Tobagonians opposed to US$1billion project

EMOTIONS RAN high Friday night as Tobagonians voiced loud objections to a development project in the island’s southwest wetlands area and stormed out of a rowdy public consultation at Buccoo Government Primary School to discuss the multimillion-dollar undertaking by Angostura Limited. The project involves establishment of 475 multi-family housing units, three hotels with a total capacity of 700 rooms, villas, a golf course, constructed wetlands and lake system and other facilities on 272 hectares of land on the Golden Grove and Buccoo estates, between the Bon Accord Lagoon and Buccoo. It will be in a highly sensitive area known locally as “No Man’s Land.”

The project is be executed over a 15-year period in three phases at an estimated cost of between US$700 million to US$1billion. Ahmad Khan, of EPAS  Consul-tants Ltd, who made a presentation on the proposal, said the hostile rejection of the project by the locals had been anticipated by the developers. “Before we held this public consultation we had been meeting individually with various people, people from the NGOs, the fishermen who took us out on the boat, and the reaction to this project... has always been negative,” he admitted. “The reason for that is partly because of a lack of understanding of what Angostura is trying to do but 70 percent of it is because of misinformation, and information that has no credibility in science being purported on the population at large.”

When he was asked if Angostura would be prepared to shelve the project because of the strong objections by Tobagonians, Khan replied: “I hate to answer a question with another question but if Angostura owns the land and they were not allowed to use the land, does that not infringe on Angostura’s constitutional right? “Therefore, should Angostura not be allowed to use the land as they determine to the best benefit of both their shareholders and the stakeholders at large?” The consultation was part of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study and is a requirement for the granting of a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA).

Without this approval, the project cannot go ahead. Khan said he did not get a chance to mention that eco-sensitive wetland areas will be preserved before the meeting erupted in disorder, with the many objectors angrily speaking all at once, then storming out. “I think what I failed to bring across in this meeting, and I take full responsibility for that, is the fact that those areas which are conservation areas are going to be left alone for the enjoyment of all people.”