When administrations break their own laws, communities have to speak up and challenge. Political loyalty has its place but wrong is wrong, no matter what colour we support.
Speaking of Woodford and La Sagesse, the pattern that is emerging raises serious questions about interference in matters, which should lie squarely with the Planning and Development Authority (PDA).
Under the Physical Planning and Development Control Act (2016) any major development must undergo a full Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) before work begins.
The process includes:
(a). A scoping exercise
(b). Terms of Reference shaped by that scoping
(c). An ESIA carried out within those Terms, with proper community consultation.
Consultation has become even more central since Grenada signed the Escazu Agreement, which stipulates that consultation with stakeholders and communities is a priority in all development decisions.
An ESIA is not a box-ticking exercise. It exists to assess the potential environmental and social impacts of a proposed project, examine alternatives, and put in place appropriate mitigation measures.
It demonstrates to all stakeholders that development is proceeding with transparency and due process.
Yet we now have three clear examples which suggest that there might have been gross interference in the decision-making process of the PDA when it comes to Woodford and La Sagesse.
Woodford Approvals without an EIA
In Woodford (where an industrial complex was underway without Planning permission and against enforcement orders) the Prime Minister in March of this year, at the end of a late budget debate, stated on record that no work would proceed at Woodford until an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was completed and approved.
Thus far no EIA has been conducted for Woodford. However, two weeks ago, when representatives of the community at Woodford and Grenada Land Actors visited the office of the PDA to examine the files pertaining to the matter, they found something deeply disturbing.
Seven files, covering the Woodford industrial complex were all marked “APPROVED” and “Complete” with “fast-tracked” beneath the signature.
This is directly at odds with the 2016 Planning Act and it directly contradicts the Prime Minister’s own statement – significant because he is the line minister responsible for the PDA.
The Woodford Environmental Alliance for Community Transformation (WEACT) documented this fully in an article published in The Voice and The New Today on Friday 5th December 2025.
La Sagesse Missing EIAs for Phase 2 and 3
Giving the developer permission to proceed in Woodford without an EIA is unfortunately not isolated. An EIA was conducted for the construction of the Six Senses development in La Sagesse.
However, Range Developers is now starting on the third phase of construction at La Sagesse beach while the second phase, the Intercontinental Hotel (further down the beach) is half complete.
It should be noted that neither the second nor third phase have merited an EIA, despite the fact that both projects are very close to sensitive ecosystems and are already affecting river flow.
Meanwhile, the historic La Sagesse mangrove – once one of the largest in Grenada – is now almost completely destroyed – with no EIA for these later phases. The obvious questions are: Why was no EIA requested for the second and third phases of these projects, who greenlights developments of this scale without proper checks and balances?
The stones at La Sagesse. The community successfully protested the placement of the large stones on the beach, the first time they were placed there, and they were removed – only to be reinstalled later.
Despite objections to the PDA there was no enforcement action against Range Developers. In fact when contacted PDA officers said that those with greater powers had spoken and that their ‘hands were tied’.
Community members then spoke with their Parliamentary Representative, who is also the line minister for PDA. After a month of waiting, the response was simply, tell PDA to do their work properly.
So the circle continues, responsibility is passed from one authority to another while the law is quietly set aside and peoples’ rights are denied.
The question is whether the rule of law can still protect communities such as Woodford and La Sagesse; something, it seems communities will not know – until they challenge.
Franklin D. Roosevelt warned: the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.
Grenada Land Actors