Seaside businessman told to relocate by NCC

The construction of a beachside bar at Fitts Village St James, apparently by an outside investor has uprooted the livelihood of an aspiring young businessman who has been ordered to vacate the beach that locals have enjoyed for many years.

However, Ryan Als, General Manager of the National Conservation Commission (NCC), which initially gave permission for 25-year-old Antoine Johnson to operate on the small stretch, has advised him to relocate because the area is private property.

In an interview on Wednesday, Johnson, a Barbadian who has worked for some time as a restaurant bartender, told Barbados TODAY that in May 2019, he was inspired to open a small cocktail bar near his west coast community of Fitts Village.

But when the pandemic struck in early 2020, extended restrictions on beach access and businesses forced the young man to shut shop. He returned in early September to prepare his business for the start of a promising tourist season.

On September 8th, Johnson claims a vehicle pulled up to the spot and the person inside informed him that permission had been granted for the construction of a bar on the spot. During a back-and-forth with the person, Johnson explained that he had an NCC licence to run his business on the spot.

In response, the person, who had not revealed his identity, filed a report with the Holetown Police Station. Officers subsequently confirmed that a developer had been given permission to build on the spot, but promised to do what was in the best interest of both parties.

Johnson said he felt a sense of familiarity between the officers and the developers which made him uncomfortable. As a result, he shelved his planned re-opening.

“I knew there were going to be struggles, but Barbados always seemed like a forward-thinking nation with all the steps they were taking for small business owners,” Johnson told Barbados TODAY.

“But when you meet stumbling blocks like these, it feels like you have to have money to do anything in Barbados in the first place. Even if you have a simple idea and you are working on it yourself, without any help from the government and all you want are just the permissions, you always see that there are stumbling blocks before you,” the businessman added.

Construction on the new beachfront development started shortly afterward. Residents revealed that recently, “total strangers” had prevented long-standing residents of Risk Road and the wider Fitts Village area from accessing a beach that has always been open to them.

A visit to the area on Wednesday revealed a narrow pathway at the side of the development was carved out to provide access to the beach. Two workmen were busy working on the new structure that extends metres from the beach.

Johnson noted that the beach was one of the places that locals could comfortably use without imposing on tourists at nearby properties.

Barbados TODAY has been unable to verify the identity of the developer on the project and workmen on the property said they also did not know. Further investigations suggest the individual owns a nearby beachfront property and a well-known nightclub in Holetown.

Later in the day, the NCC General Manager explained that the area is private property and was only being used by Johnson whilst it was unoccupied.

Mr Als added that many of the West Coast properties in the area have been allowed to construct up to the water’s edge.

“On the West Coast, generally speaking, there is not much beach space. So the properties generally have a sea wall and the waves come right up to the sea wall or very close to it,” he told Barbados TODAY.

“But the gentleman still has a licence and he can go for the Fitts Village area and the Fitts Village stretch is a fairly long stretch and there are other areas owned by the Crown where he can go and vend. But if he chose to go to a small beach area that is not owned by the Crown then, of course, he would have to leave,” he added.

Sylvia Parris, who has been living in the area for more than 75 years said there had always been full access to the beach that was neither restricted by a cliff nor beachside property.

“I feel it is a little unfair… but thank God he left a little access that we could still get into the sea. Our grandparents and all of our children bathed there,” she said. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb