A PORT LOUIS PERSPECTIVE

During the fore-noon of Thursday June 25th, 2009 a PRESS CONFERENCE was held by Citizens in Defence of Grenada’s Land and Heritage with the Fishermen, Water Taxi operators, residents and other Stakeholders who use the Lagoon Park and waters of the marina in one form or another for their livehood.

The evening television newscast on the said day from GBN, Channel 6 (FLOW) and MTV gave the position of the developer and the users of the facility, which indicated that a circular letter -- ostensibly from the Government’s Fisheries Dept dated 16th, June 2009 (No indication of its official origin is apparent on the circular) requesting that the boat owners and other operatives who use the marina and the Lagoon Park in the vicinity of Bryden & Minors Company, should remove their boats and other activities to a location further south, near to the wooden bridge, in order to facilitate the operations of the developer- Camper & Nicholsons whose equipment is now in the process of constructing over 100 berths in that area of the marina; and in this regard, the circular letter also stated that  Camper & Nicholsons would assist the fishermen in their relocation, to facilitate the fencing of the area in order to protect their equipment.

For any developer to contemplate fencing any portion of the Lagoon Park for whatever reason, is to confirm our belief that developers are allowed to rape the environment and disrespect our heritage and our traditions with impunity. Where is the Parliamentary Representative for the area in all this controversy?

In order to appreciate the non-cooperation of the fishermen and others with the developer’s proposal, as expressed at the Press Conference, it is necessary to revisit the events leading up to this sorry pass.

An article dated April 4th, 2007 from the Willie Redhead Foundation captioned “Preservation of our Natural Heritage- a Port Louis perspective, which was used as the Editorial in the VOICE newspaper of April 7/07, drew public attention to a proposed development which was displayed on the internet and on the Port Louis publication-GRENADA LIFE-timeless priceless, indicating that the developer (Port Louis) was planning to construct, inter alia, Cottages on the narrow strip of land along the Lagoon Road from the then Ross Combined Workshop up to a point opposite Glean’s road further North.

This proposal, the article pointed out, was tantamount to depriving Grenadians of their birthright of enjoying the Park so diligently constructed and maintained by the late Mrs. Betty Freshby together with  the ambience of the marina; and that the developers should revisit the plan and omit this aspect of the development in order to avoid confrontation, which would not unduly affect the profitability of their investment but instead would obtain the blessings of the Grenadian public in a win-win situation.

Several meetings with Mr. De Savary of Port Louis and latterly Mr. Clyde Rawls of Camper & Nicholsons with the Foundation, have failed to obtain a definitive answer in resolution of this matter; but continues the deceptive mantra of “we have no immediate plans to build anything on the Lagoon Park” or words to that effect.

During the 2008 election campaign the NDC, then in opposition, was voted into office on the strength of its manifesto which projected transparency and accountability as its moral platform as a means of  rescuing Grenada, and take us, as it were, to the “promised land”. In order to achieve this objective the Prime Minister after his election victory, when interviewed by Mike Roberts (Spice Isle Review of July 17th, 2008) is quoted as saying “… we are not going to do a witch-hunt. But we are going to base our activities and inquiries on the law and our constitution. For example we are going to look into the Lagoon Road Project and how come the NNP Government sold 23 acres of land for EC$1.00 -- well below the market price”, not forgetting the 25 years duty free concessions on all and every aspect of Port Louis development.

Since then Port Louis has cleaned the refuse and debris left by Ross Workshop, has spent two or three million EC Dollars to build a revetment in front of its Victory Bar and a few months later sold a portion of the EC$1.00 property to Camper & Nicholsons for US$24.0 Million without a black penny going into our Treasury.

Come July 8th, 2009 the NDC would be one year in office, to date nothing is heard of this or any other inquiry; instead Camper & Nicholsons is receiving permission from the Planning and Development Control Authority to continue filling the Lagoon, attempting to relocate or evict traditional users of the Lagoon Park and Marina from what they describe as “their  property,” and preparing to erect, a huge facility to store raw sewage from their hundreds of yachts which will be berthing on the Lagoon.

This sewage facility now being constructed is immediately opposite the Studios of  MTV  and VOG FM on the edge of the Lagoon Road; which  in our view would be a potential for serious health hazard, an eye sore and an aesthetic aberration scarring the Belmont landscape, all in the interest of generating a few dozen low paying jobs. Is this the way we intend to develop Grenada in this enlightened 21st Century, so that so called developers would deny us our posterity?

The Sentinel therefore join with Citizens in Defence of Grenada’s Land and Heritage in calling on the NDC administration to  honour its election promise so as to avoid what appears to be the uncontrolled and unrestricted activities of these developers- heading into a collision course with the long term sustainable and national  interest of the Grenadian people, which our government is elected to promote and protect.