CATEGORY:LETTER ------------------- INSIDE GRENADA MONDAY June 18,2007 By Sandra C. Ferguson June 18th, 2007 The Chairman and Members Land Development Control Authority c/o Physical Planning Unit Ministry of Finance St. George’s Attn: Mr. Nelson Louison, Chairman Mr. Andre Worme, Ministry of Health and Environment Mr. Mark Isaac, Ministry of Agriculture Mr. Michael Mason, Ministry of Agriculture Ms. Winifred Duncan-Phillip, Member Mr. Cecil Frederick, Physical Planning Unit Mr. Kenneth Noel, Grenada Industrial Dev. Corp Dear Sirs/Madam, Re Port Louis Lagoon Area Development I write to you as a follow-up to my letter of March 18th, 2007 re the above-referenced. Up to this present time, I have not received any acknowledgement/response to my letter which raised a number or questions and concerns to be addressed by you, members of the Land Development Control Authority, in respect of the Port Louis/Islander/Lagoon Road project being undertaken by one Mr. Peter De Savary. I can only conclude that you are either UNABLE or UNWILLING (or maybe both) to respond to the questions and concerns raised. My letter noted the following: • Authority is vested in the Land Control Development Authority re the granting of permission and approval to all development projects in Grenada. • This authority confers on the LCDA the RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that the PUBLIC INTEREST IS PROTECTED. • It is therefore expected that a decision to grant approval to ANY development project will be made on the basis of a THOROUGH REVIEW and SCRUTINY of the project, informed by SOUND TECHNICAL advice and all the relevant information including reports of ENVIRONMENTAL and SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS, conducted by INDEPENDENT and CREDIBLE individuals. My letter tabled a number of questions and concerns: • Has Mr. De Savary been give permission to develop an area in which he has to re-locate the public road? My letter further requested clarification on whether or not private developers are given permission to re-locate public roads, especially when relocation infringes on the property of other legitimate property owners? • Has Mr. De Savary been given permission to reclaim land and build cottages along the Lagoon water front? Did Mr. De Savary submit plans to be approved by the Land Development Control Authority and the Physical Planning Unit? Via the radio programme, Sundays with George Grant, May 27th, I learnt that Mr. de Savary had advised the Willie Redhead Foundation that he had bought these plans (which included reclamation and building of cottages) from the former developers of the site, Poole-Capital. According to Mr. de Savary, these plans had been approved by the Physical Planning Unit. Did the Land Development Control Authority grant approval to POOLE-CAPITAL for land reclamation and the building of cottages along the Lagoon waterfront? During the past week, there has been another UNWELCOME development related to the implementation of this project. Residents in the Westerhall area have been taking action to protest the dumping/relocation of scrap metal and other wastes in wetlands in the vicinity of a residential area. This is occurring because one of the LEGITIMATE property owners in the Lagoon area, the owner/operator of the Ross Combined Workshop has been displaced and has to be re-located. WHO OR WHAT HAS GIVEN PERMISSION for this relocation without any consideration for the residents of the area? This latest development therefore begs the following questions: • Were ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS conducted? Were they conducted by independent, competent and credible individuals? • Was there a REVIEW of these assessments? • Have the decisions of the Land Development Control Authority in respect of this project been informed by the review of these assessments? If there were proper procedure and processes, then there ought to have been recommendations made about the relocation of the operations of the Combined Workshop. I am fairly certain that relocation to the wetlands, bordering a residential area could not have been recommended. It is also difficult to imagine that the Land Development Control Authority has endorsed that EYESORE and ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD that has been created on the top of the hill overlooking Corinth and La Sagesse as the APPROPRIATE response to the relocation of displaced persons from the Mt. Pandy and Islander area. I would have thought that in the post-Ivan period, the Land Development Control Authority and the Physical Planning Unit would be even more sensitive to the issue of building back better. I trust, members of the Land Control Development Authority, that the authority is not INDIFFERENT to its responsibility of PROTECTING the interests of we, the people. I still look forward to hearing from you in respect of the questions and concerns raised in my letter of March 18th and this letter. Sincerely yours, Sandra C.A. Ferguson c/o P.O. box 750 St. George’s Tel: 405- 0797