ABOUT 30 YEARS AGO, calypsonian Mighty Gabby penned Jack, one of the most popular local songs to hit the airwaves. It would become the 1982 Crop Over Road March winner, but it was a serious piece of social commentary.
The calypso took issue with a “decree” from the late Queen’s Counsel Jack Dear that according to the Laws Of Barbados hotel owners had the right to develop their property up to the waterfront of the island’s beaches.
This announcement by Mr Dear, then chairman of the Barbados Tourist Board (now the Barbados Tourism Authority), sparked controversy, generating much public discussion on whether or not it was a move to introduce private beaches.
So, it is no surprise that residents of Skeete’s Bay, St Philip, are objecting to a proposed multimillion-dollar tourism development resort there.
Interestingly, two calypsonians who have brought fame to this rural parish, Red Plastic Bag (Stedson Wiltshire) and Mac Fingall, are at the forefront of the objection.
Their charge that the tourism project could have a negative impact on their community is food for thought. Development, good as it may be, has a way of displacing originality, which in the St Philip proposal manifested itself in the suggestion of replacing Skeete’s Bay fish market with a restaurant.
The devastating effect of this is obvious. Fishing at Skeete’s Bay, a tradition of generations of families, continues to be one of the district’s most treasured occupations, and cannot be so lightly treated.
Minister of Housing Michael Lashley, who like RPB and Mac is a hometown boy, has given the assurance the Skeete’s Bay a rea will remain the property of the Crown.
However, there is need for clarity, as the businessman behind the project, Paul Doyle, owner of the Crane Hotel, told last week’s town hall meeting that he had bought land at Skeete’s Bay four years ago.
Applications for the tourism project are reportedly before the Town Planning Department for approval. Technical and developmental considerations must be weighed against any possible cultural and social fallout.
