Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly Orville London yesterday dismissed a call to close Grange Bay to the public following the drowning of former minister of national security Martin Joseph. He said to do so would be a knee-jerk reaction.
Speaking at the post-executive council news conference, London said he did not believe that shutting down the Grange Bay beach would solve the problem. He said while the death of Joseph was tragic, when one examined the number of people who had used the beach in the last decade without incident, there was insufficient reason to bar access to the area.
“I would not consider that incident is enough. It is tragic, it has hurt all of us, but I don’t think it is enough to close down the beach. However, I think it is enough for us to ensure that there are warning signs there with respect to the dangers and therefore people will know what they do or do not do at their own risk,” London said. London also said that the THA would be looking at putting permanent life guards at the location, though in comparison with other beaches worldwide Grange Bay was relatively safe.
“I think it is also a situation where we have to seriously consider placing permanent life guards at the venue but what we consider as unsafe beaches in Tobago are what are considered the norm in some countries. I never bathe there but my information is that there is a big drop and that every now and then there is a current coming up. I don’t know because I don’t trust the sea,” he said.
rough seas
Rough seas warnings were being issued since December 27, 2014, and are expected to continue for the next week. Waves as high as ten feet have been breaking on the shoreline. In a release, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency said the T&T Meteorological Centre issued the 18th rough sea bulletin for the year and all warnings continued to be in effect.
“T&T would be experiencing north-easterly swells along its exposed coast. All marine interests are asked to exercise extreme caution in the preservation of life and property.”