Feeling the Blues over Blue Lagoon - A Jamaica Observer Editorial

Jamaica Observer editorial of May 19, 2011:

Portland, we contend, must be among the most beautiful and alluring places on earth. So we decidedly can't agree with Port Antonio mayor, Commander Floyd Patterson who is quoted in this week's Sunday Observer as saying that Portland has "lost tourism".

For surely as this country seeks to go forward in the further sustainable development of tourism and leisure as a money-spinning industry, Portland has got to be high on the agenda.

However, we are also very conscious that unless there is care, thought and proper planning, essential elements to ensure that sustainable development, will be lost. On that basis, we feel duty bound to congratulate Mayor Patterson and others who coalesced to put a stop to the removal of rail parts which he correctly identified as important in Portland's heritage.

Far too often, we believe, communities are content to simply sit by as their heritage, inclusive of old churches and other historic sites, are looted by scrap metal scavengers.

Of course, heritage sites are not the only victims of the scrap metal trade. The utility companies, for example, have lost millions of dollars in damage to their infrastructure to metal theft.

But to return to Portland, our concern for the sustainable development of tourism means we are also interested in what the Sunday Observer headlines a 'Storm over Blue Lagoon'. From this distance, it seems to be yet another example of the age-old tussle between developers who sense an opportunity to make money and those intent on protecting the physical environment. Finding the correct balance is never easy.

In short, noted environmentalists, such as Ms Diana McCaulay, chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), are complaining that a private development now taking place could damage the world-renowned Blue Lagoon. Further, Ms McCaulay charges that the State's environmental watchdog, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), has failed to effectively monitor the private development or to properly protect the physical environment.

On the other hand, the developers are vigorously denying that actions by them are endangering the environment. In fact, they insist that it is the natural physical environment on which they will be dependent if their investment is to be successful.

Intriguingly, the developers have introduced skin colour as a motive for JET's objections.

"The man who owns the property is black and these people don't believe that a little black boy from Port Antonio should own that property," says Colin Bell, operations manager for Tropical Lagoon Heights Resort, whose main attraction - we are told - is the lagoon.

All that aside though, we feel all concerned in this matter should pay close attention to the words of Major Johnathan Lamey, president of the Portland Environmental Protection Association.

Says he: "Blue Lagoon is the common heritage of all Jamaicans regardless of who might own it at a particular time, and so the perspective of the community should be taken into consideration for any development because it will affect us all, both in terms of the tourism product and the livelihood of all Portlanders."

We suspect that had the wider community been consulted about all aspects of the planned development at the very start, much of the current "storm" would have been avoided. It seems to us that going forward, this is something NEPA and the Government should weave into their modus operandi.