The Beach and Coastal Vending Ordinance still looms large over our society in TCI

#TurksandCaicos, April 22, 2022 – Now that the dust has settled on the Beach and Coastal Vending Ordinance, what are some of the impacts and effects?

There have been reports of many beach entrepreneurs and vendors unable to maximize revenue due to their new location and feeling disenfranchised.

Law abiding Vendors in uniforms, particularly in Grand Turk, are being confined to their zones and are prohibited from walking up to Carnival grounds to locate and greet their guests, while others are allowed to roam freely across zones.

There have also been reports of business as usual with respect to random drug peddling, illegal sale of alcohol etc.

What have been even more concerning are the reports of indiscriminate targeting of select Vendors by the newly created positions of Beach patrol units. It appears the actions of a few have deviated from the true intent of the ordinance.

Some of the beach patrol units with good intentions appear to be ill informed, frustrated with the lack of adequate resources to carry out their duties and no clear focus of what needs to be accomplished.

Although some of us may view the ordinance from different lenses, I must say, there are some notable changes such as,

1. There is a certain level of uniformity among Vendors in terms of chair and equipment placement that once blocked guests’ access and also created a safety hazard.
2. Guests and Vendors alike now have access to restrooms at Local Village.
3. Broken and dilapidated beach equipment which created such poor aesthetics has improved.
4. There also appears to be less alterations taking place between beach vendors and hustlers.

Whilst some Vendors including myself are very grateful for the local village space which was designated for beach vendors and boat tour operators, some tours are being delayed due to poor signage and closed shops which gives the appearance of abandonment.

In the end, Carnival Corporation got exactly what they bargained for, no Vendors operating on public beaches in front of their property.

One would expect that based on these facts, it would prompt the policy makers to reconsider their initial assumptions that this bill was designed in the best interest of the people. With all due respect, I beg to differ.

Why is it so difficult to understand the citizens’ position on this bill? Why can’t the policy makers just admit that they might have gotten their assumptions wrong at the very start?

Albeit, I do not object the bill in its entirety, however, there was no need to create an entirely new bill since most of the ordinance already existed on the books, but lacked enforcement by the appropriate authorities.

In my opinion, I think it’s a mix of playing to a special interest group that has formed the decision of certain politicians over the past few years.

A virtue of reflection and re-analysis of this bill is what’s needed. This should include soliciting further input from relevant stakeholders on their positions, repealing of certain line items and making the necessary amendments.

By doing so, this will ensure the way the ordinance is written, it’s not stifling growth among our beach entrepreneurs or creating any barriers that will negatively impact legitimately operating businesses.

The complexity of the situation is, we must try to find a sensible middle ground in the best interest of all concerned.

Here is what we are fighting for:

1. Stop letting big corporations define the rules of the game or dictate how and what is in the best interest of our country.
2. Put proper docking facilities in place in Grand Turk to accommodate boat tour operators in loading zones. Until this is done, Beach patrol units should reframe from harassing operators when fueling boats or boarding guests.
3. Repeal and amend the ordinance that confines Vendors to their zones, which prohibits legitimate business operators from locating and greeting their guests anywhere on public beach. In essence, this is borderline infringement on one’s rights to free speech and does not exemplify the concept of a free democratic society.
4. Remove the clause which states that in order to acquire a Beach Vendors license, this has to be one’s main source of income.
5. Provide proper training for the beach patrol units before placing them in such positions with overarching authority. They are not sworn law enforcement officers, operating outside of the RTCPF, and are not subject to the control of the Police Ordinance; That’s a problem.
6. Requirement to have liability insurance should not be a mandate for all beach operators and should be limited to select business categories. For instance, who will set the minimum requirements? What if no company wants to take on the risk? This will again disenfranchise our people.
7. Provide proper sanitation services to clean up the beach on a daily basis not just Local Village.
8. Consolidation of certain fees to ease the burden on local operators.
9. Make provisions in the ordinance to accommodate local land based tour and rental operators who primarily operate outside the cruise center main gate, but rely on greeting their guests on the public beach. These include golf cart rentals, tram tours, horseback riding, car rentals etc.

Make no mistake about it, despite the fact the bill has been passed, our continued voices are not futility in error, it’s a fight to preserve our rights, not only for ourselves but for the future of our next generation.

Therefore, we are counting on both political parties to bring this matter back to the HOA, either in the form of a bill or private members motion.

Ed Forbes,

Concerned citizen of Grand Turk