NEPA, NRCA back decision over Blue Lagoon

BY PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR Environment editor williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com

Friday, May 27, 2011

THE Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) have stood by their decision to approve a beach licence for Portland's Blue Lagoon.

"The NRCA and NEPA have conducted extensive review on the controversial developments around the Blue Lagoon and have decided that the beach license issued to the developer (Devon Wilson) was proper and complied with the requirements outlined in the Beach Control Act (1956) Beach Control Amendment (2004," Information Minister Daryl Vaz said in a statement issued Wednesday.

His comments come in the wake of a report on the lagoon, popularly known as Blue Hole, which was sent to the Office of the Prime Minister last week, amidst heavy criticism from environmental lobbyists over the NEPA/NRCA's granting of the licence.

The report followed a letter, dated April 11 this year, from the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) to Prime Minister Bruce Golding, urging his intervention in the matter, while arguing that "an artificial beach" was "inappropriate for Blue Lagoon" and that they considered that the clearing of vegetation from the lagoon's steep sides would "result in silt running off into the sea -- including the imported sand which has already begun to be lost".

Still, despite NEPA/NRCA's defence of their award of the license, the battle is not lost for the environmental lobbyists who have insisted that an important natural resource like the Blue Lagoon should have been left unspoiled.

Vaz has acknowledged that the developer had committed a number of breaches for which he is being made to account. They include coastline modification, three pylons supporting a wooden structure (jetty) on the northern section of the property, and the construction of a seawall on the foreshore and the floor of the sea along the southern and northern boundaries of the property.

The developer has been served a summons to appear before the court on one of the breaches with new summons to be prepared for another three. He is also now being required to replant trees.

NEPA/NRCA have also recommended a slew of things to be done to maintain the integrity of the area. They include a reminder to the Portland Parish Council of its responsibility under the Tree Preservation (Blue Hole, Portland) Order 1977 and the development of planning guidelines for the area.

In addition, the minister responsible for culture has been recommended to place a Preservation Notice over Blue Lagoon and a defined buffer area to protect it from further development.

This, while the Jamaica National Heritage Trust completes the process of declaration and the minister responsible for planning, issues a moratorium under section 11(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act to restrict further developments in the lagoon until NEPA completes the planning guidelines and a final determination is issued.

JET has welcomed the NEPA/NRCA action, but said it was more than a little late in coming.

"It has taken NEPA far too long to act so the damage that was done is greater than it should have been had they responded in a timely manner. Fortunately, they have ordered the replanting of trees. We are thankful for that. But they have to ensure that the right trees are planted and they must restore the undergrowth so that they can hold the plants in place while the trees are growing," JET boss Diana McCaulay told the Observer. "I am also concerned that apparently NEPA issued the beach license in 2010 and did not monitor it at all... If they did monitor it, why did they not see the breaches sooner?"

As to NEPA/NRCA's defence of their decision to grant the license, McCaulay said: "There was never any question as to whether NEPA could legally issue a beach license. Obviously they could, and did. The question is, should they have issued a beach license?"

NEPA/NRCA had itself initially refused to grant the application for the license. In a January 29, 2009 letter to the developer, the agency justified its decision, noting that "the construction of the slipway is refused as the launch and use of motorised vessels is being discouraged in the area and as such the construction of the slipway is not deemed appropriate for this area."

"The proposed coastline modification and use of the beach for commercial recreational purposes will degrade the environmental character of the area," the letter added, while directing that "all structures and works" related to the application "be removed and the area restored to its condition prior to the commencement of works".

Meanwhile, spokesman for the developer Colin Bell, for his part, saidTHAT they were not surprised by Vaz' statement. He noted that they had been upfront about the breaches from day one, and are willing to do whatever is necessary to set things right.

"We are law-abiding citizens. Those breaches that were sited were corrected... So we basically apply by the rules of NEPA and the NRCA, not by JET," said Bell, operations manager at Tropical Lagoon Heights Resort — the development for which the lagoon is to be the main attraction.

He added that the existing court matter was currently being handled and that they would, in accordance with the NEPA/NRCA recommendation, replant trees in the area. The replanting, he noted, can only work in their interest.

"We are in the business of preserving things on that lagoon," Bell said.

Do you feel buying into Facebook now is a good investment for the long-run?
	Yes
	No

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password:

Customs officers arrested for larceny

NEPA, NRCA back decision over Blue Lagoon