However, Bengal Development Limited appealed the decision on May 21, two weeks after the refusal, and has been successful. Their advocacy was rewarded with the refusal by NEPA to grant a permit. Hence, NEPA should deny request based on this inconsistency,” Dr Kathie Krumm, who operates a villa in area noted in August 2019 when the entire community launched a campaign against the project, writing letters to the media, the Office of the Prime Minister, and other agencies. “The proposed quarry clearly would significantly alter topography through blasting and openpit mining. That was one of several factors cited in an EIA but could be ignored with this latest development. The project falls within an area classified as ‘Undeveloped Coast’ under the St Ann Parish Development Control Order - designation prohibiting development that results in significant alteration to topography or vegetation.
Scientists have already pinpointed the city of Kingston, Jamaica, as one of the first cities to reach the climatological ‘tipping point’ in 2023, only four years from now,” the stakeholders stated. “The volume of carbon dioxide emitted by the trucks carrying the stone is almost incalculable. They also hold landscape damage, traffic noise, dust, cave deterioration, and loss of land to be major unmitigated consequences of the establishment of the quarry. The residents argued that the area should be designated a private forest reserve under the Forest Act, 1996. The bond may be applied to mitigate environmental damage and restore any natural resources impacted by the development, chief executive officer of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Peter Knight, confirmed to The Gleaner on Sunday.īengal was previously refused a permit by NEPA based on the potentially deleterious impact the project would have on the area, including the eradication of dry limestone forest and the biodiverse limestone bluff situated on the Queen’s Highway between Rio Bueno and Discovery Bay. However, before work can commence, Bengal must pay an environmental performance bond of J$40 million to the authorities. The permit authorises Bengal Development Limited to mine and quarry bauxite, peat, sand, minerals – including aggregate, construction and industrial materials, and metallic and non-metallic ores. The move has been met with strong objection from residents in the area, which borders the parishes of St Ann and Trelawny, with some expressing outrage that one of the few remaining undisturbed habitats of the endemic Jamaica boa could be destroyed by mining. Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters.
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