NEGRIL — Nearly three decades ago, Negril’s pristine seven-mile strip of beach helped to transform what used to be a sleepy little fishing community in western Jamaica into one of the world’s best-known holiday resorts.

Now the beach, to which thousands of tourists flock every year, is showing signs of erosion and Negril’s business community is pushing for a major resuscitation programme, which could cost up to $470 million. It would be a small price to pay, they say, for the country to protect a resource that helps Jamaica to earn billions of dollars a year.

According to Daniel Grizzle, a Negril hotelier and a director of the local chamber of commerce, a group of Cuban oceanographers recently looked at the damage and proposed a solution that would include using compatible sand from the area to fill the gap.

“Over the years, we have lost some of the beach,” Grizzle explained. “It’s not as drastic as some people make it out to be. We’ve lost about 20 feet in depth but it appears to be a trend. So we want to arrest it before it gets worse.”

The slow erosion of the beach had got the attention of hoteliers, environmentalists and Negril residents in recent years. But the issue received greater focus last October when Hurricane Michelle narrowly missed Jamaica but its mild side-swipe took substantial gobs out of a one-mile section of the beach.

That caused the Negril community to look to the Cubans who have experience in rebuilding beaches.

Grizzle said that the Cuban scientists are to return to Jamaica soon to conduct an in-depth study on the Negril problem and that job, to be done over two to three months, will cost $1.41 million (US$30,000). The Negril community will be expected to come up with a third of that amount, with the government providing the rest.

“The first half of our chamber meeting, which starts at 4:00 pm next Tuesday, will be to look at raising funds,” Grizzle said. “We’re not just waiting on the Government to lead. We think that’s fair enough.”

But the community has made it clear that it expects the Government to foot the bill for the beach repossession project, citing the valuable contribution the town has made to the island’s tourist industry.

According to Grizzle, the cost has not yet been determined. It will be based on what the Cuban oceanographers find.

However, Cuban scientists successfully carried out a similar project in the Veradero region of their island at a cost of US$5 million, Grizzle noted.

Based on that price, it is estimated that the Negril project would cost somewhere between $329 million to $470 million (US$7 million to US$10 million).

“For a resort area that generates US$300 million per year (J$1.41 billion), if we have to invest US$30,000 on our part it’s nothing,” said Grizzle. “If the Government has to invest another US$7 million to ensure our income, I think there shouldn’t be too much question from the Government’s point of view.”

Added the businessman: “The revenue we will collect (in the future) will certainly warrant US$7 million to US$10 million, at most, to do it properly.”

Grizzle estimated that the experts would begin implementing corrective measures within a year’s time, based on a timetable in which the financing would be tied up over the next six months.