TREASURE BEACH, St Elizabeth — Against the backdrop of last Monday’s drowning of trainee Constable Rayandre Pike, 19, respected hotelier Jason Henzell is reiterating the need for more beach safety awareness and no-go zones for swimming here.

Henzell, who is also a community activist, has in the past successfully lobbied for funding, and in 2020 received a grant of $3.3 million from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), for the placing of floating markers to guide and protect swimmers.

He described last Monday’s drowning as an extremely unfortunate incident at a location where he believes should not be used for swimming.

“… The truth of the matter is that there are some beaches that are much more dangerous than others and you have to understand the current and the riptides. The particular beach that he (Pike) went into I would never set my foot in there, so local knowledge is absolutely key,” Henzell told the Jamaica Observer on Friday.

The police’s communications unit said Pike, along with other recruits based at Tranquility Bay (police training facility), ventured to a section of the beach to alleviate muscle fatigue.

In a tragic turn of events, Pike lost his life attempting to aid another recruit who had got into difficulty in the water. Despite being a better swimmer, he was overcome by a strong undertow,” a statement from the police read in part.

Pike’s body was recovered last Tuesday, a day after the incident.

Henzell explained that the area where the drowning happened was not a part of the beach safety efforts years ago, as it is too dangerous to swim.

“The Treasure Beach Foundation, BREDS, got a grant from TPDCO and captain Dennis Abrahams put out safety markers showing where it was safe to swim and I am pleased to say that in the last three years since Dennis Abrahams put those out we have had no drownings in those particular areas,” Henzell said.

“Most people would go to the section of the beaches in Old Wharf, Calabash Bay and Frenchman. You also have a beach like, for instance, at Jack Sprat, which has a lifeguard, but it is very unfortunate that this young officer chose to go into an area, which is an extremely treacherous, and dangerous beach called Ponty Hole.

“It has had a reputation for a very long time among locals as being extremely dangerous, so it is unfortunate that he never [got] any local knowledge before going into that area,” added Henzell.

When asked if he was aware of plans or lobbying to expand the safety measures, including signs, for no swimming at Ponty Hole, Henzell pointed to the beach warning flag system as a swift solution.

“Yes, we will always need to keep up awareness and there is something called a flag system where it is basically red, green, blue [and yellow]. When you see a red flag up on a beach, you know it is dangerous and you must not go in under any circumstances. Yellow is caution, because it is moderately rough, but more on the safe side and then blue is that it is a perfectly calm day where you wouldn’t have any riptide at all,” Henzell explained.

“The truth of the matter is you can’t police all of the beaches all of the time and when you have a flag system run by volunteers for instance, you can have situations where the flags may not be changed and people get into trouble,” he added.

Just as he did three years ago, Henzell reiterated to the Sunday Observer the need for lifeguards.

“I suggest that we have lifeguards on the most popular beaches which are Frenchman Beach, Calabash Bay and Great Bay. The truth of the matter is that a lot of people who come and swim are not even staying on the ocean [property] they are staying at a cottage or villa away from the ocean and then they walk down and go onto the beach and without asking a local they would just go in and not know the currents,” he said.

“More signage is very important and my proposal is we look at having TPDCO sponsored lifeguards on those three main beaches particularly on the weekends and public holidays even that alone would make a big difference,” he added.

Henzell stressed that some areas are just too dangerous for swimming.

“That particular area called Ponty Hole nobody should go in there, it is a very dangerous beach if you were to go and look at how the water comes in and how it comes back out, it is like a cove,” he said.

“When the water gushes in through the channel it then sucks back out, so if you stood up and looked at it just for a few minutes you can see how that particular area is very dangerous. In my mind that beach should be a no-go,” Henzell added.