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DAWN BEACH--The blocking of public beach access by The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort and Spa changed quickly after its doing so landed the property on the front page of The Daily Herald's Wednesday, January 28 edition.

One resident who had sent a detailed complaint to this newspaper reported that beach chairs had been moved to make more space for beachgoers and that security guards had been especially welcoming and polite, even seeming "relieved." The chairs were said to have been pulled back "a good 25 yards from each end of the beach."

The resident, who previously had described being approached and harassed by security guards over the past three years about his and his wife's not being allowed to place their "own chairs and umbrella anywhere on the beach within the perimeters of their property" said there had been "no harassment and no restrictions" on where they could sit on Wednesday, when the article ran.

"It was a pleasure to spend a few hours enjoying the beautiful beach with no interference," he said. The resident did not interpret the change in security personnel's attitude as false, but as a sign of relief that they did not have to carry out the removal orders. "Hopefully it will continue."

The second person to blow the whistle will find out whether this is the case when he returns to the island in a few months, as he left on Wednesday. This long-time visitor stated in his recent complaint letter that he also had been left alone after writing a previous complaint letter about Westin security harassment on the same beach. That letter was published in this newspaper in November 2014.

One confidential source speculated that security guards were only doing what was demanded of them and did not have a say in the situation. This is backed up by other accounts of a few beachgoers who have said that while they are always approached, security staff has been apologetic towards them.

Management could not be reached for comment before Wednesday's article was published and questions posed via e-mail since then have gone unanswered.

The situation, which has been going on to varying degrees for years, according to residents and environmentalists, was brought to the foreground recently after this newspaper received the two detailed complaints describing undue harassment, the removal of personal property and the showing of a document that allegedly gave the hotel exclusive rights to part of the beach.

One of the complaints, letter written by the long-time visitor, also featured on this newspaper's Opinion Pages on Tuesday, January 27.

Although the information could not be verified by the relevant authorities in time for publication, talk has spread of Governmental authorities, taken to be representatives of the Economic Affairs Department and policemen, checking up on the site.

Although Economic Affairs is not normally involved with beach access issues, a document, the Beach Vending Policy published by the Department, had been used to justify the chasing away one of the persons who later spoke up about the situation.

Questions posed to the Department about the document, in regard to what rights and boundaries the hotel has, have been received. This newspaper was told that it will receive a response at a later date.

Representatives of the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI that normally deals with beach access issues have been unavailable for comment during the ongoing National Budget Debate, as have the Ministers of VROMI and Economic Affairs.

What this newspaper wants to clarify with VROMI is what realistically can be expected regarding the timing of the passing of a pending Beach Ordinance that had been due to be drafted and implemented by mid- to late August 2014. The Ordinance would give more of a legal backbone to the currently used Beach Policy on which it is based. It was said by then-VROMI Minister Maurice Lake to be nearly complete in early November.

Wednesday's newspaper article mistakenly stated that the Beach Access Motion that would lead to an Ordinance had been passed in Parliament in April 2014, but this should have stated 2013.

As with other recent beach-access issue flare-ups, the situation has highlighted the need for legislation for which environmentalists have long been lobbying. The St. Maarten Nature Foundation also has released a statement to this effect.