Rivers Beaches Dying Away

Beaches are described by Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the living dictionary as an area of sand or small stones at the edge of the sea or a lake”. Following this, it is not arguable that almost all the communities in Rivers State from one local government area to the other are naturally endowed with beaches.
However, in recent times, those beautiful creations have suffered absolute neglect. In most cases, they have become areas of abuse by some undesirable elements of the society, like street urchins freely distributing and using legally prohibited hard drugs, initiation ceremony by various cult groups, etc. In some communities, these natural scenes have been converted to refuse dump sites with all kinds of debris deposited by erosion from tributary rivulets.
Beaches, like cinema halls, hotels, hangouts and clubs are integral parts of the entertainment industry, besides, it is another sub- sector that contributes to the tourism industry. or sector of the nation’s economy.
In a bid to find reasons, Rivers beaches are allowed to die away by communities where these beaches are located. The Tide spoke to some people in a few places where there are beaches. Many of them who pleaded anonymity opined that development and maintenance of beaches should be a project of Public Private Partnership (PPP) as it is obtainable in countries like Kenya, South African Pemba and Zanzibar in Tanzania, Brazil etc, adding that it will generate employment among the locals and boost the entertainment and tourist industry.

By: Okwein George Parker