Friends of the Earth-Grenada (Foe-G) was present on the Zoom consultation call and at the recent site visit carded for the Levera proposed development which was organised by the Parliamentary Representative for St Patrick East, Pamela Moses, in collaboration with the developers.
Representatives of many interest groups attended, thus indicating the importance of Levera to many Grenadians. Concerns were expressed by several attendees in relation to what is happening in the National Park. The first one is the proximity of the newly built village—which is said to be housing the construction workers when they arrive in the country—to the RAMSAR protected wetlands in Levera which was ratified on 11 June 2012. This is a varied area of valuable tropical marine ecosystems on the northeast of the island. It includes seagrass beds, coral reefs, and a freshwater pond in the caldera of an ancient volcano, surrounded by mangroves. The site provides support for wildlife and turtle nesting.
The second was the artist’s impression which has been widely circulated on social media. This shows a huge hotel being built on the beach where the turtles come to nest every year.
Foe-G has other concerns too:
Why are huge swathes of land being cleared for this project when it is clear that the CBI programme has not yet found all the money required for its construction? This is obvious since the call for investors is continuing and since Mr Frederick of the PPU announced on Thursday that no plans have been submitted yet for the resort.
As stated above, the RAMSAR site is invaluable to the ecological wealth of Grenada. As climate change threatens to increase the frequency and severity of storms, mangroves provide a stout defence against storm surge. Mangrove roots also provide habitats for fish and shellfish, crucial to sustainable livelihoods for coastal communities and contribute towards food security especially in the context of the present unpredictability of future trading. In fact, there’s a case to be made that mangroves are the most useful ecosystem on earth as they store more carbon than terrestrial forests. Once destroyed, they can’t simply be replanted. Mangroves actually hold the coastline in place, giving it its shape, once they are gone, the land erodes and tides and currents reshape the coastline, making it difficult or impossible for mangroves to grow back in their former habitats, so why are we so intent on destroying another vital ecosystem in Grenada?
In defence of the proposed project, Minister Moses hinted at the creation of 1,000 jobs in the local communities to service rooms and to keep guests happy, which would avoid the long journeys into St George for work and the culminating economic drain for those employees. Of course, employment is always a major issue in rural communities in Grenada but are we sure that those communities are willing to sacrifice this valuable ecosystem for the possibility of low paid work which might ultimately not be forthcoming if the demise of the previous proposed developments is anything to go by?
Mr Edward Niles, the person in charge of the team developing the EIA, invited interested parties to be part of the process of developing the report, however we sincerely hope this would not be another case of using the public to legitimise a process for what is apparently, an unsustainable development.
Friends of the Earth-Grenada
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Exactly . Some people here only talking about employment. Cleaning a hotel is that all grenadians can do? Whats about being in HR. Management share holders and such things. Are the chinese talking about that no. Apparently they wont because they cant speak english willfully. I cant believe that site are being cleared without planning permission. A national park means a national park. Other places in the world the chinese would love to find other national and trust land to do the same but it would not be allowed . The chinese are obiously taking advantage of greedy and selfish west indians when the world know they are racist. Am definitely against this development and Grenadians must start to fight for their lands because sooner than later there will be a big gate towards Levera beach guarded with guns and digs.
Grenadians need to understand that complaining wont help. They need to go build their own hotels. And help themselves instead of complaining. Too much dumb rumors and lies destroying our countries.
We need more hotels! Mor jobs no unemployment. First world country better rooms!
Whenever investors and developers propose coastal tourism projects in Grenada, a tiny group of Grenadian elites, supported by a larger group of their student followers, always object on environmental grounds.
Whether the projects are in St. Patricks, St. Andrews, St. Davids or anywhere else, the objections are always the same — the need to protect mangrove swamps, nearshore fisheries, bird sanctuaries, nesting sites for turtles, and Amerindian archeology sites.. Since all of these mangroves, fisheries
bird sanctuaries, turtles, and archeology sites are in nearly every parish, you would think these environmental activists would allow hotel development to take priority at the best beaches.. But you would be wrong.
How much potential tax revenue from “mass tourism” should be sacrificed because of the few “high end” tourists (and their local brethren) who enjoy birding at particular places in Grenada? How many local fishermen are left, and can they really make a living from the mangrove swamps? How many amateur archeologists are interested in Grenada? If there are Leatherback turtles along the coasts of nearly every parish, what is so special about the nesting sites at Levera?
