This protruding rock has divided Crane Beach into two beaches. (Picture by Sandy Pitt.)

The Crane Beach in St Philip is in dire need of rehabilitation, but Government is unable to do any work because of an injunction filed by a private citizen two decades ago.

Prominent businessman, Canadian Eugene Melnyk, who has been living in Barbados for 26 years and is one of two citizens who own homes at Crane Beach, applied for the restraining order to prevent Crane Beach Resort from undertaking any construction work on the famous cliff, on which a section of the hotel was built.

The DAILY NATION recently discovered this situation after Andrew Fleming, a regular sea-bather at the beach, complained about its rapid erosion and the unappealing condition of the area.

Only two years ago, the beach was voted one of the ten best beaches in the world by Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous. However, Fleming questioned why it had fallen into such a sorry state.

He complained about the public access to the beach – a pothole-filled road which he said was so narrow that vehicles were forced to reverse out of it. He also made reference to an iron grill across the road which was so rusty and falling to pieces that red scones were placed across it as a precaution to pedestrians. Those scones have been in place for close to a year.

Fleming pointed out that some of the slabs on the walkway to the beach had become dislodged, making the well-used area a slippery slope. In addition, he expressed fears that if the beach continued to erode, there would be no rock to stand on.

He asked: “With all the millions that the Crane Hotel makes, why don’t they repair the entire beach instead of only focusing on the beach close to the hotel?”

Sean Alleyne, general manager of the Crane Resort, said the hotel was willing to contribute to the rehabilitation of the beach but was unable to do so because of the injunction.

Asked to comment on this situation, Dr Leo Brewster, director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit, said they could provide a detailed response to this matter, but would need permission to do so from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Drainage. He subsequently responded that he had not received the authorisation to speak on the matter.

However, Melnyk, whose vast residence was on one side of Crane Beach, confirmed he had filed the injunction after contracting an engineer company from Canada to conduct a geo-technical study of the beach and the cliff top because he felt the cliff would be compromised by any construction work done by the hotel.

He also pointed out that although the road was a public one, he had spent money to upkeep the area.

“The only part that I own is the turning bay,” he said. “I have privately cleaned up that beach. I hired a bunch of people to remove the seaweed because it was horrendous and that is the job of the NCC [National Conservation Commission]” he said.

Melnyk also revealed he had installed the iron grills across the road.

“I did that 20 years ago. I put that in with my own money because all the rain used to come down onto the beach and it was decaying and eroding. I put the grill in and put a pipe to divert the water,” Melnyk said, adding it was Government’s role to maintain the area.

It is understood that the other resident also contributed by putting boulders on the beach and installing the steps for pedestrians.

DAILY NATION investigations revealed that the Crane Beach was one of six beaches in Barbados which fell under the Government/Inter-American Development Bank US$24 million Coastal Infrastructure Programme in 2002.

Of that sum, US$2.5 million was supposed to be used for the restoration and enhancement of the Crane Beach. This was to include replacement of the existing deteriorating revetment that stabilises the headland; and construction of shore-parallel spurs south from the headland to hold and expand the beach adjacent to the headland for easier pedestrian access to the south beach.

This included construction of new steps to the beach also; resurfacing of the headland along with the construction of a walkway at the top of the revetment to allow access to the north beach; and reconstruction of the access road to the headland.

None of this work was ever undertaken because of the injunction. (MB)