Tweet
A pattern of bad government
published: Sunday | June 24, 2007
Dawn Ritch, Columnist
All of a sudden everybody is making a big splash out of the environment, all of it incoherent and ultimately useless.
The [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]environmental[/COLOR][/COLOR] agencies and lobbyists have files full of breaches, but none of them, it seems, about building in crocodile habitats. Crocodiles live primarily in the wetlands. These are the filters for the nation's water resources and act as dams, as well, for its water run-offs. In periods of heavy drought, crocodiles will sometimes make little ponds in the wetlands for themselves to lie in. These little ponds are a refuge for fish, birds, turtles and other [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]wildlife[/COLOR][/COLOR] during drought. Sometimes one of them gets eaten, but ponds made by the crocodiles remain in high demand.
As I've often said, Sandals Whitehouse should never have been built because it is in a crocodile nesting ground. Hotel developments ought not to take place in wetlands, much less crocodile nesting grounds. The Government of the day and its agencies colluded with Gordon 'Butch' Stewart in its construction. But predictably, they've now fallen out over who is to pay the astronomic cost overrun of US$40 million.
Indeed, this is a matter that went to the courts before it even went to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives. After investigating the matter for nine months, the Government and Opposition cannot agree on the cause of the overrun, and have submitted different reports to the country.
Despite all that, it must be noted that no local [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]hotel [COLOR=black! important]chain[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] has had a building collapsing on them during construction, not once but twice, as was the case with one Spanish hotel. So the Spanish ambassador Jesús Silva, can fume all he wants about stop orders. I can't think of a single building in [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] that has previously collapsed in Jamaica except from an earthquake. He also goes on as though he brought hotel investment to the island for the first time. But we have had bigger and far more beautiful hotels built in the past, all without stop orders, than anything currently under construction by his compatriots on these shores.
Sanctimonious talk
I hear a lot of sanctimonious talk about protecting fish sanctuaries on the north coast from the depredations of Spanish hotel construction. But not a word is said about the south coast, where the upper morass is being dumped up for Jamaican hotel operators at ruinous cost. To my surprise, Mr. Gordon 'Butch' Stewart himself was recently given an environmental award by the same NGO protesting the destruction of fish sanctuaries by a foreign hotel on the north coast.
Gorstew, Mr. Stewart's company, owns Ackendown in Westmoreland on the south coast, 286 acres, which he bought for J$6 million from the Jamaican Government. This sale price was on condition that he build a hotel in a required period of time. He did not. The original owners, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), did not void the contrac the purchaser was in breach. Instead, they bought about 40 acres back from him with an abandoned structure for a reported US$3.8 million. That abandoned structure became Sandals Whitehouse.
This is a pattern of bad government. One should not forget the case of the Rose Hall/Rollins land deal that the previous Prime Minister, P. J. Patterson, presided over. Once again, the people's patrimony was sold for a mess of pottage. And the Drax Hall property, another of Mr. Patterson's efforts, is still awaiting development.
As this column noted many long years ago, the south coast from Hellshire to Bluefields and the Spur Tree hills in thenorth, should be designated a national park. This is entirely for the benefit of generations of Jamaicans yet unborn. And for those humans who now live by the sea and the rivers and don't wish to be eaten by crocodiles.
Because dredging began of the inland swamp at Harmony Cove on Jamaica's north coast, the crocodiles have had to move out. They've been seen on beaches east of the development, like Silver Sands. These are all resort areas. This kind of environmental development and planning merely stores up trouble for tourists, local fishermen and children. The Government ought to know better, yet they are entirely responsible for this appalling mess. Harmony Cove is a development that ought not to take place either.
To build their mega-yacht marina they'll have to dredge the inland swamp, cut and destroy the reefs, and dig a channel from the inland pond to connect it to the sea. I'm the only one who has publicly complained about this rape of the environment by the state itself.
Menacing decisions
The Government, the Spanish, as well as the Jamaican private sector, therefore, stand guilty of making commercial decisions that are a menace to the rest of society. No one thought to draw the line anywhere, on anything.
Mr. Stewart still owns vast acreages of Jamaican wetland on the south coast. I hope that it will be allowed to remain in its natural state. No further development must be permitted in the nation's wetlands.
Mr. Stewart might understandably be tempted to dispose of his Ackendown property in 40-acre lots. But there ought to be a law against it. Nevertheless, what's sold is sold, and what's gone is gone. Within the laws of the land, he could put up a brothel and nobody could say a word. It's his property.
The original sale of Ackendown to Gorstew, therefore, demonstrates a generosity on the part of the former chairman of UDC, Dr. Vin Lawrence, that knew no bounds nor seems to have been limited by any conditions, even those stipulated by signed contract between the parties concerned.
The development company for the Whitehouse project was owned three ways - by the UDC, Gorstew and the National Insurance Fund. Gorstew put up its ownership of the project area as its equity in the hotel.
Bearing in mind that Mr. Stewart bought 286 acres of rather more than less wetland for $6 million, I couldn't help wondering what his equity in the hotel development was valued at in dollar terms, Jamaica or U.S., at the time of the incorporation of the joint-venture company. All of this vast escalation in value happened in only a few years.
I would like to suggest, therefore, that Mr. Stewart develop the remaining 240 acres in the public's interest to be retained as a national park for the enjoyment of all, even those who don't have any money. If this is done, it will remain a permanent reminder of his patriotism.
If Harmony Cove still has none of the requisite environmental approvals, a stop order ought to be placed on the development as at present conceived. Places like The Bahamas only have sea and a few rock stones. We have land, rivers and sea that everybody talks a great deal about. But no one in any position of authority does absolutely anything to protect it in a coherent and predictable fashion. All are left to fend for themselves against sharks - both local and foreign.
published: Sunday | June 24, 2007
Dawn Ritch, Columnist
All of a sudden everybody is making a big splash out of the environment, all of it incoherent and ultimately useless.
