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Never cease to amaze the nerve of people who dont want to work for a living inna Jamaica.
How can UDC "give" Helshire away when Helshire is owned by the people of Jamaica and was placed in UDC's "possession by the government to be managed FOR the people??!!
One of the mandates of the UDC has always been that it is an organization that the govt places public property under its administration on behalf of the Jamaican people.
UDC did not own Helshire beach in the first place, much less fi give it away.
aie sah
<span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: #3333FF">"Extortion claim at Hellshire Beach
Arrest of fishermen sets up battle over ownership
BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large [email protected]
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Bookmark and Share
A major legal fight is looming over the Hellshire Beach in St Catherine after a group of fishermen who say they own the property were arrested and charged with extortion by the police on Emancipation Day, August 2.
Five members of the Hellshire-based Half Moon Bay Fishermen's Co-operative were arrested by police from the Portmore Police Station, popularly called the 'Hundred Man' station and slapped with extortion charges because they collected money from patrons to enter the beach.
Vincent Colash points to the sign at the entrance to the Hellshire Beach which indicates who is in charge of the facility. (Photos: Karl McLarty)
Solid waste management is one of the costs the Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Co-op says it needs to meet to maintain Hellshire Beach.
Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Co-operative President Gladstone Whyte says Hellshire is not a public beach.
[Hide Description] Vincent Colash points to the sign at the entrance to the Hellshire Beach which indicates who is in charge of the facility. (Photos: Karl McLarty)
[Restore Description]
1/3
However, the members of the co-operative are insisting that they are the rightful owners of the property and as such they had the right to collect money from patrons going into the facility.
The Portmore police maintain that the members of the co-operative had not shown proof that they were the rightful owners of 10 acres of prime beachfront property and had to be charged.
However, documents shown to the Sunday Observer indicate that there may be merit in the claim of the 110-member fishermen's co-operative, which looks after the interests of fishermen and fish vendors.
The five charged with extortion are the co-operative's president Gladstone Whyte, secretary Devon Malcolm, and members Vincent Colash, Kenneth Jenkins and George Smith.
They are due to appear in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, August 17, when the case will be mentioned.
If convicted, the men face a maximum prison term of three years.
Legal counsel for the men, Delano Franklyn from the law firm Wilson Franklyn Barnes, said that he was not thinking conviction at this point.
"Their rights were violated," Franklyn said in a brief interview while on his way to a book-signing event in the United States.
"Based on my instructions, my clients have an extremely good case as the land is being held in trust for them by the commissioner of lands, and therefore they have a beneficial interest in the land, which gives them the right to superintend the land as they see fit.
"Therefore, I find it extremely strange that they could be charged with extortion. Their bona fides are unquestionable as it includes three executive members of the co-op and two ordinary members," Franklyn said.
However, head of the Portmore police, Superintendent Anthony Powell, told the Sunday Observer that the members of the co-operative had not proven that they owned the property and were, therefore, not authorised to collect money from the public.
"They have indicated that they are authorised to do so (collect money), but they haven't been able to produce those documents to me at this point," Powell said.
"As far as I am concerned, Hellshire is a public beach and no one is authorised to collect money. They were demanding money from persons entering the beach and demanding money by menace amounts to extortion," Powell said.
However, Whyte insisted that the property was under the co-operative's control.
"It's not a public beach. It's owned by the co-operative, which has chosen to operate it as a public beach, opting to collect on public holidays," he argued.
"We thought about charging a fee to enter the beach on a daily basis, but we were mandated by our members to charge only on public holidays and special days. We charge $50 for adults and children under 12 enter free. Even the Co-operative Department advised us to close the gate every day and collect a fee, but we said no," Whyte said.
"The money that we collect goes toward helping to maintain and develop the beach. We also collect $500 on a weekly basis from shed operators, as we also have to pay for garbage collection, electricity and administrative costs.
