Call made for regular beach clean-ups

School groups and community organisations are being encouraged to play a more proactive role in caring for the island’s beaches by making beach clean-up a regular activity.

Co-chair of the Destination Assurance Council for St Thomas, Travis Smith, made the call while speaking to JIS News on International Coastal Clean-up Day, September 19.

“If we get the schools organised to come out and do it once a month, I think it will be more impactful, but this is a start,” Smith said.

He pointed out that for Eastern parishes like St Thomas, some of the garbage and debris found on the coast have been washed ashore from neighbouring countries.

With Rocky Point beach a major fishing village, Smith also noted that cleaning of the beach not only improves its appearance and makes it more welcoming for swimmers, but it also improves the activities of fisherfolk.

Manager for the Portland and St Thomas Destinations, Kishan Bailey, underscored further that International Coastal Clean-up Day is “a way to safeguard the beach coastline and also the marine life”.

Reflecting on the initiative at Rocky Point, he explained that “because we mobilise stakeholders within the destination, we try to see how best we can collaborate with various stakeholders such as the St Thomas Municipal Corporation, the Rotary Club of Kingston East and Port Royal, and Morant Bay High School”.

Junior Teacher responsible for the Tourism in Action Club at the Morant Bay High School, Yanique Ricketts, attended the beach clean-up with eight of her students.

The group assisted in the removal of plastic bottles, glass bottles, paper containers, food boxes, plates, forks and cups from the white sand shoreline of the popular beach.

Ricketts told JIS News that, “quite a large percentage of Jamaica’s income is from tourism and tourists love beaches. So please, ‘nuh dutty up Jamaica’, keep [the beaches] clean so we can have more tourists”.

Following the clean-up at Rocky Point, some members of the group journeyed to the neighbouring parish of Portland where more beaches were targeted.