St. Maarten’s Beaches are Public!! For the better part of the past decade, my colleagues and I, along with many concerned citizens have been calling on Government to take measures aimed at guaranteeing the Public Character of Sint Maarten’s beaches and ensuring unobstructed access to beaches by the general public. Book 5 Article 26 of the Civil Code (Het Burgerlijk Wetboek) states that beaches are presumed to be the property of the Country (Government) and that alteration of their public character can only occur by national ordinance : “De stranden der zee, de grond onder de binnenwateren, alsmede de grote en kleine eilanden en platen die in die wateren voorkomen, worden vermoed eigendom te zijn van het eilandgebied waar zij zijn gelegen. Beperking van de openbaarheid van aan het Land of een eilandgebied toegehorende stranden door vervreemding, bezwaring, ingebruikgeving of anderszins, behoeft een bij landsverordening onderscheidenlijk eilandsverordening te verlenen bijzondere toestemming. St. Maarten’s Beach Policy defines beaches as: “the strip of sand with a width of at most 50 meters, of which the surface consists of natural seasand situated along the sea, or, in absence of natural seasand, the strip of land with a width of 25 meters from the high-waterline, situated along the public waters”; St. Maarten’s Beach Policy states that: “The beaches must be useable for everyone, both residents and tourists alike, for recreative purposes”; “Developments that, physically, have a negative influence on the recreative use of the beaches, will be opposed”; “The beaches will be protected against the natural and human influences, that sever their recreational and nature function”; “The consequences of this (beach) policy are that the Island Government will strive to ensure that: The beaches are openly accessible for the general public, which means that there must be a wide access that is free from physical and mental barriers (levers, hotels etc.)” “No construction works or activities, that occupy the space on the beach in a way that restricts normal use of the beach for others, will occur on the beach; The standpoint of the island Government is that, construction works on the beach are annoying and disfiguring to the surroundings. It is not desirable for dwellings, hotels, businesses, etc. to be built or situated on the beach” Sint Maarten’s Beach Policy is however too often ignored and too easily set aside as “merely” a policy. Over the past decade we have witnessed Government allow developers, resort owners etc. to limit and control access to a number of beaches. Take the Cupecoy, Dawn Beach, Oyster Bay, and Little Bay beaches as examples, access to these beaches is obstructed, parking in most cases is virtually non-existent. Protests aimed at curbing these activities have been held at the Government building but the people’s calls were as is often the case, completely ignored. We have been calling for Government to draft, implement and enforce a Beach Ordinance aimed at maintaining the Public Character of St. Maarten’s beaches, this too fell on deaf ears and was met with false assurances that the Public Character of our beaches will be secured through the implementation of Zoning Plans. Will the Zoning Plans ever be finalized? Will there be any beach space left after decision makers have appeased developers? In March of 2013 I drafted a Parliamentary motion aimed at strengthening legislation towards maintaining the recreational and ecological value of St. Maarten’s beaches. Nine Members of Parliament supported and voted in favor of passing the motion on April 17th, 2013. One year and 8 months have come and gone and the Council of Ministers has yet to take action. Have any of our Honorable MP’s followed-up on the motion many of them supported? Fellow Sint Maarteners today they are attempting to deny the general public access to Little Bay Beach in the vicinity of the Little Bay Pond, tomorrow or sometime in the near future access to Mullet Bay or parts of Simpson Bay beach will be denied. When is enough enough?
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 22:31:36 +0000
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