Coastal lands vulnerable to storms

She said there is also a significant issue with informal settlements or squatters who “build whatever they can, wherever they can.” Additionally, she said, there is a tremendous amount of unauthorized and unregulated development and without regards to things like water courses and drainage.

“We see it every time it rains. Walls get eroded, there is damage to property.” She said within squatter communities some people would improve their homes over time by reinforcing them and building with concrete.

“But for a lot of them the quality are very substandard. Plywood walls, galvanise roofing.

Very unstable structures.” She said there is also the wider global situation of climactic change and sea level rise, and spoke of local coastal erosion in the south west peninsula and pictures in Icacos of coconut trees falling into sea in areas that was once beach.

Hobday said while TT has been quite fortunate, given that it generally too far south to be affected by hurricanes, the threat and scare of Tropical Storm Bret was “quite possibly a shade of things to come.” She said the country could be increasingly vulnerable to the global climactic system which was “all over the place” and Hurricane Irma, for example, was “massive compared to what seen before.” “Given these elements, if something big did happen we’re in for some trouble.” She said with hurricanes, tropical storms or cyclones there are fast and devastating winds and given the quality of most structures citizens would be extremely vulnerable, especially those with the least economic power.

Hobday said hurricanes also bring storm surges and rough seas and would affect people in coastal areas from a wide range of economic groups including those living in Sea Lots or Westmoorings.

She said there is a substantial amount of development that proceeds without any approvals and there is “no kind of oversight whatsoever other than integrity and competence of whoever doing the design.” The NPDP of 1984 is “quite old” and is the only statutory plan there is, she noted, though there have been various attempts to update the plan in full and in part over the years.

“To begin with we need up to date comprehensive policy for country which looks at (basically) what needs to go where. We needed it 20 years ago if not longer.” She said once this is in place then the Town and Country Planning Division, in theory, would be in a better position to make decisions that are “rational, coherent and backed by policy” and also prevent unauthorised development in inappropriate locations.

Hobday also said proper enforcement is needed, adding there are many laws and regulations that are either not implemented or enforced.

“We need a substantial culture change in Trindad to really prepare us for something like Hurricane Irma.” Land surveyor Ivan Laughlin said there are a range of land use issues that need to be looked at carefully and called for a series of national discussions about these matters.

He pointed out it is only September and the hurricane season ends in November.

“We still have a couple months to go.”