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.

Blue Lagoon Developer has been served - Article

Blue Lagoon news from the GO-Jamaica website May 25, 2011:

Following a review of the controversial Blue Lagoon developments, the NRCA and NEPA discovered that the developer, Devon Wilson, is in breach of the Beach Control Act and the Beach Control Amendment, despite the developer’s beach licence being issued in compliance with the Act and amendment.

Daryl Vaz, minister with responsibility for information, provided the update in this morning’s Cabinet press briefing.

He said the breaches include three pylons supporting a wooden jetty on the northern section of the property; a seawall constructed on the foreshore and the floor of the sea along the northern and southern boundaries of the property; and coastline modification.

Vaz noted the developer, who is also the operator of Tropical Lagoon Resort, was also in breach of the Town and Country Planning Act, Tree Preservation (Blue Hole, Portland) Order of 1977, by the felling and topping of trees without permission from the Portland Parish Council.

Six other property owners in the Blue Lagoon area were also found to be in breach of the Beach Control Act, Beach Control Amendment, and the Wildlife Protection Act.

Wilson has been served summons, scheduled for mention in the Port Antonio Resident Magistrate Court on June 6.

Meanwhile, Vaz said the NRCA and NEPA are cautious.

“It cannot be ignored that the NRCA does not have a right to prosecute for the development of land, save and except where it can be clearly shown that such development is illegal.

“To date there is little or no evidence that the creation of an artificial beach specifically as it relates to dumping of sand on the property resulted from or is associated with any illegal activity,” Minister Vaz said in a release.

Last month, reports surfaced that Wilson had plans to build an artificial beach at Blue Lagoon.

Environmental watchdog, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) has objected to the granting of a beach licence to the operator as an artificial beach would be inappropriate for the natural environment of the Blue Lagoon.

JET has asserted that the clearing and removal of vegetation could result in silt running off into the sea.

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.

Storm over Blue Lagoon - Article in the Jamaica Observer

The Jamaica Observer published an extensive article on Sunday regarding Blue Lagoon. The full text of the article is as follows:

Storm over Blue Lagoon

Developers, environmentalists wage bitter battle over Blue Lagoon

BY PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR Environment editor williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, May 15, 2011

THERE'S a storm brewing over the now controversial development of the world famous Blue Lagoon tourist attraction in Portland, as green lobbyists insist the area should be left unspoiled while the developers maintain they are there to stay.

"My overall concern is we have a very beautiful natural place in Jamaica where a private land owner starts a development. He is stopped by the environmental regulator, he continues to do it. He eventually applies for a permit. It's turned down by one board, he continues to do it. It's approved by the same board a year later," said Diana McCaulay, the Jamaica Environment Trust's (JET's) chief executive officer.

At the same time, she accused the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) — administrative arm of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), which granted the beach licence to the developers — of failing to effectively monitor the work.

Further, McCaulay said the agency has not been very forthcoming in providing a justification for the granting of the licence nor about the breaches that have occurred since.

And it appears JET — like the rest of the society — will have to wait a while longer for the answers. NEPA is currently preparing a report on the matter for Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

"I have been a little behind in sending the report off to the prime minister, but it is just that we want to get it right... We are taking our time... I am not going to write fluff to the honourable prime minister," NEPA boss Peter Knight told the Sunday Observer.

He would not comment further on the issue, noting that it would be improper to do so at this stage.

McCaulay, for her part, said that having herself discovered the work at the lagoon, known popularly as Blue Hole, in January, she had gone about gathering information on the site -- information which she said justifies JET's concerns. Among other things, she said trees and other vegetation had been removed and an artificial beach put in — things for which the beach licence gave no permission.

McCaulay has also raised questions about the licence and the permit given for the construction of a slipway for non-motorised craft — copies of which she has obtained under the Access to Information Act.

"The licences we were provided expired in March 2010. I have asked NEPA if they were renewed, I have had no answer. So separate and apart from there being breaches in the licences, it is not clear whether they were even in effect," she said.

It is against this background that JET, on April 11 this year, wrote to Prime Minister Golding, stating its objection "to the granting of a beach licence by the NRCA to build and operate an artificial beach in Blue Lagoon". Attached to the letter — the reason for NEPA's report to the prime minister — is general information on the lagoon, its legal status as being subject to the Preservation Order in keeping with the National Trust Law, comments from visitors and photographs of the site.

The paper trail between the NRCA board, NEPA and developer Devon Wilson of Tropical Lagoon Heights Resort bears evidence to the fact that a 2008 application from Wilson for the beach licence and the construction of the slipway was turned down by the NRCA board in 2009, only to be approved a year later.

