The community of Concord is continuing to protest against the lack of consultation regarding the UKCIF Southern St George Water Supply Expansion Project.
One aim of the project is to increase the amount of water taken from Concord waterfall area from 600,000 galls to 1 million gallons per day, an aim which in itself is to be lauded but what does this mean for the waterfall as an eco-tourism site?
Members of the community are mounting their protest in various ways, one of which is to not allow access to their lands to project workers, without proper procedures and have stated clearly, ‘this is entirely due to the fact that consultations were not done properly’ and that NAWASA have only had one proper meeting with local residents and affected vendors and have not made any effort to continue the discussion.
This has also resulted in vehicles being left in places, which have created obstacles for the project personnel.
The Woodford community, next door to Concord, have had similar experiences in that no consultation was carried out prior to an industrial plant being constructed, without planning permission, under 300 yards from local residents and were only informed of future plans for the site at a public meeting hosted by the community.
The plans consisted of an asphalt plant and a quarry in addition to the cement batching plant already constructed.
Several glaring issues regarding sustainable development need to be addressed in these cases:
- Climate change: NAWASA are often reminding us of the shortage of water due to lack of rainfall in Grenada. This will also apply to Concord and its waterfall. If the amount of water taken from the tributaries which replenish the waterfall is doubled and we continue to face drought conditions, will this not make the waterfall itself redundant and vendors no longer be able to make a living at the eco-tourism site? Who will want to visit a waterfall lacking water?
In discussion on the Bubb Report on Sunday 20th July, the representative from Clozier made an appeal for the people whose livelihoods are affected by the collapse of the road and announced that the Prime Minister would be visiting the area. Does this courtesy not extend to the community of Concord and the vendors at the waterfall?
2.The community in Woodford were informed by word of mouth that a quarry was being considered for the industrial site. They have not been consulted in any way regarding this possibility and are dismayed that this should be considered due to the close proximity of the homes of local residents.
Levels of anxiety have risen significantly due to the explosion at the quarry in Telescope which caused extensive damage a good distance away. Added to this is the fact that Rayneau, the developer in Woodford, had a quarry in St Lucia where, it is reported, there was an accident where people died. This does not create confidence in the people of Woodford.
The lack of consultation and regard for local people’s concerns from entities in authority does not bode well for our democracy, where anything and everything seems to happen without any discussion with affected communities.
Grenada is a signatory and has ratified the Escazu agreement which calls for transparency and the right of people to have a voice in decision making in developments in their communities.
Are we going to continue to ignore these international agreements? Is this what we want for the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique?
Grenada Land Actors