Maracas residents: No to limestone quarry

They also cited a lack of confidence “in the discretion of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) in the application of their Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) process based on our previous experience with applications for new quarries” according to president of the Acono Village Dynamic Action Committee (AVDAC), Maracas Valley, Simeon Nakhid.

They promised to take legal action if Blue Diamond does not hold proper consultations with them.

Posters of “No Blue Diamond Quarry Limited”, tacked onto lampposts, lined the main road to the venue of the public consultation on the proposed quarry held on Friday evening at the Maracas Valley Community Centre, Maracas, St Joseph.

As the meeting began a number of residents held placards expressing their opposition to the proposal.

Residents began to express their concerns even before representatives of Ecoengineering Consultants Limited, which hosted the meeting – were able to make their presentation.

Even though the small community centre was packed, residents called for proper consultation at a time when all residents were available.

In the first instance, they said that the meeting was called at a time when the majority of working residents would be coming home from work and would not have been able to voice their concerns. The also noted that the venue was too small to accommodate everyone and suggested the use of the Presbyterian school in the area.

Another resident noted the majority of the people living in the area are Seventh-day Adventists and they do not do business after 5 pm on Fridays.

They also do not work on Saturdays.

The objective of the c onsultation according to Ecoengineering was in keeping with the requirements to present information about the proposed limestone quarry, to give details about the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with specific reference to field studies, and to receive comments.

Residents’ main concern was that the area was already home to a quarry, Coosal’s Quarry, and it could not accommodate another. The proposed quarry is located off Caurita Road in an area called Santa Rosalia, located on the western part of the Northern Range.

Caurita Village is located along Caurita Road.

Ecoengineering said a geological survey determined that about 3,190 million cubic metres of high quality limestone are distributed over an area of 21.64 acres. The proposed extraction of limestone covers a 20- year period in which 917,000 cubic metres is to be mined in the first five-year phase.