Bryan says vendors should not be allowed on Public Beach

Even as government works through how best to deal with the issue of traders on the beach, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan says in his view vending should not be allowed on  Public Beach.

Speaking on the Cayman Compass weekly talkshow ‘The Resh Hour’ on 2 Nov., Bryan said the situation is already “out of control” and government has a proposal to address the issue.

“All the government members are going to get together to look over [the proposal] to decide how we’re going to handle the trade down there because unfortunately, a lot of it is unregulated,” he said.

Late last month the Compass was told a long-awaited policy for issuing permits to vendors on Public Beach should be in place by early next year.

Government officials, in that article, said it will issue a limited number of licences to qualifying traders to allow them to operate at the site on Seven Mile Beach, providing they meet certain conditions. A policy has been submitted to Cabinet for approval and should be in place next year.

Bryan last week said the current policy, which was under the past administration, was to license some people to vend there, but the onset of COVID followed by a change in government, left that “kind of up in the air”.

Government, he said, has not made a decision and has to review the proposal before it.

Bryan said the issue involves not only the tourism ministry but also both the ministries of lands and commerce, so the government as a whole has to come together to make a policy decision.

“We all are in agreement, it can’t stay the same,” he said.

Public Beach vs commerce

However, he said in his view Public Beach belongs to Caymanians and commercial enterprise has no place there.

“I do not think it’s a good idea to have commerce at the Public Beach and I know that’s going to be controversial. I’m prepared and I am ready for that controversy because I think the Public Beach is supposed to be for the Caymanian people. It’s not supposed to be for encouraging cruise passengers to [use it],” he said.

Bryan explained that on a busy day during the week when everyone is at work it is okay for visitors to be there. However, he added, the question is what happens on a holiday, when three ships are in port, and everyone is at that beach. Then a Caymanian mom and her kids cannot find a place to sit, to enjoy the beach, he said.

“The question is if you allow trade there, where does it stop? That’s a public beach. Are we gonna allow it next to the Governors Beach…[or]… Smith Cove?” he said, asking if it should be allowed at public beaches across the island. “How long is a piece of string?”

He said the problem with beach vending was exacerbated by the closure of places like Calico Jack’s and Royal Palms, which has created a vacuum.

Additionally, Bryan said the previous administration had discussed licensing vendors, but nothing had been done.

Now, he said, government has to deal with this and it is “part of our priority list”.

Solution needed

He said a presentation on the issue will be made to government and they will be in a position to say what will be done to resolve the issue.

Bryan said a potential solution could be allowing vending temporarily on Public Beach and incentivising the business community to find a way to make money similar to Calico Jack’s and Royal Palms or something comparable “because we don’t really want to take away the people’s beach”.

“I don’t think is a good idea and I think that if you open that door for any extended period of time, it is something we’re going to regret in the future. That’s my personal opinion,” Bryan said.

He said he understands that the vendors are thinking about earning a living and it is a balancing act for government.

Bryan said this is a case of “we have to decide what we want”.

“I need the public’s feedback of recognising what we are doing, what industry we’re in, how people are surviving on this industry and how we’re going to service the industry with what products? So there’s a number of moving parts and that’s why I’m not afraid to talk about it because we have some choices to make,” he said.

The minister, pointing to the wooden structures that have already been set up for commercial trade at Public Beach, said they could not be used because no policy has been agreed to allow for that to happen.

However, he added that those structures were too small for vendors to ply their trade.

“I can see that they’re not practical. So even if we were to say tomorrow ‘Okay, it’s going to be regulated [and] a certain amount of people are going to be allowed,’ they’re going to say ‘We don’t want to be in that because you can’t maximise the opportunity.’ So there’s a lot of review that needs to be done,” he said.