Holness Tables Jamaica Beach Access Policy After 70 Years of Shrinking Public Access
Updated
Updated · Jamaica Gleaner · Jun 14
Holness Tables Jamaica Beach Access Policy After 70 Years of Shrinking Public Access
3 articles · Updated · Jamaica Gleaner · Jun 14
Summary
March 2026 brought Jamaica’s final Beach Access and Management Policy to Parliament, marking the government’s latest attempt to address decades of narrowing public coastline access.
The push follows a long slide in access as hotels, villas and other private projects expanded, even though the 1956 Beach Control Act put the foreshore and seabed under state control.
The policy backs public access, ecosystem-based management and climate resilience, but the report says it still does not clearly guarantee Jamaicans a free right to reach the coastline.
Environmental advocates argue Jamaica needs stronger reform—potentially a coastal commission, science-led planning and temporary pauses on sensitive new developments—to stop approvals from locking in erosion and access risks.
Can Jamaica save its public beaches from private resorts without sinking its tourism-fueled economy?
Are Jamaica's beaches still trapped by colonial laws, fencing locals out for modern 'plantation tourism'?
Jamaica’s Beach Access Crisis: The 2026 Policy, Civil Resistance, and the Fight for Public Shoreline Rights
Overview
Jamaica’s new Beach Access and Management Policy, introduced in March 2026, aims to address the country’s long-standing crisis of shrinking public access to its coastline. This crisis began decades ago with the 1956 Beach Control Act, which unintentionally allowed much of the shoreline to become privatized and commercialized. As tourism and all-inclusive resorts expanded, local access to beaches became even more restricted, leaving many Jamaicans feeling disconnected from their natural heritage. The new policy seeks to balance tourism growth with public rights, but faces strong opposition from civil society, who argue it does not truly restore equitable access for all.