By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis said if the issue of public access to Cabbage Beach cannot be resolved, the government should “acquire” the land next to the private property in question in the public’s interest.

He spoke to reporters a day after Cabbage Beach vendors became irate when they met locked gates at an entrance to Paradise Island beach and their items relocated without their knowledge.

Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said he was “blindsided” by the move. He stated he personally called the entity that owns the property — Access Industries — and was told the company plans to develop a condo-hotel on the land, hence the reason for the area being closed off. He also revealed that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis did not know about the situation beforehand.

Yesterday, Mr Davis said Dr Minnis has “abandoned” the Cabbage Beach vendors with whom he had protested in 2016 while in opposition.

Asked if he was surprised that the current administration was blindsided, Mr Davis answered: “I’m surprised that they were blindsided as I mentioned earlier, the Prime Minister himself was engaged with the vendors to preserve their accustomed way of living and he abandoned them now that he’s in office.

“Whatever he was doing at that time obviously was for political gain no more and it was not in the interest of the vendors.”

In March 2016, police clashed with Cabbage Beach vendors and protestors for a second consecutive day after FNM and DNA political factions led a group from Sidney Poitier Bridge to the Paradise Island beach.

Dr Minnis was a part of that protest. After angry vendors tore down portions of the fence erected to block access to the beach, Dr Minnis told reporters, “We are tired, this is the people’s time and the people’s power on display here today.

“We are not satisfied with just one segment of the fence removed. We want complete access; the fence must be totally moved so our people could have access. If you look here today you would see a complete representation of the entire Bahamas. This is not political, this is not PLP, this is not DNA, this is not FNM – this is about the people,” Dr Minnis said in 2016.

The events took place during the Christie administration. Mr Davis was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works at the time.

Yesterday Mr Davis said to his recollection, in the last PLP term the idea was to acquire the land as an initiative to assist those vendors to be able to set up a “sort of vendors village”. He stated this was affected by election campaigning and the party’s subsequent election defeat in 2017.

Mr Davis said it is not right to disrupt the livelihoods of the Bahamian vendors on the beach without proper notice and without coming up with solutions.

“The beach is a public beach,” he explained. “Yes, there is private land that borders the beach but there’s always a public access to that beach that has to be identified to allow these vendors to get to the beach.

“We cannot afford to allow ordinary Bahamians who’ve become accustomed to a way of life….a way of looking after themselves to have it so disrupted in a way that would be detrimental to their future and so the government has to step in and correct that situation to be able to allow those vendors to make a living as they’ve been accustomed to.”

As for a legal solution, Mr Davis, an attorney, suggested identifying the public access to the beach.

“Identifying the public access to the beach would be a first step. There’s some differences as to where the public access to that beach is – that has to be resolved. If that cannot be resolved, the other answer would be for the government to acquire the land that borders right next to that property and acquire it in a public interest. Public interest being the interest of those vendors to be able to continue to live in a manner in which (they are) accustomed.”