Good Friday is considered by many locals as the start of the beach season in The Bahamas.
With improvements in recent years to public beaches at Goodman's Bay, Saunders Beach, Long Wharf and Montagu, I propose that this effort needs to continue. The fact is, much of the coastline in New Providence and Paradise Island remains dominated by hotels and private homes. However, we would do well to focus on developing more recreational spaces throughout the country for use by the general public.
Many of us can remember a time when just trying to drive past these popular beaches on a holiday was almost an impossible task. The progress we have made is commendable. Through the utilization of public and private partnerships, more areas can and should be invested in to improve parking and provide much needed garbage disposal, washrooms and wash down facilities.
A few areas to be considered for development would include Cabbage Beach, McPherson Point, Yamacraw Beach, Sandyport and Clifton. Indeed, the list is not meant to be exhaustive as there are many other spots around New Providence and Family Islands that if developed would ease overcrowding at a few concentrated spots and would hopefully encourage more residents to use these spaces responsibly.
In addition to developing areas on the coastline, there is also a need for more recreational spaces within the interior inclusive of parks with walking trails and community pools. The latter can be accessed by schools to introduce swimming instruction that for too long has not been accessible by the masses.
It is my hope that this focus on recreational green spaces will promote a more responsible attitude towards our environment generally and we would demonstrate this by eliminating the rampant indiscriminate dumping on the very parks and beaches that we currently have.
For example, our picnic planning needs to include the packing of garbage bags so that we can transport our garbage away with us when we leave. It is not acceptable to visit beaches and leave broken bottles and fast-food wrappers on the shore and in the water. This diminishes the experience for other users of these public spaces.
So while I call for increased public and private partnerships to increase and improve green spaces throughout the country, as users of these spaces I encourage all of us to be good stewards and to use what we currently have responsibly.

Do you frequent public parks and beaches? What would you like to see changed? Tell us about it. Send questions or comments to sbrown@graphitebahamas.com.

oSonia Brown is principal of Graphite Engineering Ltd. and is a registered professional engineer.

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