Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Massa

It seems the Government has succeeded in convincing many if not most Jamaicans that building more hotels for tourists constitutes development.

There are concerns however that this concept of 'development' is flawed and may even do more harm in the long run, whatever the immediate short-term gains.

Certainly building more hotels will grow the economy and provide much valued short-term benefits for the country, but these benefits will not be sustainable at the proposed rate of development rationed for the Tourism Expansion Programme and there are risks if building does take place as proposed in certain environmentally-vunerable areas.

Ironically, the Govern-ment should be well aware of all this. After all, it commissioned the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) to carry out a study on the sustainability of the entire Tourism Expansion Programme and develop a framework for action. Typically, the study has been completed since last year but was never released and there is no indication that its recommendations will ever be adopted.

The findings of the study were grim. The research team led by Alison Kenning Massa, found that Jamaica was at risk of endangering its natural resources, the very essence of its tourism product, for a few Cancun-style developments on its shorelines.

While identifying that there were economic benefits to be derived from the expansion programme, the research team noted that the hotel expansions had implications for spatial and resource planning and for sustainable and equitable improvements in Jamaica's quality of life.

"Examination of the way that the projects have been proposed and reviewed shows numerous failures of communication, participation, execution and enforcement. Those failures have rendered the legal framework largely ineffective in decision making," the study noted. "As a result, there is a risk of wasting natural, human, cultural and fiscal resources," it continued.

According to the study, Jamaica stands to lose significantly if it apes the typical designs of Spanish resorts in the Dominican Republic and Mexico where the same developers applied conventional building designs and development ideas to environmentally-sensitive areas. It also suggested that replication of those designs would lead to ill-treatment of the island's natural environment, reducing safety as well as biodiversity and beauty.

The researchers were most concerned, however, about the rapid pace proposed for the doubling of hotel rooms. It concluded that at the proposed pace, the projects would bring major and insurmountable challenges in terms of capacity to meet requirements for trained labour, utilities and associated community facilities.

Other recommendations

It also made these recommendations for the following projects:

Bahía Príncipe, Pear Tree Bottom, St. Ann (1,800 rooms): "The resort should not extend beyond the area modified by the previous owner. In addition to preserving the remaining wetlands, the new owners/developers should be encouraged to restore as large an area of mangrove as possible. Much of the mangrove was extensively destroyed during construction of the hotel. The loss has significant implications for the protection of the shoreline as well as for the productivity of the fisheries. The developers should also be requested to provide some undeveloped public beach access, eliminate the proposed golf course and make arrangements for use of the existing local course, and contribute to at least some off-site infrastructure and service costs.

Oyster Bay, Trelawny (2000 rooms): For many reasons, some of which are listed below, Bush Cay is unsuitable for development, as currently proposed (a 2,000 room hotel on pilings) or in any modified design:

Bush Cay is a fragile tombolo, vulnerable to tsunami, hurricane and storm surge events and subject to liquefaction in the event of an earthquake. Construction on it would pose a severe risk. It would also create an unfortunate image for Jamaica, given increased awareness since the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Evacuation would be proble-matic, given the single point of egress and length of the cay.

The tombolo is an integral part of the complex of ecosystems that support the luminescent lagoon, one of only four such places in the world. The lagoon is a very significant attraction for local economy and the development could result in loss of bioluminescence.

Bush Cay and the landward portions of the site are integral parts of the Martha Brae wetlands and mangroves, one of the largest and most important wetlands in Jamaica.

The Glistening Waters Lagoon and Bush Cay are a protected area. The Martha Brae estuary and wetlands have been a proposed protected area since 1992.

Development, including excavation of the sea floor for bathing areas, would also impact the reefs off the cay and impact turtle-nesting habitats, with further implications for safety, ecosystem health and the image and profitability of Jamaica's tourism industry.

The site has greater value to Falmouth, Trelawny, and the country as a whole in its pristine state. The safest and most beneficial course of action would be to disapprove development of this site. As an option, it is recommended that comprehensive exploratory sessions be held to identify possible sites to meet the undoubted tourist accommodation needs of Falmouth. These sessions, with the Trelawny Parish Council, PDC, NGOs, NEPA and tourism industry representatives, would examine alternative sites and structures for projects that are safer, more profitable, of a more appropriate scale, make use of existing infrastructure, can be better integrated with the town of Falmouth, and reflect the unique character of the town and the parish.

