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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 85 - Tuesday August 22, 2006 |
Beach Access at Woodfordhill - A National Issue
 Dr. Irving "Eipigh" Pascal
Dear Editor
Access to public beaches in the Caribbean and elsewhere is a complex and contentious issue fraught with potential for resentment and conflict. The gravity of the matter was most tragically exemplified in 2000 when a security guard shot and killed a national who was trying to access the Pigeon Point beach in Tobago.
Dominica�s shoreline has few major sand beaches that are great for swimming and picnicing; Woodfordhill is one of larger beaches frequented by visitors and nationals who trek from across the length and breadth of the country to enjoy the seaside especially on weekends and public holidays.
Therefore, at best, it is disingenuous (and in my opinion downright misguided) for the Minister of Tourism to place the weighty responsibility for deciding whether all Dominicans will continue to have beach access to Woodfordhill, exclusively at the feet of the communities of Woodfordhill and surrounding villages.
With all due respect to the people of Woodfordhill and surrounding villages this is a national developmental issue. To suggest that it is merely parochial, upon which a single community can decide, sets up a dangerous precedent.
Could the community of Portsmouth alone determine if a hotel could be built at Cabrits? Would it have been reasonable if only the people from Fond Col� determined whether the landfill could be situated in the environs of their community? National issues such as these cannot be resolved in an ad hoc, insular manner.
The proposed exclusion of future generations of Dominicans from national patrimony is an exorbitant price for the present-day promise of a five star hotel. Have we not learnt the lessons of the not too distant past that saw us hand over numerous exemplars of our national patrimony on the promise of yet another first-rate hotel?
We must be mindful that unlike Dominican passports, Dominican beaches are a finite resource. Moreover, how does exclusive beach access fit in with the often touted national philosophy of sustainable ecotourism that involves the community?
Surely sustainability speaks to more than economic and environmental issues but also to social sustainability, and the principles of inclusion and participation.
The conspiracy of silence regarding this issue is worrying. Except for a few voices here and there this important matter of national concern does not appear to be worth the time of the traditional custodians of the Public Good; I refer here to elected officials, members of the opposition parties, the clergy, the conservationists, environmental groups, diasporic Dominicans, frequent callers to local talk shows and wider civil society. It may be that people are hesitant to raise dissenting views.
No one wants to be held accountable for pinpointing the unreasonableness of the ultimatum which has been delivered to the people of Woodfordhill and the wider Dominican society � that we should hand over our national real-estate or give-up on national tourism development.
Perhaps they sense that opposition to this particular developmental issue could be used as an excuse to justify shortfalls in the Ministers� admittedly laudable proposal to increase the number of hotel rooms on the island in his self-imposed accelerated two year program.
Nonetheless, I believe that if we are to compromise our national patrimony we are entitled to more than an ultimatum. Informed national debate would require presentation of an economic and social cost/benefit analysis, basic information on the investors, their financiers and their track record etc. It is not enough to dangle the carrots of US $500 to $800 per night hotel rooms in front of our noses for us to make a decision of national importance.
Since the modus operandi is purportedly �investment by invitation�, it would appear that Mr Nassief has invited high-end but exclusionary investors, but in my opinion we risk a lot by going that route.
Therefore, we could ask him instead to work harder for that dollar (or is it now with the recent adjustment EC $1.92?) and find us investors who bill their guest US $200 to $400 per night and who may be more open to finding ways to creatively share the haven of our national real-estate and keep the Nature Isle safe for it nationals.
May the spirits of my ancestors be pleased.
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