The Environment Management Authority (EMA) says it is investigating infrastructure works being undertaken in Tobago which have not received the necessary environmental clearance.
In an announcement yesterday, the EMA emphasized that an Environmental Clearance Certificate (CEC) is a mandatory requirement to assess the potential impacts of proposed activities on human health and the environment.
The EMA’s announcement follows reports that no environmental permission has been granted for the construction of a carnival stage on the beach in Scarborough.
Speaking during the Tobago House of Assembly Mandate press conference on Monday, Secretary for Infrastructure, Mining and Urban Development Division Trevor James admitted that the required approvals had not been granted.
He said talks are now ongoing with the EMA.
“We were asked to build that staging area. What we are trying to do is organize a carnival in a few weeks. We in the Assembly are trying to execute these jobs in a short amount of time and sometimes, as a state agency, we believe it can be challenging to go through every single step that is required,” James said.
“If this is done, then we will not be able to accomplish what we set out to do. Despite this, my staff report that they have contacted the Environment Division and the EMA and discussions are ongoing.”
Violation of the law and other abuses
In a statement posted on his Facebook page yesterday, PNM Tobago council leader Ancil Dennis said the construction of the stage without the necessary approvals was against the law.
“I am surprised by this response which confirms that he did not even bother with the legally required consultation with the EMA for such a venture, just as he did not bother to consult with RC School stakeholders to use the complex them for construction purposes,” Dennis said.
“However, it was not surprising to try to paint a picture of an emergency, their usual justification for engaging in law-breaking and other abuses which always aimed at a secret, selfish and personal agenda,” he added.
During Monday’s THA meeting, general secretary Farley Augustine, who spoke about the “sea scene,” said he had received only one critical criticism of it, which had to do with the logistics of where the masked men and spectators would be located. He said at the time that an assessment had been carried out and the environmental impact was “little to no”.
“So basically what’s going to happen is there’s going to be a permanent installation there that’s environmentally safe. This is like a link to the public infrastructure, the road infrastructure along that road. You’ll be able to go there, get your photos and so on afterwards, but it means that for future public street parties, cultural street items that happen along that street, you have a permanent place there. But it gives a foretaste of what might come with the kind of land reclamation needed to save all that coastline,” he said.
