In a development that should surprise absolutely no one with a passing familiarity with colonial legacies, Jamaica's fight to keep its beaches public just scored a rare legal victory. On Sunday, Australian human rights lawyer and marathon swimmer Eva Buzo emerged from the sea at One Man Beach in Montego Bay after a nearly 11-hour swim, greeted by thunderous welcome drums and chants of "free beach" from supporters. The swim was in support of the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement (Jabbem) and others fighting for public access to the island's coastline. Buzo called the privatisation of beaches a colonial legacy, noting that "people's rights are more important these days than ever, and people keep on trying to encroach on our fundamental freedoms."
But the real milestone came earlier in October, when a court issued an injunction preventing the government from restricting access to Little Dunn's River in St Ann while a case challenging the 1956 Beach Control Act continues. The act, which gave the state ownership of the foreshore and seabed, has allowed successive administrations to restrict access and sell off coastlines to wealthy luxury hoteliers. Dr Devon Taylor, an immunologist with a PhD in biochemistry who founded Jabbem in 2020, said the victory "means a lot for the Jamaican people. It means that our case is strong."
Wilbourn Carr, 73, involved in another beach access fight in Portland parish, said the injunction offers hope. "The matter of beach access is right across Jamaica," he said. "One judge now believes that Jamaicans should have access." The government, naturally, has said it will appeal. Environment minister Matthew Samuda insisted there was no basis for protest, arguing the government is safeguarding critical tourism investment and protecting communities from crime while improving access through updated legislation requiring future developments to create access points. In the Little Dunn's River case, Samuda said access was restricted after a murder, and the government implemented "structured management" with security structures and free access on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, complete with lifeguards.
Samuda described tourism as the "largest foreign exchange earner" and the main income source for nearly 200,000 Jamaicans, accusing activists of portraying the industry as "the enemy." He said: "176,000 people aren't protesting anything to do with beach access, but 176,000 people are feeding their families because of our tourism product … Let's not put their needs and their concerns on one side." Taylor, however, rejected crime prevention as justification, pointing out that "the Beach Control Act of 1956 predates the level of crime seen in Jamaica and was never a tool to control crime." He called the restrictions an illegal "collective punishment of the Jamaican people" unrelated to solving the murder. "You could close it until forever, until you solve this murder, which you have not solved," he said. "We deserve leisure seven days a week."
Paul Roberts, a British architect living in Jamaica and Jabbem's St Ann community coordinator, argued the government is creating a false impression that Jamaicans cannot be trusted. "It's a load of rubbish," he said. "I've been coming here for 15 years now and I've never had any trouble. I've never been robbed, I've never been mugged and I've never faced any issues." Campaigners do not oppose hotels, Taylor said, but rather a "plantation tourism" model that disadvantages Jamaicans. "Cheap labour of the Jamaican people, degradation of the environment, exclusion of the Jamaican people from the foreshore, plantation tourism, untenable working conditions. Lock us out using colonial-era law. The industry is guilty of that," he said. "We the people do not want to be treated as second-class citizens in our country … we want fairness, equality and equity."
Buzo described access to shared public spaces as a human rights issue, pointing to Australia and Barbados as countries that maintain public beach access alongside thriving tourism industries. "There's no reason why hotels can't have beachfront properties that then front on to a public beach," she said. "It's just this kind of exclusivity and segregation that small amounts of people think they need." Samuda argued Jamaica was different because, although the country had "conquered our crime monster," it had "spent 30 years being in the top three most murderous countries on the planet." He also noted much of Jamaica's coastline is rocky, with only a fraction considered "beach," and argued most "beachy" areas remain publicly accessible, albeit sometimes with restrictions or charges.
Jabbem is campaigning for full, free and unfettered beach access, arguing many families are priced out by high entrance fees and forced to buy expensive on-site food and drinks due to outside-food bans. Monique Christie, the group's western Jamaica community coordinator, said tourists also lose out when separated from local communities. "The product that is Jamaica is not the hotel. It's definitely not the rooms. It's definitely not the name of the resort. It has always been us, the people. It has always been our warmth and the desire of everyone to just come and meet us." Dr Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, chief executive of the Jamaica Environment Trust, said questions over public space have become increasingly complex, leaving many Jamaicans feeling disenfranchised. "We need to be paying attention to what the Jamaican people are asking for … and find a way to address that through changes to the law, changes to the policies."
In March, Prime Minister Andrew Holness proposed a beach access and management policy supposedly intended to modernise legislation and increase access. Campaigners say it still permits unacceptable restrictions. "The 2026 policy that was published in March was supposed to try and address some of the issues, but it really didn't," Rodriguez-Moodie said. For Taylor, the fight continues. "The people are crying out. We need a fundamental change. And they must listen to the people because we won't stop until this law is abolished and we have fundamental rights and workers' rights in this country. That is what our ancestors fought for."