Dear Editor,

I have been reading with interest the recent movement towards making all beaches in Jamaica public beaches. There is a lot of emotion, mostly on social media, some well-written articles in the local press, and many articles in The Guardian newspaper in the UK. In Jamaica, the movement is led by Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement (Jabbem).

I would like to suggest that Jabbem is going about this the wrong way. The Jamaican Government has listed more than 70 public beaches, instead of demanding access to beaches that are private, Jabbem should be lobbying the Government to properly open and manage these public beaches. The Government should run these public beaches in the same manner that Emancipation Park is run, properly and well-policed. The public beaches should have lifeguards, clean toilets all the time, bins for waste, and staff to enforce the use of the bins and keep the toilet rooms clean.

Of course, there should be a charge to maintain this. We are willing to pay to park at the airports, which is public, so we should also be willing to pay to help offset costs. Maybe the hotels and the Tourism Enhancement Fund could contribute to the upkeep of these public beaches.

Perhaps we should bring a training team from Japan, whose fans clean the area around them after football games at the World Cup. Certainly no training from The Guardian newspaper in London, which is not the cleanest city, and does not have the cleanest public bathrooms. Maybe we Jamaicans got and still are receiving models from the wrong parties.

More beaches that are not properly managed is not the answer.

Antonio Davis

Kingston 8