"There is a policy document that guides us and states that we are the legal owners of the Hellshire Beach. The public does not know this, as people believe that they can just walk in and use the beach. It is not a public beach. It is owned by the fishermen's co-operative, which chose to operate it as a public beach. We allowed it to be semi-free, but we say that people should pay on public holidays to help us offset our costs, which also include lifeguard services," Whyte said.
On a public holiday, the members of the co-operative can collect in excess of $500,000. On Emancipation Day, $50,500 was collected up to the point of the security forces' intervention. The police seized that money as evidence.
Whyte said that based upon how the day was turning out, it was likely that over $400,000 would have been collected.
The co-operative's top executive said that the group's inability to collect on Independence Day, August 6, resulted in losses of over $500,000 to the organisation, as the Portmore police insisted that the gate should be kept open.
The entire Hellshire Beach was once owned by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), but according to documents shown to the Sunday Observer, 10 acres were handed over to the Half Moon Bay Fishermen's Co-operative by the UDC, which placed the Commissioner of Lands temporarily in charge until the title was transferred to the co-operative.
In 1992, the Half Moon Bay Co-operative was registered and given the right to own 10 acres of the beach area.
By 2001, the Commissioner of Lands became the trustee of the land on behalf of the co-operative, with the co-operative responsible for standing the cost of the transfer.
The legal cost of effecting the transfer is not known, although the executive of the co-operative has been trying to raise money to do it.
There has been opposition to the land falling into the hands of the fishermen's co-operative over the years. Among those who did not accept that it was a good move was Portmore's Mayor Keith Hinds, who wanted the beach to fall under the umbrella of the Portmore Municipality, and to develop it as a tourist attraction.
Hinds apparently backed out of a potential fight with the co-operative when he realised that the land was being held in trust on behalf of the group.
On the initiative of the co-operative, which admitted that it needed a firmer management structure in place in order to effect the transfer of the title, a stakeholders' committee was later formed.
That committee included representatives of the UDC, the Portmore Municipal Council, the Portmore police, the Jamaica Co-operative Union and Friendly Societies, the Social Development Commission, the Health Department and the Marine Police, working in conjunction with the Half Moon Bay Co-operative.
The executives of the co-operative, who met with the Sunday Observer on Friday, said that in order to maintain the beach and pay basic bills, members decided that they would charge a fee to enter on public holidays.
"The co-op is a legal entity and is allowed to collect," Whyte said on behalf of his colleagues.
"A gate was put there by the UDC for us to utilise. We use the proceeds from the gate every public holiday. That has been going on for quite some time. We even met with Superintendent (Marlon) Nesbett when he was in charge of the Hundred Man station and gave him copies of our legal documents. After that we thought that everything was okay.
"On Emancipation Day, soldiers took us up and went down in an army truck to the station where we were arrested by a Constable Taylor," said Whyte.
"They just came up to the gate and said what is going on here, this is extortion. I wasn't at the gate, but I was close by and saw the commotion, went over, but they wouldn't take an explanation," Whyte said.
The fishermen also claimed that policemen from the Portmore Police Station who were assisting members of the co-operative with security at the entrance were not cautioned by their colleagues.
It was not the first time that security personnel were raiding the facility.
Last year Easter, police from the Mobile Reserve went there claiming that members of the co-operative were engaged in illegal activities, but backed off when documents were shown to them by co-operative officials.
The Sunday Observer has learnt that a report was made to the police by a high-profile Jamaican, who insisted that he would not pay the $50 to enter, as he claimed that the beach was a public venue.
When the matter is clarified, which Whyte hopes will result in an acquittal, the co-operative said it will go on an education drive to sensitise the public on its rights.
"We want our names cleared first, then we plan to have public announcements of the whole proceedings," he said.
"Before anything happens, we will have to get information out to the public and the relevant authorities. We are looking for a major face change of the Hellshire Beach, which will make the public proud of us.
"We want Jamaica to know the whole truth, that the beach is our responsibility. Harassment is being reduced and vendors are dealing better with their customers," he said."</span></span>
How can UDC "give" Helshire away when Helshire is owned by the people of Jamaica and was placed in UDC's "possession by the government to be managed FOR the people??!!
