Grange praises Blue Lagoon national monument designation
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, has welcomed the designation by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) of the Blue Lagoon in Portland as a National Monument.
The JNHT — an agency of the Culture Ministry — completed the process of declaration in August 2018 following what Grange said has been “six decades of effort to protect the Blue Lagoon.”
“We have long recognised the importance of this national treasure and efforts to protect it began as early as 1958. I am happy to be the minister who has taken the process to this stage where the site is now declared a national monument, “Grange said.
“This designation is critical to the process of preserving and protecting the Blue Lagoon for future generations and guaranteeing access to all Jamaicans to this natural lagoon with aesthetic and historic value that can stand above similar sites in the hemisphere.”
The Blue Lagoon was declared a National Monument on the basis of its aesthetic and scientific values, a release from the Culture Ministry stated. According to the ministry, the declaration comes following the expiration of a Preservation Notice — giving temporary legal protection to the property — which was issued under the signature of Minister Grange in October, 2017 and renewed in April, 2018. The declaration also follows consultation with stakeholders on the boundaries, purpose and effect of the declaration.
The Blue Lagoon National Monument declared area includes all those bodies of water up to the high water mark during high and low tide known as Unity Bay, Lime Kiln Bay and the inlet called the Blue Lagoon which together constitutes the Controlled Area. The boundary also includes the parochial access road known as the Blue Hole Road. It does not include the cay called Pellew Island.
In the meantime, Grange urged the JNHT to move to conclude consultations towards confirming the Preservation Scheme and Management Plan for the declared area as well as to move swiftly to conclude discussions with key government agencies regarding the sustainable management of activities at the location.
