All for tourists??

Positano News recently published an article on the work done around the Amalfi Coast and in particular Positano dock. If you look at the webcam on any given day, you can see a barge with a huge crane on board . What exactly it is doing there we don't know. The fact is that the extension of the Positano dock to a platform which resembles a sea of cement, has altered the shape of the beaches. In particular, created an the erosion of the public beach at Fornillo.

Just last Saturday this barge presented itself in front of Fornillo. There was a helter skelter around the area as boat owners moored just off the coast, rushed to move their boats so as avoid damage from the large ship.

The barge was slowly moved into the cove stopping just in front of the Grassi Beach establishment. It was tied onto the beach and the crane was lowered into the water. People bathing gathered on the beach to look on. It seemed to move around a little and then was pulled out. A long metallic structure was tied on and lowered into the water close to the shore line. Two divers detached the lines underwater. And the barge finally moved on. All this took two hours.

What it was all for, I can only guess. It seems to be a launching ramp with which climb on to the boats , but I maybe wrong.

Anything done in Positano seems to be with the tourists in mind.

The dock on the main beach was constructed for the non- stop ferry loads of people arriving to the detriment of the local's beach at Fornillo. Garbage can't be deposited in containers on the street between 8:00am and 9:00pm because the tourists might see it and associate it with the rubbish crisis in the Naples area. Long cement paths are laid along the main beach where once simple pathers did the trick giving the area a 'Disneyland ' feel - a facade where nothing seems real. Other local - trodden paths crumble and become dangerous to use but are not considered important enough for public spending. The fisherman village is no more and hasn't been one for many years.

I wonder if going full speed in this direction is good for Positano? Certainly not for the Positanese. Only winter brings the tranquillity of yesteryear. What little natural beauty is left is enroached upon by greed and tacky modifications for tourists. Public works do little to maintain the simplicity and original character of the town. And definitely won't add to the future popularity of the present town Council.