The Negril Chamber of Commerce signalled yesterday that its opposition to the building of a breakwater in Negril is still very much on the table and suggested that the Andrew Holness-led Government is issuing conflicting information to the public on the issue.

In a statement to the media, the chamber said Dutch firm Deltareson is to visit the island next month, on the invitation of Holness’s office to discuss alternative solutions to a breakwater installation.

“The NCC has been in constant dialogue with the Dutch on this problem and they are coming in July, as requested by the Office of the Prime Minister, to do another presentation of the alternative solutions to the erosion. Their solutions take in the entire stretch of seven miles of beach and not just the up to 1.5 miles as the breakwater does,” the chamber said.

It added that local coastal engineers Smith Warner are also going to be working with Deltareson on the project.

The NCC appears to have been roused by comments in the press suggesting that the Government is going ahead with the controversial breakwater project without the intervention of Deltareson.

“First, there is the new NRCA [Natural Resources Conservation Authority] chairman stating ‘…the project should go ahead as it is detrimental to the sustainability of the seven-mile stretch of beach’. Why would we want a detrimental project to be implemented? Perhaps this was an error of either the reporter or Mr Walker but there has been no retraction or amendment of this statement.

“We [also] read that PIOJ [Planning Institute of Jamaica] and NEPA [National Envirronment and Planning Agency] have been asked to collaborate to address the erosion problem. The PIOJ is to prepare a note for the Cabinet. With all due respect, they both already collaborated without the input of a coastal engineer, made wrong decisions, and did not consult with the community properly,” the NCC release said.

The chamber is headed by chairman of Couples Resorts Lee Issa and has representation from hoteliers and other business interests in the seaside town famous for its seven miles of white sand beach. The beach is, however, under increasing pressure with the sea eating away at the shoreline and washing away the sand. The previous Administration proposed building a breakwater to stem the tide of the erosion, but it has met with staunch opposition from the Negril stakeholders who argue, among other things, that they were excluded from the consultations to inform the decision, and that the breakwater as a tool is unsightly, unsustainable, and potentially dangerous.

“The bureaucrats in the ministries are pushing for the breakwater as they don’t want to be embarrassed and claim Jamaica will lose the money. But they can always reapply to the Adaptation Fund for another project. It’s a pity that apparently they did not properly consult nor do due diligence before trying to foist this project on the community,” the chamber said yesterday.

“It appears there is confusion and a lack of communication in the new Government, but we trust that in July 2016, they will all come, listen, and learn from experts before making unenlightened decisions for our community — decisions that have the potential to impact negatively on all of Jamaica,” the release said.