A beach theft, in the sense of "theft of beach", is an unauthorized and illegal removal of huge quantities of sand from a beach leading to the full or partial disappearance of the beach. This article does not deal with the related sense - "theft in beach", i.e. incidents of theft occurring in beaches, a more common petty theft.
Contents |
Stealing of sand is a worldwide phenomenon.[1][2] [3] Beach theft, the large-scale removal of sand to the point that entire stretches of a beach disappear, is considerably less common. Two instances of beach thefts have been widely reported in the media: one in Hungary in 2007 and another in Jamaica in 2008. The beach that was stolen in Hungary was an artificially created one on the banks of a river. The other one is a genuine example of a beach theft.
A beach theft was discovered in Jamaica in July 2008[4].
The beach at Coral Springs, in Jamaica's northern parish of Trelawny, was 400 metres of white sand. The bulk of the sand in the 0.5-hectare beach, of approximately 500 truckloads, was found missing in July 2008. The beach was to form part of a resort complex, but the theft of its most important feature has led to its developers putting their plans on hold. Illegal sand mining is a problem in Jamaica; the local tradition of people building their own homes has caused a huge demand for construction material.
The disappearance of the beach was considered so important that Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding took a personal interest in the theft and ordered a report into how such a large quantity of sand could have been stolen, transported and presumably sold. Police carried out forensic tests on beaches along the coast to see if any of it matched the stolen sand. A three-month police investigation failed to lead to anyone being charged. There were unconfirmed reports about collusion between the criminals and certain police officers, but Jamaican police denied any such collusion.
An incident of beach theft occurred in Hungary in 2007 [5]. In this case, thieves stole hundreds of tonnes of sand from an artificial beach created by a resort alongside the banks of river Mindszentas. [6]
Hungary is a land-locked country. The river Mindszentas runs through Hungary. Its banks are sunny and warm in the summer. Some enterprising Hungarians shipped in some 6,000 cubic meters of sand, added lounge chairs, playground rides, and beach huts, and made a perfect artificial beach. In Hungary, the winters are frigid. To protect their sandy treasure, in September 2007, the owners covered the rides with tarpaulin and closed the place for the season. When one of the owners drove by, they noticed that the beach was gone. Only dreary muddy banks left behind. Authorities blame the new Schengen Zone which eliminated border controls between EU member state and Europe. This allows people to move freely between countries without a passport.