By Fatmata Binta Bah
Fatmata Mida Hamid Carew, the General Manager of National Tourist Board gave reasons for the demolition of beach bars while speaking on the general status of beaches in the capital at the weekly government press briefing held by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education on 12th March, 2024.
She said the current state of beaches is not properly structured especially now that the country has been recognized as one of the top eco-tourism destinations in 2024, adding that they have also been getting feedback from the general public about the poor state of the beaches, a situation she said is a recipe for environment related incidents.
On the demolition of some beach bars, Madam Carew noted that most of the beach bar owners where given allocation to put up bars temporarily, stressing that being allocated with beach land doesn’t mean being given permanent ownership of it.
“It is clearly stated that the land will be withdrawn from them at any time the government pleases as it is not a private property,” she said.
She added that majority of the beach bar operators are not in compliance with the rules, regulations, policies and guidelines covering the beach and beach bar operators.
She lamented on the poor toilet facility of some beach bars.
“Some beach bars have no proper toilet facility and the waste is seen along the beach which has been highly condemned by the international bodies,” she stated, saying it is not safe for swimming.
According to her, the situation caused authorities to revive the beach bar policy and ensure that beach bar operators abide by it, and that any operator who fails to abide by the policy will leave authorities with no option than to demolish non-compliant facilities.
She cited that several engagements were held with beach bar operators and owners of hotels and resorts in which they were admonished to ensure that their business facilities along the beach meet professional and international standards and also address existing environmental threats.
“Three meetings where held at the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and there were also three meetings held with the National Tourist Board alongside independent meetings in which they suggested on strategies on the full operation of the beach, street hawkers along the beach and we pleaded with them to work with the Freetown City Council to have a dedicated spot for local vendors, vegetable sellers and should be done in a proper way along the beach, and ensure the provision of security as well,” she explained.
According to the General Manager of National Tourist Board, some beach operators also made mention of the huge number of beach bars and how some of these bars are of no high standards and wish to see reduction of some of them.
She said these factors and many others led to the demolition of some beach bars, disclosing that they are done with the first phase of the demolition exercise in which 30 beach bars were touched with 39 more to go down in the second phase.
She emphasized that authorities will continue to demolish more non-compliant beach bars to maintain standard.
On whether the affected persons were given prior notice, Madam Carew said the Ministry has long informed them about the demolition in 2023 and that they have engaged various media platforms about the demolition.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Friday, March 15th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
