Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer
CROOKS
LUCEA, Hanover:
MAYOR OF Lucea Lester Crooks, has criticised the Urban Development Corporation's (UDC) management of lands in the Bloody Bay area of Negril, accusing them of indiscriminately selling beachfront property sale and preventing public access to key areas of the coastline.
"We as a local authority cannot allow them to sell the remaining lands, as we will be doing a disservice to the people of this parish," said the mayor at yesterday's regular monthly meeting of the Hanover Parish Council.
Further, the mayor urged civic leaders "to help us to stop UDC from selling any more beachfront property in this parish."
The mayor told the meeting that he was upset that the UDC's actions have resulted in the general public being denied access to certain sections of the beach.
"If the great Michael Manley was alive today, what the UDC is doing could never happen," Crooks said. "We need to stop these things. The public has to have access. At the rate they (UDC) are going, very soon the public will have no access to the beach."
LONG BAY BEACH
Wayne Cummings, president of the Negril Chamber of Commerce, supported the mayor's stance on public access to the Negril beaches.
"We believe that there should be a clear demarcation of land that allows the public access to the beaches in Negril," he said.
Mr. Cummings complained that Long Bay, Negril, only has two public access points, one of which, Long Bay Beach Park II, has not been opened to the public although the development was completed three years ago.
"We have written to the UDC on several occasions about this idle Long Bay Beach development, and they have responded that they are trying to resolve a management contractual issue, so it remains a contentious issue."
BLOODY BAY
Mr. Cummings is concerned that the Bloody Bay area does not follow a similar development arc as Long Bay, both of which are in Negril.
"We are concerned about Bloody Bay where we know there are several private owners in that area ... and we'd like to ensure that there is orderly development of the area, and that allowance is made for public access," he said.
The Long Bay area consists of the famous seven-mile strip of white sand beach that lies in Negril, while the adjacent Bloody Bay area refers to a two-mile strip of beach that falls on the Hanover side of the town.
Mayor Crooks urged councillor for the area, Fredrocious Miller, to demand a meeting with either chairman of the UDC, Dr. Vin Lawrence, or Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, to express the discontentment of Negril residents.
