ALLIGATOR POND, Manchester — Destructive beach erosion has been affecting this quaint fishing village close to the St Elizabeth border in south Manchester for many years, with the authorities seemingly at a loss.

But now the Tony Freckleton-led Manchester Parish Development Committee (PDC) says it is intent on developing a plan that will save the Alligator Pond beachfront.

“We have to ensure that something is done, we have waited long enough,” Freckleton, who also heads the South Coast Resort Board, told journalists during a site visit last week.

The anti-erosion plan, which Freckleton says will have to be implemented in phases because of resource constraints, is to be developed with the help of the Montego Bay-based Coast and Land Aesthetic Development Ltd.

Freckleton said options to reduce erosion were likely to involve reinforced barricades at the high-water mark on the beach. Whatever is done must gain the approval of environmental watchdog, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). Much was likely to depend on the sums available to spend, Freckleton said.

Formal costings have not been done, but Freckleton estimates that when the project is completed, at least $200 million will have been spent. It’s a small beginning, but he is heartened by a pledge of $5 million from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica — a pledge conditional on the development of a viable plan, approved by NEPA.

To underline the need for a beach rescue intiative, Freckleton pointed to the economic value of Alligator Pond as one of Jamaica’s leading fishing villages and, arguably, the one that’s most visited by seafood lovers. Home to hundreds of residents, Alligator Pond boasts the world-famous Little Ochi Restaurant as well as the increasingly popular Oswald’s Restaurant, just 100 metres further east.

Also, the cool waters of the Alligator river enter the sea just a mile west of Little Ochi, enriching hopes of a viable ecotourism product.

Ironically, last week’s media visit was happening even as locals pointed out that several metres of beach front had been recovered as a result of waning tides influenced by weather conditions. Locals said the “north wind” blowing from the icy northern hemisphere, which brought very cool conditions to Jamaica, had also pushed back the tide, reducing wave action on the south coast and leaving a welcome expanse of sandy beach.

They also pointed out that the wave action would recover its strength and beach-degrading tendencies, once the strong winds from the north abated.

Journalists saw, at close range, the destructive effect of wave action over the years, manifest in a collapsed unfinished building close to Oswald’s Restaurant.

Initiated close to a decade ago by the Government to accommodate fishermen and fishing equipment, construction was halted by the Manchester Parish Council and NEPA in 2009 on the grounds that the building was too close to the high-water mark. The collapse, as a result of persistent wave action undermining the base of the building, proved that the environmental agency and local authorities got it right.

As further evidence of alarming beach erosion, residents also pointed journalists to the fishing hamlet of Top Bay just a few hundred metres east of Oswald’s. Locals said that just a few years ago, motorised vehicles travelling on the beach could comfortably reach Top Bay. Now, even at low tide, those travelling on foot to Top Bay must take to the thorny, rocky hillside to avoid getting their feet wet.

Freckleton told

Jamaica Observer Central that the cheapest option to minimise erosion could be gabion baskets involving wired boxes of stones, often used in river training. Other, more expensive options could include armour stones such as those that have been used in protecting the Palisadoes stretch of road from Kingston to the Norman Manley International Aiport; traditional retaining walls; and retaining walls reinforced with armour stones.

The idea of using barriers to protect property on the beach at Alligator Pond is not new. An elaborate system of packed stones currently seeks to protect Oswald’s and at Little Ochi large stones have also been used in an attempt to reduce the effect of wave action.

As perceived by Freckleton, the first phase of the Alligator Pond beach project would seek to protect Oswald’s Restaurant and neighbouring properties, with other phases stretching east towards Top Bay, and west past Little Ochi.

Freckleton, whose South Coast Resort Board successfully lobbied for funding from the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) for sidewalks and beautification projects in Alligator Pond a few years ago, feels certain that funding agencies at home and abroad will come on board once the anti-erosion beach project gets going.

“Look at it this way, if this project doesn’t qualify for assistance under climate change, then nothing else in Jamaica qualifies,” argued Freckleton.

Others from the Manchester PDC and the Manchester Municipal Corporation agree.

Alfred Daley from the PDC emphasised that the community will be fully embrace in the project.

“We are not going to execute without their involvement … we will keep them informed and involved all the way,” he said.

Representatives from NEPA and TPDCo were also on the site visit but were not part of the press briefing. They declined to answer questions from

Observer Central.

Environmental experts say beach erosion, is ongoing and that, in some cases, beaches actually gain soil over time as the sea ebbs and flows.

They say the extensive erosion of the sort which has taken place at Alligator Pond and elsewhere on Jamaica’s south-west coast such as Negril and Treasure Beach, could be the result of climate change as well as the localised destruction of mangroves and reefs.