Harmony Cove, Trelawny: Plans for this large site are still preliminary and assumed to be subject to a period of review and discussion. Development and maintenance costs could be reduced and revenues and environmental values boosted by accommodating the proposed development on a much smaller footprint, leaving a large part of the area in its natural state.

What is currently suggested follows the conventional models and modifies virtually the whole site, while paying little or no attention to the unique historic features and restoration opportunities. This extraordinary piece of land deserves any careful thought to assure development that does it justice and enhances Jamaica's reputation. In light of the labour, housing and water constraints affecting other major projects in Trelawny, there would appear to be time for such reflection.

Jamaica Palladium, Hanover (2,000 rooms): The site at Point is also extraordinary and extensive and deserves the most sensitive approach to development. Many of the tiny coves and the beaches are among the most scenic and secluded along the north coast and give northern Hanover its unique character. A plan that retained as much as possible of the shoreline in its natural state to complement what may be the inevitable 'manufactured' beach, would give this proposed hotel real cache. This may be a suitable site for carefully-clustered vacation villas, with as little modification of natural conditions as possible, in order to capture the new market which is moving away from large hotels towards property and time shares.

Pagee Hotel, St. Mary: Representatives of the parish council are now considering the relative costs and benefits of a possible Spanish hotel at Pagee. Many parish leaders feel that in this parish the focus is and should remain on villa development. They believe that villas contribute more to the economy and society than hotels. Experience with villas at Boscobel and Oracabessa has been favourable.

It is incomprehensible why this study was carried out long after Spanish developers were invited to build on our shorelines or why this study and the Tourism Master Plan, which also contains specific guidelines for the hotel expansion programme, were never consulted while investors were being courted. This was the admission of tourism ministry official Tina Williams at a recentGleaner Editors' forum. She too conceded the absurdity of the Government commissioning such a comprehensive plan and still chose to walk, apparently blindly, into negotiations with Spanish investors.

Both the ministry of tourism and the PIOJ have acknowledged that they were aware of the study but no one is willing to say why the Government has not acted on the recommendations. The current development minister, Colin Campbell, and his predecessor, Dr. Paul Robertson, whose office commissioned this report, say they knew nothing of it. Strange.

Infrastructure

But the government must have known there would be implications for such fast-paced development. And the sores have already begun to fester. Current Cancun-style hotel developments on pristine protected land and overdevelopment of our resort towns are putting endemic wildlife and flora at risk and putting pressure on community infrastructure.

The Glistening Waters Lagoon in Oyster Bay is already losing its luminescence because of development there, while in Pear Tree Bottom, St. Ann, mangroves have been destroyed to facilitate the development of the Bahía Príncipe.

Ocho Rios, Negril and Montego Bay are already bursting at the seams because of excessive development. Schools, housing, roads, water and sewerage and power supply are under strain.

It is not clear where the Government wants to lead the country, but creating 12,000 rooms by 2010 in sensitive zones is not sustainable according to its own research. It certainly cannot expect the country to gain from developments that deplete its natural beauty. More research needs to be carried out before and not after investors have already been courted, and the recommendations of the PIOJ study need to be applied now. More detailed environmental impact assessments are needed to inform the consultation processes.

During a Gleaner Editors' Forum recently, environmental engineers Carlton Campbell and Janette Manning from the C.L. Environmental company and Jamaica Environment and Management Services said Jamaicans need to stop fooling themselves. They contended that the Government knew from the start what the likely impacts of large hotel developments would be and so zones away from protected sites should have been identified for development instead of allowing developers to freely choose where they wanted to build hotels.

Policies also need to be strengthened and enforced and the National Environment and Planning Agency needs more legislative power to strengthen its role. Too often, foreign investors have breached environmental guidelines without consequence.

Clearly, the Government needs to be more responsible with its handling of the future of this country.