launched following reports that some local Jamaicans were being turned away from beaches in the Caribbean country. The group’s president, Dr Devon Taylor, is a Biomedical Research Scientist and an environmental and social justice advocate. He says he is thankful to Ziggy for using his voice to amplify the issue. He would like to see similar actions that Jamaicans took against Apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s and 90s, now taken over the issue of beach access. He said: “A lot of music was made, we did a lot of protests and we let our voices be heard. “I think it is time, that when you vacation in Jamaica you ask your resort ‘can a Jamaican walk over your property to get to the beach?’ If they say ‘no’ then you say ‘well I can’t stay here.’”
HOLIDAYS
Dr Taylor wants tourists to “take action” and “put their money where their mouth is” and tell hotels and resorts they won’t be booking holidays with them if Jamaicans are denied access to the beach. He also said travellers should exercise their “economic power” to create the change they want to see, as they have alternatives with the growing number of quality Airbnb’s available across the island. “Jamaica’s economic model basically says that Jamaicans and tourists cannot coexist on the same beach,” he explained. He continued: “Every hotel that comes, adopts that same model.” Dr Taylor, who is from Steer Town, in the parish of St Ann, said he has witnessed first-
FIGHTING BACK: Dr Devon Taylor, president of JABBEM hand parts of the north coast of Jamaica lose all access to its beaches. He said: “Growing up, we had access to several beaches along that corridor which are just a mile and half outside of Ocho Rios. What we have witnessed over a period of 20 years is we have lost all access. “So communities in Steer Town and Mammee Bay South have no access to the sea, it has all been closed off by the development and commercialisation of the coast by hotels, villas and private residence.” He added: “They have completely barricaded the community, so Steer Town is landlocked! Seeing my community impacted, we had to do something.” According to the president of JABBEM, the campaign is gathering pace and is being supported by other parishes like Portland, St Mary and St Thomas. Dr Taylor claims there are two cases in the courts in Jamaica, to retain access to the beaches and to also protect access to a popular beach. The social and environmental justice advocate said that placing a limitation on the amount of beachfront land foreign investors c a n purRAISING chase AWARENESS: Ziggy Marley is backing JABBEM
should be something the government should consider. He said: “The
limitation should be a partnership with Jamaicans and you cannot own more than 50 per cent, so you will be on 49 per cent and 51 per cent stays in the hand of a Jamaican.” Dr Taylor applauded Brits of Jamaican heritage who have a desire to invest in their home country and said the process of purchasing land needs to be more “transparent to the diaspora” so investment can be a reality. He said: “Coastal land tends to change hands into the same socio-economic class in Jamaica and the ones that the government
has they are not selling it to Jamaicans.” “Our government has not targeted the Jamaican diaspora as investment partners,” he said. Sinnead Jackson, 20, is from New Cross, south-east London, and is of Jamaican descent. She has a lifelong dream to purchase land ‘back home’ but doesn’t know where to start. Speaking to The Voice, she said: “My dad has property out there that he wants to leave to his children who are born here but we know nothing at all about how it works out there. “Even if we wanted to buy another property or sell it, we got no idea how to do that.” Ms Jackson’s mother has a property on the island and says
she has to contact her father in Jamaica who understands how the system works and he has told her “you are getting ripped off and are paying too much Land Tax.” “A lot of us want somewhere to stay that is not touristy and we want our own place, but we don’t even know how to acquire one.” The 20-year-old said if she knew the right steps of how to buy land in Jamaica, it would be something that she would “definitely” do. She added: “If it was easier and clearer how to purchase property, it would be a lot more popular among us who are British but have Caribbean heritage.” Ms Jackson said Jamaicans
