International group opposes St. Vincent’s cross-country road
by Kenton Chance
Caribbean Net News Correspondent
Thursday, March 3, 2005
KINGSTOWN, St Vincent: An international
conservation group, Birdlife International, has expressed its opposition to
the construction of a proposed trans-island (cross country) road in St.
Vincent, citing that the survival of SVG’s national bird, the Amazona
guildingii, will be threatened. A release
from Birdlife International -- a global alliance of conservation organisations
working together for the world's birds and people -- in a release earlier this
week said, “The road would irreversibly damage the remnants of primary
rainforest on which the parrot depends, and open it up to further encroachment
by illegal loggers and marijuana growers.”
The comment from the international organisation comes in the wake of
opposition from a number of local, partisan political and environment groups.
The release charged that no Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried
out, as is required under recognized international standards.
It further stated that an Environmental Investigation and Cataloguing study
which was prepared early 2004 was not made public but a local environmental
group opposed to the road was able to obtain a copy.
The release went on to state that the Environmental Investigation and
Cataloguing Study warns that the road threatens the parrot and other endemic
biodiversity, puts the island’s growing ecotourism industry in jeopardy and
will interfere with an important watershed.
The release stated that the Amazona guildingii, SVG’s national bird, has
recovered slightly after the population declined to critically low levels and
according to The Environmental Investigation and Cataloguing study, by Ivor
Jackson and Associates, the the illegal trade in parrot eggs and chicks is
still a threat to its survival, and that marijuana farming already severely
threatens its habitat.
“Our estimate is that the study area
contains over 70 percent of the Parrot’s population and is therefore critical
to its sustainability,” the release quoted from the study.
“The Environmental Investigation also warned
of increased risk of landslides, since the road would pass through areas of
unconsolidated rock on precipitous ridges and sites of volcanic activity,
exacerbated by fragile soils and high rainfall. In the last week of this
November, torrential rain caused landslides and mudslides which blocked roads
on the island, and trapped people in their homes”, the release continued.
“The exemplary record of the St Vincent government over the last 20 years, in
saving their national bird, will be undone to devastating effect by this
ill-sited cross country road,” said David Wege, BirdLife International’s
Caribbean Programme Manager. “The globally threatened St Vincent Amazon is the
most spectacular of all the Amazon Parrots, and this road threatens its very
survival.”
The cross-country road which is funded by
the Taiwanese Overseas Engineering Construction Company (OECC) has been met
with strong resistance especially from Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace
and a pressure group, Friends of the Environment/St. Vincent and the
Grenadines (FOTE/SVG). The group said it will
challenge the construction of the Cross Country Road on the grounds that the
road will result in “irreparable damage” to the forest reserve and essential
natural resources and will therefore impact negatively on the quality of life
for Vincentians now and in the future.
Vincentians from all walks of life have expressed their views on the proposed
cross-country-road. Most of these views are obviously biased in on way or
another. The most objective of these comments have come from a local lawyer
who suggested a series of feeder roads outside of St. Vincent’s virgin
territory.
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