Whose Beach Is It? Public Access and a Blue Economy for All
Beaches are not quite public goods and not quite private ones. How we manage that middle ground decides who gets to enjoy Jamaica's coast.
Dr. Peter Edwards3 min read
Few issues stir Jamaicans like access to the beach. In 2018 the lease of Puerto Seco Beach to a private operator set off a heated public debate. My own interest goes back to 1992, when, as a UWI undergraduate on a summer job with the Natural Resources Conservation Division (now NEPA), I travelled the island inspecting public beaches for work meant to help update the Beach Control Act. The question then and now is the same: how do we keep the coast open to ordinary Jamaicans while still attracting investment?
Beaches are quasi-public goods
Economists distinguish pure public goods, such as street lighting or national defence, from private goods. No one can be excluded from a pure public good, and one person's use does not reduce what is left for others. Beaches sit in between. They are quasi-public goods: you can fence one and charge a fee, though it is costly to do, and one more visitor rarely spoils it, until it becomes crowded.
The tragedy of the commons, and what follows
When no one takes responsibility for a shared resource, it tends to decline. Economists call this the tragedy of the commons, and many of our public beaches and parks have followed that path, neglected by the state and by users alike. Once a public beach is run down, it becomes an attractive target for investors who can acquire it cheaply, restore it and charge market prices. I called this “modified vulture capitalism.” It is legal and makes sense for the investor, but it quietly turns a public asset into a private one and prices many Jamaicans out.
A blue economy for all
There is another way. A well-run public beach can support restaurants, craft vendors, parking and small inns, creating jobs and tax revenue. Local government can manage the facilities; public transport can bring people to the coast; partnerships with private operators can work when public access is written into the deal. Healthy coasts pay back in other ways too. Community tourism creates alternatives to spearfishing, more fish mean healthier reefs, and healthy reefs protect the shore from storm surge and erosion. That is what a blue economy for everyone looks like, and it starts with remembering that Jamaicans can be “dry land tourists” too.
Adapted from “Vulture Capitalism and Jamaica's Blue Economy” (The Gleaner, 2018). Details of the Beach Control Act reflect the situation when the original was written.