(CMR) The National Trust for the Cayman Islands said it does not support a private members' motion recently passed in Parliament for Government to consider starting work on the East-West Arterial Extension before an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is completed.
Several Members of Parliament supported the motion, expressing frustration with the length of time it was taking for work on the road to begin as residents continue to endure long hours in traffic daily.
In a release issued on Friday, The National Trust said, “We believe that it is a mistake to begin construction on this road without completing an Environmental Impact Assessment. Rushing this process risks imparting permanent negative impacts on the people of Cayman without giving them the opportunity to weigh them against the potential benefits.”
According to the statement, the National Trust for the Cayman Islands exists to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Islands for the people of Cayman in perpetuity. In keeping with this mandate, the organization has taken a clear position that large infrastructure projects that have the potential to permanently alter the islands’ environment should be done in the right way.
The Trust said, “The recent private members' motion in Parliament regarding the East-West Arterial Extension is concerning for its desire to contravene the National Conservation Act (NCA). On a project of the scale of the East-West Arterial Extension, it is an international best practice to do an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to better understand the implications of the project before commencing.”
It explained that an EIA looks not just at how the project will impact the natural world but at how those impacts will affect the people living nearby.
“This allows those building the road to have the best information available to mitigate potential problems caused by the road to the community and the natural environment. Without a proper assessment, there is the risk of impacts from the disruption of any number of natural processes, The Trust stated.
The risks include potential catastrophic flooding of communities south of the road, the slow drying out of the mangroves to the north of the road, impacts to the freshwater lens, and other effects that cannot be foreseen without proper study.
It further stated that an EIA also looks at the holistic impact of development surrounding a project, meaning the more information included in the assessment, the more likely it is to accurately predict potential impacts. Studies include costs, methods, and materials (such as the source of aggregate needed), and other tangential
issues that otherwise might be obscured from the public’s knowledge prior to construction.
The National Trust said, “This section of the road would directly pass through land that the National Trust holds for the people of Cayman and has the further potential to impact several of our historic and environmental sites through indirect and cumulative impacts. Given the National Trust’s mandate, we must advocate for sustainable development that looks to reduce the impact of projects on the environment and our community.”
What else can be done?
The National Trust for the Cayman Islands said it understands the frustration of the people sitting in traffic daily and has never been categorically opposed to this road. However, it is unclear that this project will improve traffic in the short or long term.
It pointed out that there are things that can be done to ease traffic more immediately and without major construction, including bussing for all schools (public and private), adjustments to the traffic regime
at key bottlenecks, staggered start times for businesses and schools, incentives to travel via mass transit, motorbike, or carpool, and other solutions which have been proven effective in other jurisdictions.
Calls for Cabinet to appoint members to the National Conservation Council
The National Trust has also called on Cabinet to carry out its duty to appoint members of the National Conservation Council.
An additional concern is that the National Conservation Council, prescribed in the National Conservation Act to direct the environmental monitoring and protection on our islands, is being effectively disbanded with no members appointed or reappointed at the end of their terms. As an organization with an obligation to nominate a member of the Council, the National Trust for the Cayman Islands asks the Cabinet to do its duty and appoint the members of the Council,” it stated.
It added, “The NCA is a historic piece of legislation that brought the Cayman Islands in line with international best practices on a number of environmental issues, and the lack of an active NCC is to the detriment of the people
and environment of the Cayman Islands. Environmental legislation has been key to protecting people around
the world from the unintended, unforeseen, and irreversible impacts resulting from the actions of others; impacts which can lead to severe decreases in quality of life and even mortality if left unchecked. The Cayman Islands Government has a duty to follow the National Conservation Act to protect its environment and its people, present and future.”
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