Government says that it is making plans to tackle anti-social behaviour on Seven Mile Beach and will be hiring more staff to deal with litter and cleanliness of public bathrooms.
Speaking on For The Record with Orrett Connor on Monday, 27 Oct., Planning Minister Jay Ebanks said that the majority of visitors to the Cayman Islands wanted to experience Seven Mile Beach, but the area was sometimes blighted by overcrowding as well as problems with beach vendors, including watersports operators.
He said that he had received some complaints about how jet ski companies were operating and said the issue was going to be investigated. Ebanks also said that he was looking at the policy on vendors at the beach, too, and that changes would have to be made.
“We are going to look at how we vend on our beaches,” he said. “A lot of our vendors are going to have to just clean up and move their stuff with them every single day and we’re going to have to stop vending on the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays the beach will be for the locals to enjoy.”
As well as clamping down on the stacking of loungers on the beach at the end of the day – which Ebanks described as treating the beach “like it’s a storage compound”, he said he planned to implement stiffer penalties for smoking marijuana and selling alcohol.
He added that he was looking at hiring more Public Lands Commission officers dedicated to Seven Mile Beach and hiring more people to monitor and clean the bathrooms and to keep the beach clean.
“Seven Mile Beach is one of those areas we need dedicated staff – cleaning early morning and coming back in the afternoon and cleaning is not working,” said Ebanks.
Deputy Premier and Tourism Minister Gary Rutty said that, along with Caymanians, “Seven Mile Beach is really what started the Cayman Islands tourism industry,” and it had to be protected both in terms of erosion and reputation.
He said that he was recently told of a family who had to return to their cruise ship early following an incident on Public Beach and said that he was “not happy with that at all.”
Quality tourism product
He added, “I don’t want to hear those kinds of stories… we’re going to fix it and make it right…. We have to make sure that what we’re providing for our tourists and our visitors is top quality.”
Rutty suggested that Cayman started “thinking outside the box” and created more attractions in the eastern part of the island including Pedro St James, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Cayman Crystal Caves and in East End.
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Public beach has gotten so bad, I’ve stopped going. Usually too many loitering drunks and last time I was there for peace, people were fist fighting near the bathrooms and shouting. They did not appear to be tourists from the high end hotels, let’s just leave it at that.
THANK YOU!!!!!! and PLEASE
Finding a safe and clean beach is becoming more difficult for locals on weekends. I encorage more beach patrols and fines for those who break the laws and litter. Bring the pride and cleanliness back to all our Islands🇰🇾💙