Letter to the Jamaica Observer re: Blue Lagoon

The following is a copy of a letter sent to the Editor of the Jamaica Observer regarding Blue Lagoon from Adrienne Joan Duperly:

Dear Editor,

Blue Lagoon demise and environmental concerns have been aired since JET stalwart Diana McCauley intervention in January 2011. Blue Lagoon's environmental issues have been brought to Prime Minister Golding`s attention in a letter written by Diana McCauley.

Since January, quarrels, indignities, name calling, mud slinging, blaming, finger pointing and issues of colour, wealth and poverty have stirred at Blue Lagoon. Negativity publicity has swamped poor Blue Lagoon shores and peoples as reports in your newspaper and others have been picked up by The Associated Press, Washington Post, World News et al.

I brought Blue Lagoon concerns to residents stakeholders in 2009. Since 2009-2010 letters, Blue Lagoon Restoration is becoming an eco- friendly, community driven eco sensitive marine heritage park protected because the people who live there care about their community and are trying to cooperate with one another - this after I proposed at Blue Lagoon to fisherfolk, rafters, crafters, corporate and resident stakeholders in 2009, 2010 and 2011 on several occasions, privately and publicly.

Following careful research, my restoration ideas spark renewed hope for beloved Blue Lagoon to be revalued and instated as the natural national treasure it really is.

Sadly, my 2009 letters were disregarded by your newspaper and others. Some Blue Lagoon area property owners, San San Association, environmental activists,and other governing bodies of 2009 heard me out, some have since agreed to help improve conditions at Blue Lagoon site.

Undeterred, I remain committed to Blue Lagoon Restoration. Following a 9 month community consultation, Blue Lagoon Restoration Concept came to life again. After invitation from Ontario International Development, on June 24, 2010, Blue Lagoon Restoration Concept was presented to the International Development Summer Congress 2010 , which was held in Canada. This Blue Lagoon concept document has since been published and you can access Blue Lagoon Restoration paper on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at:
http://ssrn.com/author=1530460

With JNHT on board, Blue lagoon stakeholders convened at Blue Lagoon Summit 2010 on November 20, 2010 in Portland and many follow http://www.bluelagoonjamaica.blogspot.com
Marc Goodman created http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODNsv7CsG9k

Sir, 60 years ago Norman Manley, Jamaica`s first Prime Minister sent his Blue Lagoon preservation note to Cabinet, earmarking Blue (Hole) Lagoon for eternal preservation (see link).
It is now 170 years since Adolphe Duperly hand tinted his lithograph of Blue Hole, with publication of his photographic journal of Jamaica's scenery, for the world to see at the Exhibition in Paris c.1840.

Now it is time for JNHT to rewrite Portland's environmental, social and economic history by presenting JNHT note to Cabinet This will help to ensure Blue Lagoon National Heritage Site Declaration is approved by Government of Jamaica, sanctioned by those who live, play, work or pray there. That is my wish, my prayer, my hope for Blue Lagoon and her residents.

We Jamaicans are eternally blessed, we live in a virtual paradise, we Jamaicans conquer world markets, we are globally celebrated artists, athletes, musicians, builders of nations and entrepreneurs of distinction. We Jamaicans know about God from childhood, some Jamaicans believe in a higher power, some believe they are a higher power. Not so, we have much the same DNA. We all want to be heard, we have a right to be heard, we all grow old, we all die sooner or later.
I invite Jamaicans from everywhere to visit Blue Lagoon, to discover what is happening in paradise while we are still alive to do so. It is so lovely there, go and see for yourselves.

Yours faithfully,
Adrienne Joan Duperly

Washington Post publishes article on struggle for Blue Lagoon

Yesterday, the Washington Post published an article by the Associated Press on Blue Lagoon and the struggle to keep it environmentally sound:

Battle brews over development of Jamaica’s Blue Lagoon, one of island’s best known attractions

PORT ANTONIO, Jamaica — In a lush corner of Jamaica, a skirmish is under way over a spring-fed lagoon where the changing light of day turns water from shimmering jade to brilliant cobalt.

Tree-fringed Blue Lagoon is a dazzling, 400-foot-long (122-meter-long) teardrop of water that meets the Caribbean along a coast that was once a hideaway for the rich and famous and a setting for a film starring Brooke Shields.

The little lagoon’s shore already is marred by an abandoned, hurricane-damaged restaurant and a crumbling helicopter pad, and a new development is alarming conservationists who are trying to save one of Jamaica’s most gorgeous natural attractions. The owner of a small hilltop hotel overlooking the lagoon has carved away a pocket of forest and mangroves to create a private, white-sand beach that activists fear could spoil the unique environment.

In most places on the tourism-dependent island, where politicians mostly view the conservation lobby as a hindrance to economic development, a small beach cut out of mangroves would hardly merit notice. But the Blue Lagoon isn’t just anyplace.

It’s a rare environment where the warm waters of the sea mix with fresh water from cold mineral springs in a 186-foot-deep (57-meter) sinkhole. Yellow-billed parrots spread their wings to dry after rain showers. Small blue fish dart around the shallows. Black-and-scarlet frigate birds swoop overhead.

The cove was first described in an 1864 journal published by photographic pioneer Adolphe Duperly. The Frenchman’s pictures of Jamaica were a hit at a Paris exhibition and helped the Blue Lagoon become a destination for travelers.

The lagoon and the wider Port Antonio area were once favored destinations of European aristocrats and film stars like Errol Flynn, whose widow still runs a cattle ranch nearby. But it has seen a steady decline in tourist traffic since its 1950s heyday.

Blue Lagoon still attracts bird-watchers and nature lovers who want experiences off of the beaten track, though it’s hardly been a priority for recent Jamaican governments due to its relative isolation and lack of foot traffic. Just outside the cove, about a dozen luxury villas line the shore.

It is often known as Blue Hole to locals, but the alternate name came into wider use after the Brooke Shields movie “The Blue Lagoon” was partly filmed there, though her famed swim scene was shot elsewhere.

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust has completed historical research to potentially declare Blue Lagoon a protected national monument. But Lisa Grant, legal officer for the government body, said more rigorous evaluations are needed before any official declaration can be made.

They need to “make sure the economic activity around the site does not compromise the integrity of the area,” she said, a reference to development and boat tours around the cove. It is not clear how long their assessments might take....Environmental activists have been pressing politicians to save the cove, while blasting regulators. They say government approval of the beach is evidence of a broader failure of environmental protection on an island where many see jobs as more important than strict conservation. Read rest of the article here.