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Book by John Maxwell
How to Make Our Own News: A Primer for Environmentalist and Journalists
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Open
Letter to Gerd Jarchow
By John
Maxwell
Your
Excellency
I am
addressing you by way of this open letter, because I believe
Jamaica should be aware that you are the only person now
capable of stopping what appears to me to be an illegal
environmental outrage paid for by the European Union, of
which you are the representative in this region.
You
may or may not be aware that the Government of Jamaica has
employed all manner of subterfuges and stratagems to avoid its
responsibilities under the NRCA law and various national
and international regulations and conventions.
Since
this is a serious charge, and because it also involves agencies
and citizens of the European Union operating in Jamaica, I
believe it is proper that I should explain exactly what I mean.
•
In its dredging of Kingston Harbour, recently completed, the
government’s Port Authority held two meetings, both called at
relatively short notice, at which various stakeholders were
presented with the PAJ’s plans for the refashioning of
Kingston Harbour and its environs. These meetings did not,
as they should have, involve all the interests involved and all
the communities to be affected by this major project. They
certainly did not take account of all the objections raised to
the project. In the result, an enormous amount of toxic
material was redistributed in the harbour and outside, without
due care for the welfare of the fishermen or of the people
living round the harbour, including the population of Portmore.
There were several other objectionable features, including the
destruction of fishing grounds, spawning areas, and other
ecological vandalism.
• In
its design and implementation of Highway 2000, the government held
one or two allegedly public meetings at which a fraction of
those affected by the road were able to be present. Since the
road cuts right across Jamaica it would have been expected,
according to the rules laid out in the NRCA law and regulations,
that public meetings would be held at convenient locations along
the proposed highway, to inform people of what the possible
effects would be.
• In
relation to this highway, the government additionally proposes
to devastate an area of world-class ecological interest a
place called Harris Savannah, upon which it is proposing to
build a smaller version of Portmore. As far as anyone
knows, the planners have not yet even established where the
water will be found to supply this misbegotten
‘development’.
More
important, the planners have paid absolutely no attention
to the valuable ecological resources which they will devastate.
• In
relation to the North Coast highway, as far as I can gather,
only the most cursory attention has been paid to the concerns of
those affected by the road. Again, this is contrary to the NRCA
law and regulations.
The
EU’s complicity
The
European Union was involved with the dredging of Kingston
Harbour, providing funding for the end stage of the process, the
Kingston Container port. An EU contractor was involved in
the dredging.
Another
EU contractor Bouyges is involved in Highway 2000.
The
EU’s funds are financing the Ocho Rios to Port Antonio section
of the North coast highway which is being constructed in the
same slapdash, public-be-damned fashion as the other projects.
What
is striking about all of these projects is that they were a long
time in the design stages, but it was only at the very end that
anyone gave any thought to the public interest and to the
various laws, regulations and conventions which were in my
opinion, being broken left, right and centre. This
administrative chicanery is then used to abort public discussion
and to prevent public participation in decision-making.
In the
latest section of the North Coast highway, as usual, the
government agency involved, the National Works Agency, has given
short shrift to the concerns of the public. The NWA is
proceeding full speed ahead on the ground that if the project is
not completed on time the funds will be lost (which you know is
a lie) The NWA disregards the sentiments of the people by
proclaiming: -
“The
primary objective of the project is to rehabilitate a road,
which has outlived its original design life and does not satisfy
today’s traffic demands and conditions. The fostering of
economic diversification through improving conditions for
tourism development and by so doing also contribute to increased
export earnings, employment and social development in the
project area is a secondary objective. The purpose is to
improve, in a sustainable fashion, a key section of primary
infrastructure and the result will be the reconstruction and
improvement of 120 km of road to a maintainable standard. The
project is not a tourism development project” (my
emphases)
The
above quotation is taken from a letter from the North Coast
Highway Improvement Project to an NGO in Portland, and is dated
November 13, 2003.
The
letter and the sentiments contained in it are clearly meant as a
rude brush-off to those who consider that the road will be an
environmental disaster as it is now being implemented, and that
engineering considerations are paramount.
