The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is standing behind its decision to grant permission for a controversial development in The Lagoons residential community in Montego Bay, St James, despite the outcry of neighbours who have charged that it will have an adverse impact on the environment.

In documents seen by the Jamaica Observer, NEPA has argued that the development at LOT 34, which is owned by Starfish Holdings with Dr Guna Muppuri and his wife as the beneficial owners, was approved after extensive investigations and environmental checks.

NEPA has also charged that other property owners in The Lagoons, have done similar constructions without permission, and are more a threat to the environment than the development at LOT 34.

According to NEPA, some 40 property owners in The Lagoons have embarked on constructions, including encroachments, but only 19 of them applied for, and were granted permission.

“A number of these developments, specifically the encroachments, have been installed without permission and without licences,” said NEPA.

“The agency was forced to take many offenders to court [but] even with this action a number of offenders escaped the dragnet and could not be taken to court as the owners registered the properties outside of the jurisdiction, presenting a cross-jurisdiction challenge,” added NEPA as it charged that notices have been served on some owners to remove structures or encroachments without success.

During a meeting two Saturdays ago, residents of The Lagoons unanimously raised questions about the development and its environmental impact, and charged the management committee to continue pressing the issue from a legal perspective and with the Government as they argued that the work being carried out by the owner of LOT 34 “is against The Lagoons’ rules”.

But in the report seen by the Observer, NEPA said it is confident that its decision to grant Starfish Holdings permission for its construction can survive any investigation and/or judicial review.

“The approvals granted to Starfish Holdings Limited were properly considered by the agency and appropriately approved by the agencies [the Beach Control Authority, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority and the Town and Country Planning Authority],” said NEPA.

The agency said the chairman and members of all three Government entities were, “satisfied in their findings that the development approval was justified and that the contretemps was based on unrelated issues”.

On January 24, Lagoons Chairman Yoni Epstein expressed concern about the development, especially the impact it has had on the marine park.

“The development at LOT 34 in The Lagoons is a travesty and should never have been approved,” Epstein told the Jamaica Observer.

“The concerns of what it may do to the environment are already showing and it has changed the shoreline forever. No other development in The Lagoons has taken reclamation to this level, and reclaiming Crown lands has its consequences too.”

Epstein argued that all lot owners in The Lagoons sign to a contractual maintenance agreement that speaks to many things, but in the case of construction it requires them to present all drawings required by the State authorities in order for the Lagoons’ architectural committee’s nod before seeking approval from the relevant authorities.

“In this case, Dr Muppuri got his approvals from the St James Municipal Corporation in order to build his house and the committee reviewed it to ensure that it met all of the architectural guidelines, which it did, and the committee granted him approval to build his home,” Epstein said. “We could not grant approval for his foreshore reclamation work because we hadn’t been presented with the necessary construction drawings for that aspect of his development.”

According to Epstein, after several back and forth discussions a site plan was sent to the committee in October 2018 showing the approval Dr Muppuri received. On seeing the plans, the members of the committee had several concerns, among them that Muppuri is seeking to reclaim around 5,000 square feet of Crown lands outside of his land boundary and buffer boundary that goes into the water.

But NEPA, in its report, said the entire development by Starfish Holdings, “will not exceed 20 metres from the high-water mark, save and except, the eastern boundary which entails the creation of a ‘mangrove garden’ along the periphery of the golf putting green”.

“The proposed development was redesigned in keeping with the guidelines provided [by the State agencies],” added NEPA as it underscored that it had refused a request from Starfish Bay to increase the length of the jetty because this would establish a precedent that it believes should be avoided.