A public consultation meeting was held on Tuesday, 6 April 2021, at the Anglican School in Sauteurs concerning the proposed development in Levera called the Grenada National Resort Hotel.
In conversation with various interested parties who attended the consultation, Friends of the Earth Grenada is expressing great concern with regard to how the consultation was conducted.
The representation from the [Singaporean developer] presented artist renderings of:
- Three 16-storey high buildings
- An 18-hole golf course
- A series of villas and a jetty. The construction of the latter will cause irreparable damage to Levera.
For a project of this scope, a transparent technical overview of the resource use required for the development was completely lacking, and practical mitigation strategies to avoid or balance the considerable negative social and environmental impacts from the project appeared grossly inadequate.
This left some of the people in attendance with the notion that too many questions were left unanswered and did not inspire confidence that either the developer or presenter had engaged in a thorough enough preparation of the design concepts and earnest enough mitigation strategies for a project of this magnitude.
People also expressed concern about several aspects of the consultation:
- The slides exhibited were in Chinese, blurry, and not clear, which did not give the audience a clear view of the proposed development.
- The videos presented were either irrelevant to Grenada or simplistic PR clips of very little substance.
- The design for the site has been created by firms situated in Singapore and China, clearly used to creating bombastic designs for urban contexts and not ecologically and culturally sensitive areas like a small island. Neither scope nor infrastructure requirements for this project are befitting for the chosen setting.
- The designers are yet to visit Grenada in person to even understand the environment for which they have to design.
- The boundaries of the Ramsar site have been reassigned, changing and reducing the protected area by cutting out half of Levera beach from the protected zone and shrinking the corridor of land between the mangrove pond and the developer’s land, in favour of the latter.
- The wetlands, which are a protected Ramsar site, have effectively been partially incorporated into the new site plan. This is despite protestations at the last meeting, hosted in Levera by the Parliamentary Representative, that the Ramsar site would not be affected in any way. This alteration has been supposedly done by the PPU without further explanation or basis provided at the consultation on how these changes are justified.
- Despite assurances from the Department of Planning at the aforesaid meeting that permission had only been granted for the building of a workers’ village on the Levera site, huge swathes of the site have been bulldozed and flattened already in what looks like the preparation of access roads from La Fortune. When the developers and the consultant employed to complete an EIA were questioned in relation to this, no answers were forthcoming.
A public consultation is an arena where attendees expect to be treated with respect and to have their concerns acknowledged with transparent responses. Those hosting such an event are expected to be fully prepared to respond to questions and, if unable to do so, be willing to engage in an ongoing dialogue until such concerns are resolved in the best possible way. This was certainly not the case in this consultation. It started late, marred by technical difficulties. Facilitation of questions and responses was poor; the overall consultation was badly structured and more aimed at placating attendees than trying to solve the problems at hand. This begs the question as to what has not been revealed to the public of St Patrick and Grenada.
Furthermore, these consultations, while necessarily targeting the surrounding communities of St Patrick, seem to attempt to shut out concerned Grenadians from other parishes. This is ironic seeing that the development calls itself Grenada National Resort – making it a concern of all Grenadians by virtue of name alone – notwithstanding the fact that Levera is one of the most pristine areas left on the island, and therefore of utmost importance to every Grenadian anywhere on the island and in the world.
If the people of Grenada are being treated with such obvious contempt even before the resort has been approved at the planning stage, how will our people be treated after the resort is built? The ongoing mantra of ‘jobs’ for the people of the North takes on a sour taste if this is an example of what is to come once the resort is built.
FOE
And the same arrogance revealed itself on Saturday 11 February at another so called public consultation.The time set was 9.a. m. on a Saturday morning, a time when many people are either at work or doing necessary chores. The developer did not disseminate any documents or information on the project prior to the meeting.We were treated to a lightning slide show of artists, impressions and a translator who translated as best he could his employer’s words in the Chinese language to us. Questions posed were not answered in any meaningful way. And of note is that the developer revealed that they applied for and obtained permission to build the golf course first , a stand alone application .No EIA process was undertaken in respect of this golf course.We were told not to fear because the course was designed by an experienced firm from the USA-. Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Founder and CEO of RTJ II.
And the issue of the RAMSAR site remains a mystery despite the attempt by the forestry officer present to explain how the boundaries were changed so significantly. The developer is bent on plunging on, that much is clear.And do we sleep whilst destruction threatens in the name of developments??
It’s not normal!!!!
I m not agree
Lovely Levera was our pure, unspoiled playground after church on Sundays.
Now I read of two hideous 16 storey hotel buildings with construction causing major damage to the flora and fauna, not to mention interfering with the turtles that return year after year to that specific beach.
How does this project fit with the recent “Statement by Minister Simon Stiell on the Climate” which speaks of ambitious emission reduction, in the context of COP26 later this year.
Sheer Hypocrisy!
Always concens, please share your plan B for the development of our island.
You need to get a Drone up and film what is happening and show it to the world. Why the hell were they allowed to buy land here at all? This started out as a development by some US developers who were questionable as investors in Grenada now the flipping Chinese have their hands on it. What is happening to Grenada?? All the nature we came to enjoy is destroyed. Mount Hartman the Dove Sanctuary, Levera the Turtle Sanctuary, La Sagesse the Salt Ponds and nestings sites. STOP STOP STOP all the destruction.
What encouraged Travelers to visit Grenada was the fact it was NOT OVER DEVELOPED. All these concrete horror stories damage the eco system that is already tenuous.
Now is the DRY TIME. Half of the island only has WATER ONCE A WEEK. Where is the water going to come from for these “hotels”??? You think for one minute these stinking developers will put up with NO WATER ??? They will demand water for themselves before water for locals.
All these horrible developments need to stop now. HOW are they bulldozing the beach at Levera?? Where are the Inspectors ?? Where is the Law??
This island is stopping being Grenada with each of these hotels, you condemn colonialism that helped develop the island but look what is happening NOW! You have the Chinese taking over and promoting Communism, you have the Egyptian wanting to control the Airport and therefore Customs and Immigration policies and secret landings and private jets and people just passing without examination, La Sagesse nature preserve destroyed, Egyptian with so much land he will become virtually your prime minister.
Totally inappropriate development that would most likely stand empty anyway.
The original development for Levera envisaged a small eco-resort and an 18 hole golf course and to me, that seemed to be a good plan that would have fit into the environment without damaging it. Certainly not a 500 room, 16 storey, concrete white elephant that would permanently scar the landscape.
Government should set a maximum limit of 6 storeys anywhere in Grenada and ecologically sensitive areas could be less.
16 story high building is not in keeping with the needs of Grenada, it will be the start of other high rise building on the island……..then will will look like Spain, the beauty just destroyed.
You can develop the island sympathetically, not start to destroy it.
Three 16 story tall buildings?! No… no-no-no. Witness that all this development is evidence of Grenada being sold to “foreign investors” for a hand full of silver. Soon Grenada will be one big resort island, local culture will disappear run off by new land owners. Hear me now, because you will believe me later…