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It wont be Goat Island....My Opinion

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  • #1

    It wont be Goat Island....My Opinion

    Govt not dealing with public in good faith re Goat Islands, says JET
    Friday, February 07, 2014 | 11:45 AM 14 Comments

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    Little Goat Island

    KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) says it has been denied information regarding the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on government’s Goat Island project requested through the Access to Information (ATI) from as far back as October 2013.

    According to JET the organisation made requests through the ATI last year to the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) for the MOA with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) as well as any technical proposals describing the work to be undertaken in the Portland Bight Protected Area.

    JET in a release Thursday said the PAJ claims that the requested documents are exempt under the ATI Act for the reason that “premature disclosure would or could reasonably be expected to have a substantial effect on the Jamaican economy.”

    The reason given continues: “The Logistics Hub initiative is a central plank in Jamaica’s growth strategy. The GOJ’s growth strategy influences the monetary policy.”

    But JET insists it did not ask for Logistics Hub information.

    “We made no requests concerning the broader matter of the Logistics Hub,” the environmental watchdog agency emphasised in the release.

    JET said that it has filed an appeal to the Access to Information Appeals Tribunal to challenge the PAJ’s refusal to provide information. “We were awaiting a hearing date,” the organisation’s release Thursday said.

    The environmental agency argued that “there is an overwhelming public interest in the details of this project and if the Government of Jamaica is serious about its commitments to openness and transparency, aspects of these documents could and should be released”.

    JET added that the ATI Act also allows the Government to release documents with sensitive information redacted, “but the PAJ has not done this”
    THERE IS ONLY ONE ONANDI LOWE!

    "Good things come out of the garrisons" after his daughter won the 100m Gold For Jamaica.


    "It therefore is useless and pointless, unless it is for share malice and victimisation to arrest and charge a 92-year-old man for such a simple offence. There is nothing morally wrong with this man smoking a spliff; the only thing wrong is that it is still on the law books," said Chevannes.
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  • #2
    Open letter to CHEC
    Monday, February 03, 2014 3 Comments

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    GOAT ISLANDS

    Dear Editor,

    As you clearly know there is grave concern about your planned development of the Goat Islands in the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA). We have been to your website and note that you have removed your environmental policy statement. The recent Business Week online magazine notes that China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is involved in environment protection and recalls that your firm has done some good for the environment (ie, Trash Racks, Powerful Guard of Primitive Tropical Sea, and statements concerning preserving the pristine area of the Red Sea).

    "In order to protect this beautiful sea area, the project team went through careful surveys, profound research and repeated tests, and made trash racks of reasonable cost, which proved significantly effective in environmental protection."

    Now, knowing that the PBPA is an environmentally sensitive area and has several IUCN-listed endangered and critically endangered species, why would you pursue construction in the area? This does not seem to be in line with your stated policies.

    CHEC was told that other locations would be better suited for this project. Yet the scoping study delivered to Parliament in October 2013 was tailor-made for this "development".

    We are calling for an immediate halt to the purposed trans-shipment port in the PBPA and suggest you look at one of the other sites that was purposed by the GOJ.

    Jamaica's Charter of Rights Section 13 (3)(l) protects "the right to enjoy a healthy and productive environment free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological heritage".

    The PBPA belongs to the people of Jamaica and is held in trust by the GOJ. The citizens have not given their collective consent to sell and are raising concerns about such a development on their property.

    We direct you to http://www.change.org/petitions/no-t...d-area-Jamaica. Read some of the comments the citizens have made. Listen to what they are saying in ever- increasing numbers, and reconsider your plans. We ask on behalf of the more than 4,600 petition signers, over 1,000 active Facebook members, and the species of the PBPA.

    Steven G Smith


    NO! to port on Goat Islands/PBPA, Jamaica


    smsteven1011@msn.com
    THERE IS ONLY ONE ONANDI LOWE!

    "Good things come out of the garrisons" after his daughter won the 100m Gold For Jamaica.


    "It therefore is useless and pointless, unless it is for share malice and victimisation to arrest and charge a 92-year-old man for such a simple offence. There is nothing morally wrong with this man smoking a spliff; the only thing wrong is that it is still on the law books," said Chevannes.

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