Beach‑pass row highlights pricing split

A fight over who pays to use Jamaica’s beaches sharpened on April 13, when the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement rejected a proposed hotel beach-pass system. (jamaicaobserver.com) The group’s president, Dr. Devon Taylor, said hotels should allow free entry to the foreshore and charge only for add-ons such as bathrooms and other services. The Jamaica Observer reported that argument as a direct response to the policy’s proposed pass system. (jamaicaobserver.com) This dispute sits inside Jamaica’s new Beach Access and Management Policy, which Prime Minister Andrew Holness tabled in Parliament on March 19, 2026, during his 2026/27 Budget Debate. Holness said beach access has been contentious for decades and that the Beach Control Act of 1956 and its 1973 amendment did not adequately address it. (jamaicaobserver.com) Taylor and his group say the policy grants only “qualified rights” rather than a general right to reach and use the shoreline. In interviews and statements published on March 23, March 24, and March 27, the group said the framework still leaves hotels and other licensed operators in control of entry. (iriefm.net 1) (iriefm.net 2) (jamaica-gleaner.com) The pricing split at the center of the row is simple: JaBBEM wants the beach itself treated as free public space, while hotels could still bill for amenities, maintenance, and convenience. That would separate access to sand and sea from access to showers, bathrooms, chairs, or other paid facilities. (jamaicaobserver.com) The government has been moving in the other direction for months, trying to expand access without overruling private development along the coast. In May 2025, Minister Matthew Samuda said newly approved hotel projects were being required to include pathways to public beaches traditionally used by locals. (matthewsamuda.com) (jamaica-gleaner.com) Samuda said at the time that the policy aimed to increase access, improve standards, and maintain public beaches while balancing public rights with private property. Government and allied reports framed that as a practical compromise rather than a blanket right to cross any coastal property. (matthewsamuda.com) (megid.gov.jm) JaBBEM has rejected that compromise in increasingly direct terms. The group said in March that the policy should be withdrawn and replaced with one that restores “full, unconditional and inalienable” public access to beaches and the foreshore. (iriefm.net) (jamaica-gleaner.com) For now, the argument is no longer only about whether Jamaicans can get to the coast. It is also about whether the state will treat the shoreline as free to enter and let hotels charge only for the extras around it. (jamaicaobserver.com)