SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Tourism-related business operators in Treasure Beach, 18 miles south of here, have said that they are stepping up efforts to make shoreline swimming safer and better regulated there.

This follows the presumed drowning death of businessman Andre Burnett a week ago.

Burnett was overwhelmed and swept away by a massive wave while reportedly standing in waist-high water at Treasure Beach, which is routinely considered a leader in Jamaica’s community tourism niche.

Hotelier Jason Henzell and pleasure boat operator Dennis Abrahams told the Jamaica Observer by telephone that while efforts to improve safety had been in train for some time, those will now be redoubled.

“We have to make sure that something positive flows from this awful tragedy,” Henzell, who is south-coast representative for the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), said.

The initiatives will be in line with Jamaica’s Beach Control Act – The Beach Control (Safety Measures) Regulations 2006. The Act embraces such safety requirements as lifeguards in swimming areas; adequate on-land signage showing areas that are safe for swimming or otherwise; and floating markers or buoys in the water to designate swimming areas as distinct from other activities such as fishing, boating and water sports.

As envisaged by Henzell and Abrahams, the push to improve safety will be made in close collaboration with National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the tourism authorities.

Anthony McKenzie of NEPA told the Sunday Observer that hoteliers and others in Treasure Beach have been “working with ourselves and TPDCO [Tourism Product Development Company] for some time now, in order to bring them up to regulatory requirements…”

A hindrance has been the small size of some beach-front operations and the relatively high cost of implementing safety measures.

“We are suggesting that they could develop a sort of cooperative in order to meet the regulatory requirements. We are willing to work with them, we need them to work together to get it done,” said McKenzie.

Henzell visualises tourism operators in Treasure Beach agreeing to a beach regulation fee in order to cover projects such as lifeguard coverage of the various beaches. Government, he suggests, could “chip in” to support with resources.

Front and centre of the proposed approach to improving safety at Treasure Beach is a boosting of the number of trained and certified lifeguards operating from long-accepted swimming areas in Great Bay, Old Wharf, Calabash Bay, French Man’s Bay, and Billy’s Bay – all part of the Treasure Beach community.

Henzell estimated that currently 12 to 15 trained lifeguards are in Treasure Beach. He wants that number increased to about 40, providing the capacity to cover not just those beach areas maintained by hotels and inns, but other places where people swim. It will mean priority attention to training and certification and designated swimming spots where lifeguards will be stationed.

Abrahams said the lifeguard project must involve proactive awareness/educational elements focused on “prevention” of mishaps, rather than only acting to save an individual in danger.

“We want a situation where lifeguards will help our visitors to understand that when the sea is choppy they should not enter the water, and that the sea can be treacherous and unpredictable,” said Abrahams.

Henzell revealed that prior to last Sunday’s tragedy, the Treasure Beach Foundation, BREDS, had succeeding in securing a pledged grant of $3.3 million from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), for the placing of floating markers to guide and protect swimmers.

On-land signage would also have to improve, he said.

Also, there will be a greater push to teach people to swim through a local charity initiative, Likkle Swimmers, which targets young children and more recently adults.

“The problem is that far too many people dont know how to swim,” said Henzell. “They look at the sea and they don’t understand the dangers, particularly on the south coast, where we don’t have as many offshore reefs to break the waves,” he added.

Abrahams is advocating a proactive effort by residents to help visitors develop a healthy respect for the sea, and also appreciate that there are some sections where even experienced local swimmers don’t go because of treacherous undercurrents, and other threats.

“I see people come, don’t know anything about the beach and just run into the sea like they running on a football field, you can’t do that,” said Abrahams.

Like Henzell, Abrahams said Jamaica’s south coast is much more “exposed” to powerful wave action than elsewhere.

Over the long term, he wants artificial reefs to provide breakwater protection in specific swimming locations — subject to environmental approval.

“Anything we can do to make Treasure Beach safer, we should do,” he said.