AGRICULTURE Minister Roger Clarke said Tuesday that the dredging of the Kingston Harbour would impact negatively on the spawning and growth of marine life in the harbour.

“Much of the… impact will be caused from the high levels of suspended particles, which not only adversely affect the growth and spawning of marine life, but also fishing gear,” Clarke told the House of Representatives.

He was responding to questions tabled by Ronald Thwaites, member of parliament for Central Kingston, who has been agitating, since December last year, for a cessation of the dredging of the harbour.

The Port Authority of Jamaica is carrying out the dredging as part of an expansion programme to allow larger cargo vessels to enter Kingston Harbour. The dredged material is being used to replant land to accommodate the construction of Highway 2000 which includes a new causeway bridge leading into Portmore.

Thwaites, acting on behalf of fishing interests from Rae Town in his constituency and elsewhere in the Corporate Area and St Catherine, had late last year moved a resolution in the House demanding the cessation of the dredging until the concerns of the fishermen and the danger to the marine life were addressed.

But with the resolution and the intervention of Horace Dalley, minister in charge of the environment, not having the intended effect, Thwaites brought the matter to the agriculture ministry.

Clarke noted Tuesday that there was a “long-standing” problem of pollution in Kingston Harbour, and for this reason, fisheries management alone would not solve the problems being faced by the fisherfolk.

Restoration of the harbour, he said, required a “multi-disciplinary, inter-agency approach”. He said, however, that the agriculture ministry did not have the resources to offer compensation, and noted that the environment minister had indicated that he was willing to consider compensating the affected fishermen for any loss of income.

“The government and the Port Authority are aware of the problems associated with dredging and the matter is being looked into,” Dalley told fishing interests from the Corporate Area at a meeting in Greenwich Town last Thursday.

“Development has to happen. It should not, however, happen at the cost of a citizens’ livelihood,” Dalley said.

About 2,800 registered fishermen use the Kingston Harbour. Production or catches have declined from 1,526 metric tonnes valued at $336 million in 1998 to 1,100 metric tonnes valued at $242 million in 1999.

Clarke suggested to the legislature that it would be desirable that both Highway 2000 and the dredging projects collaborate in “articulating an appropriate scheme to address the issues of resettlement”.

He also proposed that the agencies/projects support alternative economic activities or organise a more orderly approach to the resumption of fishing when the projects were completed.