April 28, 2000
By Raffique Shah
It seemed almost predictable, the shooting to death of a beach-trader by Anthony Sabga's security guards at Pigeon Point last Saturday. When rumblings over access to the pride of Tobago's aquamarine beaches began a few months ago, I sensed they would lead to a confrontation that had race and class connotations that would be in nobody's interest. In fact, my mind returned to the Trinidad Country Club and its refusal in 1970 to admit to its premises two Afro-Americans who stayed at the Hilton even as their White fellow-tourists were allowed free access to the club's facilities. That single act of racial discrimination, albeit at a private club fuelled the Black Power fire that was already raging, and aggravated the anti-White rage among the thousands who participated in protest demonstrations on a daily basis.
Ever since the first hint that Sabga was about to turn Pigeon Point into a private members club surfaced, I wondered if anyone in the Tobago House of Assembly or the Government would move to halt this disaster in the making. Not the private club or the development of facilities on the beach, mark you. Indeed, anyone who owns land close to any of our beaches and who takes the initiative to improve the surroundings must be encouraged to so do. As it stands, if we hold our breaths waiting on the Government to provide basic utilities like car parks, toilets and showers for public use at our many lovely beaches, we shall all die before we see a latrine erected. We are about to enter a new millennium, and except for its focus on Maracas, Las Cuevas, Vessigny and Manzanilla (a miniscule section of that expansive beach), our other beaches remain much the way they must have been when Columbus arrived here 500 years ago. Mayaro, a 12-mile strip of sand and water that means so much to Trinidadians, does not even have a car park, far less toilets. Balandra, and Toco are similarly undeveloped, so bathers have to repair to the nearby bushes to do their numbers. So if owners of large tracts of lands bordering our beaches invest in some facilities and charge people for using them, I do not believe that anyone would have a problem with that.
And while I have a problem with private clubs, especially when they exclude ordinary people who cannot afford their fees or they debar citizens from areas that ought to remain public, I do not believe that enacting laws that put them out of existence is the way to go. If people wish to remain clannish in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society that is fast becoming a melting pot, that's their funeral. Their own children will soon desert them, and immerse themselves among their friends of different races and backgrounds, making the "apan jhat" generation (of every race and colour) obsolete. Sabga and his associates will no doubt argue that their proposed club is not intended to be racial, that membership will be dictated purely by one's ability to afford the fees. That automatically excludes 90 percent of Tobagonians, given the economic climate of the island. And it will open the way for mainly White tourists to gain access, as well as large numbers of rich Trinidadians who will become members, if only to be able to flash the "magic" social card.
But while Sabga has his rights over his property, he ought not to have any rights whatever over the Pigeon Point beach. More than that, since Pigeon Point is to Tobago what Maracas is to Trinidad, it is inconceivable that because of the shooting-death of a beach-vender, the entire beach was closed to the public over the Easter weekend. What measure of madness was that? And where were the authorities who could have taken action to ensure that the law of the land-which says that all beaches are public property-was enforced? Over the past few weeks, as I watched the situation there deteriorate, I tried to make telephone contact with Stanley Beard, the THA's Secretary. Neither of them was available, and I am writing here about repeated efforts on my part over several weeks. They must be busier than the Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, who, incidentally, has also been silent on this threatening development.
Sabga has hired heavily armed security personnel. One man has already been shot to death. If a confrontation takes place, one does not know how it will end. Why do politicians allow such situations that are pregnant with so many dangers to reach the level of open confrontation? I am intrigued to know what the THA's position on this issue is, which is why I tried to speak with Charles and Beard before writing on it. Why have they not objected to Sabga's control of the only access gate to the beach? Did they approach the central Government, asking it to intervene to protect the rights of Tobagonians? And if they didn't, was it because of certain assurances by Sabga? Or must we speculate that inducements were given to certain individuals to turn a blind eye to the situation?
There is, of course, a very simple solution to the problem. All the Government has to do is acquire the lands on which the road to Pigeon Point is located, and a further piece of land adjoining the beach itself, leaving Sabga with the adjacent property with which he could do what he wants. Compulsory acquisition of lands is nothing new. Remember the Guayamare issue, when the Government moved to relocate residents of that area to facilitate the expansion of the Butler Highway? Hulsie Bhagan was at the forefront of the struggle to see that the residents were adequately compensated, and Ramesh Maharaj took legal action on behalf of the residents. They eventually moved and made way for the highway. There are many other examples of government acquiring lands for various purposes, whether or not the owners or occupiers agreed to give up their properties.
The Pigeon Point issue is far more important than Guayamare. Pigeon Point belongs to all Trinidadians and Tobagonians, but especially to the latter. Sabga must be made to understand that. And while his immense wealth can buy him prestigious properties and even personal prestige, it cannot buy him the most prized beach on the island. Nor does it allow his goon-guards to shoot people who try to access that beach. Lest he wants to trigger another 1970, Sabga should seek to salvage his reputation before it is too late.
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Copyright © Raffique Shah