Your
Excellency will be familiar with the terms of the Aarhus
convention, which attempts to protect the European environment
and to give Europe’s citizens the most transparent access to
the decision making process. Clearly, the convention must also
apply to projects funded by the EU, as the convention cannot
envisage that European companies or individuals should be
permitted to vandalise any other environment simply because
it is not European. In fact the convention specifically, in its
preamble, makes just that point, pointing out that among its
motivations are:
“…
the need to give explicit consideration to environmental factors
at an early stage in the decision-making process by applying environmental
impact assessment, at all appropriate administrative levels, as
a necessary tool to improve the quality of information presented
to decision makers so that environmentally sound decisions
can be made paying careful attention to minimizing significant
adverse impact, particularly in a transboundary
context,”
The
letter from the NWA threatens the dissenting voices by
saying that the project may lose funding because “We are
presently confronted with individual claims and verbal advises
that actions (legal and publications) are under preparation to
ensure that individual conditions are met, which unfortunately
could jeopardise the entire project and in the
worst-case-scenario lose the funding by the European Union for
the entire road.” (Sic)
This
is nothing short of (ungrammatical) blackmail and it is
blackmail invoking the EU as godfather.
I
cannot believe that your principals, conscious of the
devastation and human disasters precipitated in Europe by the
“Might is Right” doctrine, could possibly endorse such neo-brutalist
approach. But, since you are paying for the road, it is clear
that you are complicit since the NWA says:
“It
should be noted that the law requires an Environmental
Assessment Study for the entire project, reviews and updates if
necessary and done. This was considered sufficient by the
European Commission as the institution providing the funding in
form of a grant. There are no legal requirements for
environmental assessments of individual short road sections in
cases where an existing road is being rehabilitated and
improved. The works envisaged do not constitute new
construction. “
What
the works agency is saying here is that your approval trumps
everything else, because the Jamaican law certainly requires
EIAs for any change of use, extensive land clearing, road
construction or any other activity which will disturb the
environment to any noticeable degree. And EIAs are public
documents, for public discussion and decision.
Portland
is Unique & Precious
As you
must know, since you have been resident in Jamaica for some
time, much of the charm of Jamaica is in small, mini-ecosystems.
The Portland ecosystems are particularly valuable, not only
because of the unparalleled scenic grandeur and lushness, but
also because they are home to several endangered species,
including the largest butterfly in the northern hemisphere the
spectacular Blue Swallowtail.
Portland
was where the Jamaican tourist industry was born, and
probably best represents the hope for a vibrant eco-tourism. For
years, people have been complaining about the state of the
roads, but to complain about the surfaces of beautifully
scenic drives is not to ask for an autobahn to be driven through
pristine forest.
There
is always a civilised way to accomplish anything, and in
landscapes such as Portland any civilised person should realise
that the soft way is in this place, the only way. The roads can
be improved without the insensate brutality of the National
Works Agency.
Additionally,
the NWA in my opinion, has got its rights of way by allowing
many people in the area to be misled. The NWA has announced that
“up to $100,000” will be given to squatters who voluntarily
relocate. What seems to have happened is that many people
believe that each squatter will get 100,000 dollars. The truth,
of course, will be revealed when they have relocated and the
road is built over their small holdings. To me, this procedure
smacks of deception and fraud. But it is an inevitable result of
a process which keeps people in the dark and glorifies highfalutin
blah about progress.
I am
sure that you will agree with me that it is not progress to
bulldoze ancient wildlife refuges, to scarify and maim beautiful
landscapes. The charm of Portland lies in its serenity, its
tranquillity, its feeling of being outside the rat race world.
Why
should the Government of Jamaica/NWA and the European Union join
together to destroy it? Have the EU and its minions no time for
beauty and serenity?
I am
sending a copy of this letter to various international
environmental NGOs, who, I am sure, will be outraged that the EU
should be involved in such an avoidable catastrophe.
Please
accept assurances of my highest consideration for yourself,
the people you represent and for my beautiful and wounded
homeland.
John
Maxwell
To:
H.E. Gerd Jarchow,
Head
of Delegation
European
Union
Kingston, Jamaica.
Copyright ©2003 John Maxwell
maxinf@cwjamaica.com
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The White Masters of the
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From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
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Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
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