URGENT BEACH NEWS Christopher Johnson Continues Court Action in Attempt to Evict Fishermen From Dora's Bay / Red Spot in George Town
Timeline
ACCESS TO THE SEA IS AS IMPORTANT to us AS is BREATHING.
Generation after generation of our forefathers in all three Cayman Islands had Rights of Way which gave us access to the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals. Water fronting property owners knew our people had these long term use indefeasible communal rights to use sea, beaches, foreshore and canals. Owners and users all lived in peace.
Beginning in the mid-1900s, at an ever-increasing pace waterfront property was sold to foreign people unaccustomed to, and unappreciative, of our local island communal and cultural customs with regards to people having access to sea, beaches, foreshore and canals. Conflicts began to arise when some of these new foreign owners attempted to prevent users of the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals from exercising the lawful long-term use of Rights of Way in the Islands.
This has resulted in a growing public unrest which has been largely ignored by government.
To begin addressing these conflicts, in 2001 a very wide cross section of Caymanians submitted some five hundred (500) affidavits to the Registrar of Lands identifying and claiming for registration hundreds of the long established Rights of Way used by generations for access to and from the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals.
In violation of the Prescription Law and the Registered Lands Law, the Registrar of Lands never responded to the registration request until January 2017 and even then only to advise the Caymanians filing the affidavits, of the refusal to register the Rights of Way. The refusal was unlawful. That refusal to register the Rights of Way is now being appealed through the Registrar of Lands under the relevant statutory provisions.
The Planning Department and the Central Planning Authority have ignored the users’ indefeasible rights of access to registered Rights of Way. This is resulting in some of the Rights of Way now not being accessible by the users as a direct result of the Central Planning Authority approving certain offending development blocking accesses to the Rights of Way..
There are other instances where the land owners have also blocked Rights of Way.
For years there has been much public discussion, news media publications, police intervention, criminal cases, court action, Legislative Assembly debate, surveys, multiple reports and a patchwork of legislation on the subject of public access to the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals. All of this has never resolved the fundamental problem of users accessing the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals without harassment from some land owners.
This website is publishing the timeline history of records on the subject and will serve as a forum for discussion.
We invite users of the website to play their role preserving in perpetuity for your descendants access to the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals. Please send us information you may have on Rights of Way to the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals.
Take an active part in the discussions and then join in the necessary actions with the organizations working to preserve our God-given access to the sea, beaches, foreshore and canals in our beloved Cayman Islands.
To be advised when documents are added to this website or to assist in the preservation of our sea, beach, foreshore and canal Rights of Way contact us at: Email: [email protected]