One of the mandates of the UDC has always been that it is an organization that the govt places public property under its administration on behalf of the Jamaican people.
UDC did not own Helshire beach in the first place, much less fi give it away.
aie sah
<span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: #3333FF">"Extortion claim at Hellshire Beach
Arrest of fishermen sets up battle over ownership
BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large [email protected]
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Bookmark and Share
A major legal fight is looming over the Hellshire Beach in St Catherine after a group of fishermen who say they own the property were arrested and charged with extortion by the police on Emancipation Day, August 2.
Five members of the Hellshire-based Half Moon Bay Fishermen's Co-operative were arrested by police from the Portmore Police Station, popularly called the 'Hundred Man' station and slapped with extortion charges because they collected money from patrons to enter the beach.
Vincent Colash points to the sign at the entrance to the Hellshire Beach which indicates who is in charge of the facility. (Photos: Karl McLarty)
Solid waste management is one of the costs the Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Co-op says it needs to meet to maintain Hellshire Beach.
Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Co-operative President Gladstone Whyte says Hellshire is not a public beach.
[Hide Description] Vincent Colash points to the sign at the entrance to the Hellshire Beach which indicates who is in charge of the facility. (Photos: Karl McLarty)
[Restore Description]
1/3
However, the members of the co-operative are insisting that they are the rightful owners of the property and as such they had the right to collect money from patrons going into the facility.
The Portmore police maintain that the members of the co-operative had not shown proof that they were the rightful owners of 10 acres of prime beachfront property and had to be charged.
However, documents shown to the Sunday Observer indicate that there may be merit in the claim of the 110-member fishermen's co-operative, which looks after the interests of fishermen and fish vendors.
The five charged with extortion are the co-operative's president Gladstone Whyte, secretary Devon Malcolm, and members Vincent Colash, Kenneth Jenkins and George Smith.
They are due to appear in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, August 17, when the case will be mentioned.
If convicted, the men face a maximum prison term of three years.
Legal counsel for the men, Delano Franklyn from the law firm Wilson Franklyn Barnes, said that he was not thinking conviction at this point.
"Their rights were violated," Franklyn said in a brief interview while on his way to a book-signing event in the United States.
"Based on my instructions, my clients have an extremely good case as the land is being held in trust for them by the commissioner of lands, and therefore they have a beneficial interest in the land, which gives them the right to superintend the land as they see fit.
"Therefore, I find it extremely strange that they could be charged with extortion. Their bona fides are unquestionable as it includes three executive members of the co-op and two ordinary members," Franklyn said.
However, head of the Portmore police, Superintendent Anthony Powell, told the Sunday Observer that the members of the co-operative had not proven that they owned the property and were, therefore, not authorised to collect money from the public.
"They have indicated that they are authorised to do so (collect money), but they haven't been able to produce those documents to me at this point," Powell said.
"As far as I am concerned, Hellshire is a public beach and no one is authorised to collect money. They were demanding money from persons entering the beach and demanding money by menace amounts to extortion," Powell said.
However, Whyte insisted that the property was under the co-operative's control.
"It's not a public beach. It's owned by the co-operative, which has chosen to operate it as a public beach, opting to collect on public holidays," he argued.
"We thought about charging a fee to enter the beach on a daily basis, but we were mandated by our members to charge only on public holidays and special days. We charge $50 for adults and children under 12 enter free. Even the Co-operative Department advised us to close the gate every day and collect a fee, but we said no," Whyte said.
"The money that we collect goes toward helping to maintain and develop the beach. We also collect $500 on a weekly basis from shed operators, as we also have to pay for garbage collection, electricity and administrative costs.
"There is a policy document that guides us and states that we are the legal owners of the Hellshire Beach. The public does not know this, as people believe that they can just walk in and use the beach. It is not a public beach. It is owned by the fishermen's co-operative, which chose to operate it as a public beach. We allowed it to be semi-free, but we say that people should pay on public holidays to help us offset our costs, which also include lifeguard services," Whyte said.
