Maritime Affairs Minister responds to viral video

Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey, has responded to a video making the rounds on social media.

A man can be heard calling  for action to be taken in the viral video, as he expresses shock over a groyne he believes was built to block access to a beach.

Minister Humphrey took to social media to explain the situation surrounding the structure however, after he and the director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit, Dr Leo Brewster, visited the area.

His social media post follows:

There is a video making rounds on social media that purports to show a groyne built out into the sea preventing persons from passing.

 

There is a second video which I also saw on which the Director of The Coastal Zone Management Unit is following up.

 

The Director of Coastal Zone  and I, actually just visited the area today to  see for ourselves. (Pictures 1 and 2)

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In relation to the first video that has been sent to us many times, it is being said  that the owners have deliberately placed broken glass on the groyne.

After investigation, these statements cannot be validated.

A few points…

1)  This is not a groyne (something built that runs into the sea), but a revetment, a structure built to protect the seaward face of the property and to withstand the pressures from the high energy waves of the sea which is encroaching.

2) As such, the revetment was never built into the sea, and in fact the sea has made its way onto the structure due to erosion.

3) The wall you see is DECADES  old and not a recent build.

4, The Coastal Zone Management Unit monitors this area often and as you can see from photos 3 (taken a few weeks ago there was  space for persons to pass… Probably at low tide though.  So some adjustments needed there as the rate of erosion is a worry…

6) My team also visited the site  yesterday,  a day after the video was shared there was no broken glass. I searched today and saw none (picture 4)

7) There is a coral  restoration and rebuilding project happening in the exact location….

8)  This area has seen 5ft of sand height lost and 10 m of beach width lost. (See picture 5)

9) Permission was never given therefore to block a path. .

The impact of the erosion occuring here also extends to the south towards Paynes Bay. The CZMU will be setting up a temporary monitoring programne to monitor the rate of beach recovery in the affected area.

10) Coastal Zone Management has also spoken to the person who made the video to get further information and offer clarity.

I hope this offers some clarity as well.

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