The large crowds of people at Maracas Bay yesterday proved difficult for lifeguards to manage because of the high number of Spanish-speaking people who visited, and the language barrier.
According to Maracas Bay lifeguard, Allister Livingston, local beachgoers were in the minority yesterday.
“The crowd, as you can see, is relatively big and is mainly, I should say, we have a lot of Venezuelan or Latin American bathers.
“For the moment, we haven’t seen a lot of locals and presently we are experiencing a little bit of...problems with managing the crowds in the sense of these Venezuelans, they don’t understand English too well and understanding the meaning of the red flags where we use to mark off the dangerous areas or the rip currents so it’s a bit hectic for the lifeguards,” he said.
Compounding the issue was the yellow-level rough seas alert that was in effect with dangerous rip currents present.
He said sometimes the communication gap was narrowed if someone in the group spoke some English.
A group of people walk along Maracas Beach yesterday.
VASHTI SINGH
He said the lifeguards also relied on makeshift sign language and gestures.
He suggested increased signage around the beach in multiple languages that could help non-English speakers to understand how to interpret the flags and gestures from the lifeguards. He also suggested even having an interpreter available to help with communication.
Beachgoer Marian, who migrated to T&T from Cuba told Guardian Media it’s a tradition in both her home country and Venezuela to visit the beach on the first day of the year which could explain the high presence of the immigrants yesterday.
“The first of January we come to the beach like for holidays and for me, for Cubans, it’s more spirituality- like cleaning ourselves with the energy of the sea,” she said.
She shared Livingston’s sentiments that something needed to be done to help close the communication gap between the lifeguards and non-English-speaking beachgoers.
“They should have Spanish speaking (lifeguards) or a translator...because it’s about health, it’s about saving lives,” she said.
Life guards monitor sea bathers at Maracas Beach yesterday.
VASHTI SINGH
— Rishard Khan
