EDITORIAL COMMENT

AFESTIVE season influx of visitors can already be felt in Nelson Mandela Bay and so too, there is a visible step-up in law enforcement operations.

This was borne out at the weekend when a crime blitz netted a significant number of suspects.

The municipality – along with the SAPS, metro police, and other security services – has also kicked off a summer season safety plan which, it promises, will bring in desired results.

One of the pleasing features of this programme is the zero-tolerance approach to alcohol on beaches and absolutely no mention of what had been proposed as a possibility not so long ago: designated drinking areas on the city’s seafront.

This idea was never really going to cut it and was clearly scrapped before anyone even began to take it seriously.

As the outcry from readers patently demonstrated, having legitimate places in which to consume alcohol would have created far more complications and potential for disaster than any positive spin-offs.

It would be virtually impossible to monitor what intoxicated individuals may get up to once outside those areas and the notion was tantamount to asking for trouble.

Safety and security boss John Best has pointed out that unfortunately there exists a culture in the country of drinking being a vital adjunct to having a good time on the beach or while attending holiday events.

But this is something which has proven time and again to have dire and often tragic consequences.

The expectancy is for a bumper season which, for all the positives that implies, means added pressure on all the city’s services and not least of all, on our precarious water situation.

Therefore, while kicking off the shoes and taking a well earned break it is incumbent on everyone to bear that in mind and help make it as trouble-free and water-wise as possible.