The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

A FENCE erected at Cabbage Beach was removed on Sunday after vendors warned it would squeeze them out of shoreline space they have relied on for decades to earn a living.

The Ministry of Tourism said it had been advised that the structure would be removed following intervention by the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection, clearing the way for talks among the developers of the adjoining property, government officials and affected vendors.

The ministry did not identify who made the final decision to remove the fence or specify what action DEPP had taken.

The removal followed days of concern from vendors, who said they arrived at the Paradise Island beach on Thursday morning to find workers continuing to install the fence without any explanation of how their businesses would be accommodated.

Several vendors told The Tribune the fence was being erected so close to the shoreline that rising tides would leave insufficient space for stalls, chairs, umbrellas and water-sports operations. Ishmael Sutherland said 22 vendors operated at the beach, with additional employees and families depending on the income they earned there.

Some vendors said their businesses had operated at Cabbage Beach for decades and had been passed between generations.

The Ministry of Tourism later disclosed that the fencing work had proceeded before consultations it expected with the developer had taken place.

The ministry said it had initially met representatives of the adjoining property to discuss the proposed work.

Both sides understood that a joint site walk-through would be conducted to examine the plans and assess their effect on vendors, but the inspection never happened.

When the ministry was later advised that work was about to begin, it requested another meeting to clarify how the fence would be installed and how vendors would be accommodated. The developers proceeded before that engagement occurred.

Free Town MP Lincoln Deal, who joined vendors at the beach on Thursday after receiving complaints from constituents, welcomed the fence’s removal on Sunday.

“Cabbage Beach must remain accessible to Bahamians,” Mr Deal said, “while we continue to respect lawful property rights and ensure that development does not come at the expense of our people.”

He thanked those who “listened, engaged and acted” and renewed his call for Bahamian livelihoods to be protected.

Mr Deal had contacted the developer and government officials after visiting the beach and subsequently said the fencing work had been paused. It has not been established, however, that his intervention led to the eventual removal of the structure.

The Ministry of Tourism said the fence’s removal would now allow discussions to continue among the developers, Tourism officials, DEPP and affected vendors.

Those talks are expected to address how vendors will be accommodated, compensation where appropriate and DEPP’s concerns about protecting the area from beach erosion.