The [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]environmental[/COLOR][/COLOR] agencies and lobbyists have files full of breaches, but none of them, it seems, about building in crocodile habitats. Crocodiles live primarily in the wetlands. These are the filters for the nation's water resources and act as dams, as well, for its water run-offs. In periods of heavy drought, crocodiles will sometimes make little ponds in the wetlands for themselves to lie in. These little ponds are a refuge for fish, birds, turtles and other [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]wildlife[/COLOR][/COLOR] during drought. Sometimes one of them gets eaten, but ponds made by the crocodiles remain in high demand.
As I've often said, Sandals Whitehouse should never have been built because it is in a crocodile nesting ground. Hotel developments ought not to take place in wetlands, much less crocodile nesting grounds. The Government of the day and its agencies colluded with Gordon 'Butch' Stewart in its construction. But predictably, they've now fallen out over who is to pay the astronomic cost overrun of US$40 million.
Indeed, this is a matter that went to the courts before it even went to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives. After investigating the matter for nine months, the Government and Opposition cannot agree on the cause of the overrun, and have submitted different reports to the country.
Despite all that, it must be noted that no local [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]hotel [COLOR=black! important]chain[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] has had a building collapsing on them during construction, not once but twice, as was the case with one Spanish hotel. So the Spanish ambassador Jesús Silva, can fume all he wants about stop orders. I can't think of a single building in [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] that has previously collapsed in Jamaica except from an earthquake. He also goes on as though he brought hotel investment to the island for the first time. But we have had bigger and far more beautiful hotels built in the past, all without stop orders, than anything currently under construction by his compatriots on these shores.
Sanctimonious talk
I hear a lot of sanctimonious talk about protecting fish sanctuaries on the north coast from the depredations of Spanish hotel construction. But not a word is said about the south coast, where the upper morass is being dumped up for Jamaican hotel operators at ruinous cost. To my surprise, Mr. Gordon 'Butch' Stewart himself was recently given an environmental award by the same NGO protesting the destruction of fish sanctuaries by a foreign hotel on the north coast.
Gorstew, Mr. Stewart's company, owns Ackendown in Westmoreland on the south coast, 286 acres, which he bought for J$6 million from the Jamaican Government. This sale price was on condition that he build a hotel in a required period of time. He did not. The original owners, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), did not void the contrac the purchaser was in breach. Instead, they bought about 40 acres back from him with an abandoned structure for a reported US$3.8 million. That abandoned structure became Sandals Whitehouse.
This is a pattern of bad government. One should not forget the case of the Rose Hall/Rollins land deal that the previous Prime Minister, P. J. Patterson, presided over. Once again, the people's patrimony was sold for a mess of pottage. And the Drax Hall property, another of Mr. Patterson's efforts, is still awaiting development.
As this column noted many long years ago, the south coast from Hellshire to Bluefields and the Spur Tree hills in thenorth, should be designated a national park. This is entirely for the benefit of generations of Jamaicans yet unborn. And for those humans who now live by the sea and the rivers and don't wish to be eaten by crocodiles.
Because dredging began of the inland swamp at Harmony Cove on Jamaica's north coast, the crocodiles have had to move out. They've been seen on beaches east of the development, like Silver Sands. These are all resort areas. This kind of environmental development and planning merely stores up trouble for tourists, local fishermen and children. The Government ought to know better, yet they are entirely responsible for this appalling mess. Harmony Cove is a development that ought not to take place either.
To build their mega-yacht marina they'll have to dredge the inland swamp, cut and destroy the reefs, and dig a channel from the inland pond to connect it to the sea. I'm the only one who has publicly complained about this rape of the environment by the state itself.
Menacing decisions
The Government, the Spanish, as well as the Jamaican private sector, therefore, stand guilty of making commercial decisions that are a menace to the rest of society. No one thought to draw the line anywhere, on anything.
Mr. Stewart still owns vast acreages of Jamaican wetland on the south coast. I hope that it will be allowed to remain in its natural state. No further development must be permitted in the nation's wetlands.
Mr. Stewart might understandably be tempted to dispose of his Ackendown property in 40-acre lots. But there ought to be a law against it. Nevertheless, what's sold is sold, and what's gone is gone. Within the laws of the land, he could put up a brothel and nobody could say a word. It's his property.
The original sale of Ackendown to Gorstew, therefore, demonstrates a generosity on the part of the former chairman of UDC, Dr. Vin Lawrence, that knew no bounds nor seems to have been limited by any conditions, even those stipulated by signed contract between the parties concerned.
The development company for the Whitehouse project was owned three ways - by the UDC, Gorstew and the National Insurance Fund. Gorstew put up its ownership of the project area as its equity in the hotel.
Bearing in mind that Mr. Stewart bought 286 acres of rather more than less wetland for $6 million, I couldn't help wondering what his equity in the hotel development was valued at in dollar terms, Jamaica or U.S., at the time of the incorporation of the joint-venture company. All of this vast escalation in value happened in only a few years.
I would like to suggest, therefore, that Mr. Stewart develop the remaining 240 acres in the public's interest to be retained as a national park for the enjoyment of all, even those who don't have any money. If this is done, it will remain a permanent reminder of his patriotism.
If Harmony Cove still has none of the requisite environmental approvals, a stop order ought to be placed on the development as at present conceived. Places like The Bahamas only have sea and a few rock stones. We have land, rivers and sea that everybody talks a great deal about. But no one in any position of authority does absolutely anything to protect it in a coherent and predictable fashion. All are left to fend for themselves against sharks - both local and foreign.