The government should always evaluate proposed tourism projects carefully to try to ensure high quality construction, adequate funding to project completion, proper land use planning, reliable sewage and water systems, etc. But it should never allow environmental activists to use the legal system to block economic development projects at the best beaches — Levera and Grand Anse — or at Mt. Hartman. There are plenty of other places where the birds and the turtles can take priority.over the economic interests of the majority of the people.
Don’t let the Chinese come in and ruin the ecosystem so that they can benefit financially. There are ways to develop tourism by leaving nature intact. They will bring in cheap workers and destroy everything they touch.
Exactly . Some people here only talking about employment. Cleaning a hotel is that all grenadians can do? Whats about being in HR. Management share holders and such things. Are the chinese talking about that no. Apparently they wont because they cant speak english willfully. I cant believe that site are being cleared without planning permission. A national park means a national park. Other places in the world the chinese would love to find other national and trust land to do the same but it would not be allowed . The chinese are obiously taking advantage of greedy and selfish west indians when the world know they are racist. Am definitely against this development and Grenadians must start to fight for their lands because sooner than later there will be a big gate towards Levera beach guarded with guns and digs.
Repeat after me: The Chinese bring capital. Grenada needs capital to expand its tourist industry. Capital plus labour builds new tourist enterprises.
About 25 to 30% of tourist spending in Grenada goes to the Grenada government Treasury in the form of direct and indirect taxes The Grenada government can use that money to build schools, hospitals and clinics, buy medical equipment and medicines, pay doctors, nurses, civil servants and teachers, build roads, etc. So even inclusive resorts — with tourists that seldom buy from local businesses — make a contribution to the welfare of Grenadian citizens. Tourists also directly and indirectly help bid up the price of local real estate, so ordinary Grenadians can make more money when they sell their property.
The trick is to scale up the tourist industry so it is of sufficient size to provide substantial benefits to many or most Grenadians. It is also important to prevent damage to local ecosystems by hiring competent engineers and technicians who know how to use modern technologies of waste management, water and electricity supply, etc.
Many Caribbean islands have faced the same choice. Do we pursue agriculture, manufacturing or tourism (and other services like banking and health care) if we want to accelerate economic development.
The correct answer is tourism. Why? The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, the jobs are easy to train for and usually provide better working conditions — like air-conditioned hotels — than manufacturing or agriculture. There are also better networking opportunities for immigrating to North America.
Barbados and Jamaica tried manufacturing but were mostly defeated by stiff competition from more disciplined low-wage workers in Asia. Check out all the Jamaican and Barbadian factories that have closed down in the last 50 years..
Agriculture involves back-breaking work, terrible working conditions, physical strain, more exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, unpredictable commodity prices and slow growth in customer demand for exported products.
Tourism is the way to go. Forget about chocolate.
Chad chan no. agriculture is a major part of anyone economy the problem is there isnt investment and confidence in the sector. What do you eat from day to day ? If you eat human then tourism is for you if you eat food then start promoting agriculture because you cannot survive on tourism the situation in the world today show agriculture is much more important than tourism without it what are you going give your guess to eat. When tourist stop coming what do we eat the american dollar? Well it wont be avaliable either . People like you are not patrotic or even care about human well being .
My concern is (1) Why will a Chinese company owned by the Chinese Government hire you when they couldnt hire you to help build the project. Is someone blind here.Why are they willing to pay grenadians for something that they have (cheap labor).when the project is over. (2) does grenada have a minimum wage, and a guarantee of the labor force.(or these representatives just talking to talk) or is the poor grenadians going to compete with Chinese immigrants who did not leave after construction. (3) who is going to regulate the influx of Chinese workers that will come to grenada to compete with the locals. The Chinese protects their people and companies. Will Grenada do the same. It is known around the world now that China will use another country’s democratic systems and processes to their benefit. They will cry unfair like they should be treated the same as locals. I say, the businesses of the locals should be first protected and foreigners should bring something completely different. If the government want to enhance the tourism industry, then they should work with the many entrepreneurs willing to move in that direction. Giving away an industry to another country is not a good idea. The guests of large hotels do not spend in local shops. They spend at the hotel shops especially if its all inclusive. The money they spend goes out to China it does not stay in our economy and circulate. So, they are basically coming to trample on our ecosystem, our poor locals (promise of slave wages), our local businesses, our young people’s future, our economy (money goes to the motherland China). This goes for all major foreign players in the island.