"The construction of the slipway is refused as the launch and use of motorised vessels is being discouraged in the area, and as such, the construction of the slipway is not deemed appropriate at this time," the NRCA said in a January 29, 2009 letter to the developer, outlining the reasons for its refusal to approve the work.

"The proposed coastline modification and use of the beach for commercial recreational purposes will degrade the environmental character of the area," it added.

The letter went further to order that all structures and works related to the application "be removed and the area restored to its condition prior to the commencement of... construction works within two months". It advised Wilson that he could exercise the right of appeal to the minister with portfolio responsibility for the environment.

The application was subsequently approved for the construction and maintenance of a slipway on the foreshore and floors of the sea adjoining the lagoon. It also detailed a raft of general and specific conditions with which the developers were required to comply, including ensuring that there is no mechanised watersports activity in the area.

Since then, the developer has been served with warning notices for breach of the beach licence and a summons for him to appear in court over the unlawful encroachment of the foreshore and floor of the sea by installing a floating dock at the lagoon. Wilson has also been served notice to remove sea walls.

But while the matter before the court is still pending, the developers said the sea walls have been removed and that they are making every effort to comply with NEPA's regulations.

"There's no artificial beach. There is a beach there that has been reclaimed from silt and debris that came down from the hillside. What we did is we cleaned it up and took some corrective measures to stop the silt from coming down. We were able to reclaim the beach after a couple of years of work," Colin Bell, operations manager for Tropical Lagoon Heights Resort, whose main attraction is the lagoon, told the Sunday Observer.

"NEPA has issued warning notices for some sea walls and a jetty. We have since then taken down the walls and we are seeking a permit for the jetty," he added, noting that they had also renewed the licences which did, in fact, expire in March this year.

At the same time, he denied that they had removed trees and other vegetation to facilitate commercial operations at the lagoon.

"No trees were removed. We are doing a development on the top of the hill so if we cut the trees... all the development that we're putting in is going to end up in the lagoon. We nuh mad people," Bell said. "The property is called Tropical Lagoon Resort. If yuh naming a property 'tropical' and yuh tek out trees, what going to be tropical about yuh property?" he asked.

"If we are building a development, it is in our best interest to have the Blue Lagoon at its best because that is our attraction. With the Blue Lagoon at its best, it is going to mean success for our development."

He also took issue with JET, which he accused of having a hidden agenda.

"They are just a set of people who are anti-development in Portland. The truth to be told, there is also a racial (component), whether you believe it or not. 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," he said, insisting that there are many other more pressing environmental issues in the lagoon and in Portland about which JET had yet to raise any red flags.

"The fact of the matter is that these people don't want no black people 'round the lagoon," Bell said.

Still, he said, they wouldn't be going anywhere.

"The truth is, dem a go tired fi see wi face because the truth is, it is a private property and the man is developing him property... He is realising his dream and he's creating employment. That company employs over 70 people in the parish," he said.

However, JET said its concerns have nothing to do with who the developer is and everything to do with seeing to the preservation of the environment.

"Who I am really upset with is the regulatory bodies who our taxes support and our mandate is supposed to be the environment," said McCaulay. "I can't be concerned about every developer individually. What I am concerned about is a fair, rational, transparent regulatory regime for the natural environment, and our taxes are supporting institutions to do that. Why are they not doing it?"

She added that any suggestion that JET was racially motivated was a "red herring".

"The issue JET is raising is the regularisation of an illegal activity by the NRCA. This is not my opinion, this is a fact. Having issued the licence, it's been breached. We know this because we have the licence and we have photographs of the breaches. This is not my opinion, this is a fact," McCaulay argued.

JET is not alone in its concern over the Blue Lagoon. The Portland Environmental Protection Association (PEPA) said they and other community members ought to have been consulted on the project.

"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," said PEPA president Major Johnathan Lamey.

"What we are asking is that there be full and frank consultations; for example, a community meeting, before any further development. And as a courtesy, we are expecting that PEPA will be contacted. Many developments, though well-intended, can be misguided and can lead to environmental degradation. So we are suggesting that full-fledged discussions be conducted. Less than that we think is totally inadequate and discourteous," he added.

"We have had a say in every development. We have a concern re parish-wide development regardless of who owns it — whether Government, local or private. We have a stake in it. We have been here for 23 years and our experience is valuable to everybody, especially for the voice of the voiceless in this environmentally sensitive and fragile issue," Lamey said.