On a public holiday, the members of the co-operative can collect in excess of $500,000. On Emancipation Day, $50,500 was collected up to the point of the security forces' intervention. The police seized that money as evidence.
Whyte said that based upon how the day was turning out, it was likely that over $400,000 would have been collected.
The co-operative's top executive said that the group's inability to collect on Independence Day, August 6, resulted in losses of over $500,000 to the organisation, as the Portmore police insisted that the gate should be kept open.
The entire Hellshire Beach was once owned by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), but according to documents shown to the Sunday Observer, 10 acres were handed over to the Half Moon Bay Fishermen's Co-operative by the UDC, which placed the Commissioner of Lands temporarily in charge until the title was transferred to the co-operative.
In 1992, the Half Moon Bay Co-operative was registered and given the right to own 10 acres of the beach area.
By 2001, the Commissioner of Lands became the trustee of the land on behalf of the co-operative, with the co-operative responsible for standing the cost of the transfer.
The legal cost of effecting the transfer is not known, although the executive of the co-operative has been trying to raise money to do it.
There has been opposition to the land falling into the hands of the fishermen's co-operative over the years. Among those who did not accept that it was a good move was Portmore's Mayor Keith Hinds, who wanted the beach to fall under the umbrella of the Portmore Municipality, and to develop it as a tourist attraction.
Hinds apparently backed out of a potential fight with the co-operative when he realised that the land was being held in trust on behalf of the group.
On the initiative of the co-operative, which admitted that it needed a firmer management structure in place in order to effect the transfer of the title, a stakeholders' committee was later formed.
That committee included representatives of the UDC, the Portmore Municipal Council, the Portmore police, the Jamaica Co-operative Union and Friendly Societies, the Social Development Commission, the Health Department and the Marine Police, working in conjunction with the Half Moon Bay Co-operative.
The executives of the co-operative, who met with the Sunday Observer on Friday, said that in order to maintain the beach and pay basic bills, members decided that they would charge a fee to enter on public holidays.
"The co-op is a legal entity and is allowed to collect," Whyte said on behalf of his colleagues.
"A gate was put there by the UDC for us to utilise. We use the proceeds from the gate every public holiday. That has been going on for quite some time. We even met with Superintendent (Marlon) Nesbett when he was in charge of the Hundred Man station and gave him copies of our legal documents. After that we thought that everything was okay.
"On Emancipation Day, soldiers took us up and went down in an army truck to the station where we were arrested by a Constable Taylor," said Whyte.
"They just came up to the gate and said what is going on here, this is extortion. I wasn't at the gate, but I was close by and saw the commotion, went over, but they wouldn't take an explanation," Whyte said.
The fishermen also claimed that policemen from the Portmore Police Station who were assisting members of the co-operative with security at the entrance were not cautioned by their colleagues.
It was not the first time that security personnel were raiding the facility.
Last year Easter, police from the Mobile Reserve went there claiming that members of the co-operative were engaged in illegal activities, but backed off when documents were shown to them by co-operative officials.
The Sunday Observer has learnt that a report was made to the police by a high-profile Jamaican, who insisted that he would not pay the $50 to enter, as he claimed that the beach was a public venue.
When the matter is clarified, which Whyte hopes will result in an acquittal, the co-operative said it will go on an education drive to sensitise the public on its rights.
"We want our names cleared first, then we plan to have public announcements of the whole proceedings," he said.
"Before anything happens, we will have to get information out to the public and the relevant authorities. We are looking for a major face change of the Hellshire Beach, which will make the public proud of us.
"We want Jamaica to know the whole truth, that the beach is our responsibility. Harassment is being reduced and vendors are dealing better with their customers," he said."</span></span>
uote=pleXxed]i have a hunch about the whole Helshire debacle, but no proof.. yet.
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