By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter 

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair yesterday said a “big mistake” has been made over the way Junkanoo Beach has been allowed to develop.

Charles Klonaris told Tribune Business that the DNP’s vision was for the entire Junkanoo Beach strip - from The Pointe heading west towards the Arawak Cay Fish Fry - to be one integrated area with restaurant and entertainment venues along the waterfront.

Instead, he argued that businesses have concentrated at both ends of the beachfront, with the Junkanoo Beach portion developing without any structured management or plan. This, Mr Klonaris said, is making the area less attractive to both locals and tourists.

“The Junkanoo Beach, originally when the DNP had envisioned it, it was to start from The Pointe all the way through to Arawak Cay and there would be a continuous flow, flowing right into Arawak Cay where you would have the conch salad stands and the entertainment there. So it was one long beach, and it should have been structured properly to where it accommodated the tourists as well as the locals,” he explained.

There are no such restaurant or entertainment venues between Arawak Cay and Junkanoo Beach, with vehicular access to the former’s eastern entrance often closed. The Junkanoo Beach portion has always been pedestrian only, with access from Bay Street for vendors accepting deliveries to their establishments.

Mr Klonaris said: “There needs to be something that both tourists and locals can enjoy, and not just for cruise ship passengers. So there is a big mistake in the manner in which Junkanoo Beach has been structured.

“It is sad because that is such a principal landmark for Nassau residents as well as tourists, and so we just look at it from a tourist point of view, but if we look at it from the view of proper restaurants, proper bars, proper coffee shops, proper entertainment and sports like volleyball and beach soccer, and whatever is needed to make it such an enjoyable area for locals and tourists, we’ve missed the boat.”

The former Minnis administration initiated a bidding process to find a private sector management company for Junkanoo Beach but no entity was ever selected and the plan appeared to be shelved.

“We keep hearing so many things,” Mr Klonaris said of the management company proposal, “but I just keep seeing people randomly set up their clapboards for whatever their services are, whether it’s for massages or a restaurant or their little jerk pit.

“It has not been structured properly, and there should have been a management team to overlook that very, very important and historic area, and also a very high money area for locals. We have missed the point on that. It’s not properly run and it’s not structured properly and, unfortunately, we are not benefiting from this.”