On Saturday, 25th July, 2026, the Grenada Land Actors (GLA) attended a community consultation at Bathway Welcome Centre, put on by the developers and consultants, as part of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Analysis (ESIA) for the 18-hole golf course, currently under construction as part of the broader Grenada National Resort project being built by Heng Sheng Industries.
By way of introduction, GLA noted that this entire ESIA process for the golf course is back-to-front; the ESIA should be completed BEFORE the beginning of construction, so that it can inform the design, not when the golf course has been fully designed and is nearly completed.
In addition, Heng Sheng could not confirm that all construction work has ceased on the golf course, as ordered by the Planning and Development Authority (PDA).
The consultants and developers gave information on the progress of the ESIA, the main issues arising therefrom, and sought the community’s concerns and input.
One resident observed that in all his years of living in the area, rainfall has reduced to about 30% of what it was formerly. Denudation of trees due to charcoal burning, compounded by hurricane Ivan, has had severe impacts on the environment, that include plants and animals, as it is an entire ecosystem.
In some to-and-fro with the consulting team, the local residents made the point that they know this area far better than any consultant could.
GLA gave the opinion that if the project will be using the runoff from the golf course to feed into Levera Pond, it will be impacted by fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides typically used on golf courses.
Much of the discussion concerned water. The developers stated that they will not be taking any water from NAWASA, therefore the big question was: where will one get the enormous quantities of water required for a 180-acre golf course plus 500-room resort?
Residents did not accept that it was possible to satisfy such a high demand from rainwater harvesting alone. They also asked if the hotel has low occupancy, how much grey water will be available to water 180 acres daily in the dry season.
The developers said they plan to abstract 30% of the dry-season flow of the Saint Patrick’s River, which flows into the sea at Sauteurs, and pipe that water 2.5 miles to the project site.
This raised even more doubts, as (a) that would need another ESIA in itself; (b) would also require extensive planning, land purchases, easements, etc; and (c) pipeline projects in Grenada take an inordinately long time to plan and implement (ongoing NAWASA works in St. George’s a case in point), therefore any pipeline from Sauteurs would not be completed in time for the planned completion of the golf course.
Residents expressed strong concerns over human impacts of the project. Currently, the Bathway Road is virtually destroyed, due to the project’s heavy trucks, this needs to be fixed by the developers, not the government.
Residents also noted that Levera Beach is extremely dangerous with strong currents, therefore the developers should improve the facilities at Bathway Beach, allowing their guests to swim in safety whilst interacting with locals.
In general, the community consultation was well attended with residents clearly expressing their serious concerns over this whole project.
The GLA reiterates that this entire ESIA process is fatally flawed or, in common parlance: putting the cart before the horse.
The above reflects the views of Grenada Land Actors