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An erosion alert is being raised along the Placencia Peninsula, where continued wave action is affecting beachfront areas in Placencia and Seine Bight villages and threatening trees, businesses and private property. The issue gained renewed attention last Friday when Placencia resident and activist Emilio Zabaneh posted images and videos showing portions of the beachfront being washed away. Zabaneh reported that several mature coconut trees had fallen into the sea and that businesses, including Barefoot Beach Bar and Tipsy Tuna, had lost sections of beachfront. Zabaneh said 120 sandbags were placed near Tipsy Tuna in an effort to protect three remaining coconut trees. He described the level of erosion as unprecedented and urged property owners to take temporary action to protect vulnerable areas. The Placencia Village Council says it is working with technical experts, government representatives and the recently established National Erosion Committee on immediate and longer-term responses. Council Chairman Warren Garbutt says assessments reflect the seriousness of the situation, but any intervention within the public beach area requires approval from the relevant authorities.
Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council: “So yes we’ve really hit the ground. Reached out to our area rep and to the National Emergency Response Team that is dedicated to beach management, erosion especially and they were kind enough to come down and meet with us and see first hand the condition and how impactful the erosion has been.”
Reporter: Some residents said that they’ve watched the beach disappear for years. Why is this response just happening now ?
Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council: “The response isn’t just happening now. We’ve been trying to address this situation for quite some time. We’ve met on several different occasions with different ministries and an erosion study was completed recently and that has pointed to some of the causes of the erosion as well as some recommendations on how we can address that concern, a science based study. These things do take time. If it was really up to the council and we had the finance to do it all we would have done it but besides the time in doing the studies and trying to find, it’s a bit technical and requires a lot more than what we have at the council. Like I said over the next few weeks in the short term people, residents along the beach can implement the short term proposed method which is filling sandbags to save trees. This is not ideal because the bags after a while deteriorate and they become lots of loose micorplastics gets on the beach and in the water and flushes out it becomes, it’s not suitable so it’s really just a temporary solution.”
On July 21, Agriculture Minister and Stann Creek West Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson visited the peninsula to assess the damage. Ferguson toured affected areas and met with residents, business owners and elected representatives from both Placencia and Seine Bight. The chairpersons of the two village councils have agreed to prepare detailed requests outlining the assistance needed from the Government. Ferguson says he will present those requests during a meeting with Prime Minister John Briceño. The minister has also committed to inviting the Prime Minister to visit the peninsula, view the erosion firsthand and meet with residents of both communities. As a temporary measure, property owners may install sandbags to protect vulnerable trees and structures. The Placencia Village Council has cautioned that the sand should come from offshore and must not be removed from the beach, since that could contribute to further erosion. The longer-term response is expected to include a phased beach-nourishment project based on recommendations from a recently completed scientific study. Garbutt says funding, environmental clearance and construction permits must first be secured.
Reporter: You mentioned that financing is being secured, has funding already been committed or are you still looking for the financial support?
Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council: “It has been committed, although there is a process for those. There are several different streams and we’re looking at all. It is a tremendous task because while we are only starting with this first phase and first little area, the peninsula is 15 miles long and we’re just working on the first less than a mile of beach. So if we want to do the entire peninsula it’s going to be really significant but we need to start at some point and the beach in the area that we’re planning to restore is so important not to one little residents here but tourism. Some of the very popular establishments like the Barefoot Beach Bar and the Tipsy Tuna, the Elysian and a few other hotels, The Cozy Corner, these are the areas that are being affected and because of the high visitation to these area we definitely need to do something to restore these beaches.”
The Placencia Village Council says it is finalizing the required permit applications and seeking financing, with physical work expected to begin within the coming weeks once the necessary approvals and resources are secured./
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