By Katy Stickland

Story Created: Apr 1, 2014 at 11:24 PM ECT

Story Updated: Apr 1, 2014 at 11:24 PM ECT

TOURISM leaders are calling on the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to provide more lifeguards for the islands beaches. It comes following the drowning of 26-year-old Sashell Ross at Bacolet beach earlier this month. The Maravel pre-school teacher was on holiday with friends in Tobago when she got into difficulty in the water. The beach has no lifeguard cover. The President of the Tobago Hotels Restaurants and Tourism Association, Nicholas Hardwicke says although it is impossible and impracticable to have lifeguard cover on all of Tobagos beaches, major public beaches should be covered. Some beaches such as Lambeau have no bathers but lifeguard cover. Grafton, Turtle Beach, Grange and Back Bay which are visited by hundreds of bathers a week during the season have no coverage, says Hardwicke. If lifeguard facilities are not provided on the beach then you should at least have enough adequate signage to warn the visiting public to exercise caution. The THA has taken some strides towards this, although it is not universal. But this should not be a cheap option. We need lifeguard facilities at all the key beaches. The THAs Division of Tourism and Transportation provides lifeguard cover for nine of Tobagos beaches including Store Bay, Pigeon Point, Mt. Irvine, Bloody Bay, Castara, Kings Bay, Charlotteville and Speyside. There are currently no lifeguards on duty at Little Rockly Bay (Lambeau) because the lifeguard tower is closed for renovation work. Hardwicke says the provision of lifeguards is a benchmark issue and one we have been aspiring to for a long time. Their importance is not just that theyre there for the protection of swimmers in the water but in many incidences lifeguards are the first responders to incidents which can happen in a beach environment. They are an authoritative presence which is required. They provide an important link to other law enforcement and emergency response agencies, said Hardwicke. I first raised this in1999 and there was a unanimous agreement by all stakeholders and government that something should be done. It is now 2014 and nothing has been done. From a public safety point of view we want to see the facilities with appropriately trained, manned and capable teams put in place. There is much more that they could do. Tobago News asked the THAs Division of Tourism and Transportation to respond to the concerns. Up until press time there had been no response.

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Calls for more lifeguards on Tobagos beaches