Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer

Environmentalists are up in arms over Government's move to have complete assessments of development applications completed in 90 days.

The move was one of the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) campaign promises for its first 100 days in office, as it seeks to cut down on red tape associated with the processing of such applications. However, speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston offices on Tuesday, environmentalists argued the move was backward and could be disatrous; especially in a time when the country should be protecting itself against the looming challenges that are to be faced from global warming.

They said 90 days was too little time in which to assess the real threats any development could pose to the environment.

Could not commit

Franklin McDonald, director of the Institute for Sustainable Development on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, said Government could not commit to processing applications in 90 days when very little effort has been made to update current development orders, many of which have been on the books for decades.

"The plan that we are using for Kingston is [from] 1966," argues McDonald.

Development orders are policies which guide the scope and type of development that can take place with-in a specific urban centre or parish.

"I once made a commitment to a prime minister that we could do it in 45 days if we had up-to-date plans," McDonald said in arguing for an amendment to the development orders. "If there is an application which conforms to the zone there is no reason why the application could not be processed in 30 or 45 days."

McDonald, who is a former director of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, pointed out that, although an updated plan has been developed for Kingston and St Andrew, the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation has been preventing its implementation.

However, in defence of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) - which is responsible for assessing development plans - the agency's public education manager, Natalie Fearon, said only projects that need no environmental impact assessment (EIA) will be assessed and approved in 90 days or less.

Two tier system

Diana McCaulay, executive director of the Jamaica Environment Trust, makes a point during a Gleaner Editors' Forum on climate change at the company's North Street office in central Kingston recently. Beside her is Minh Pham, the United Nations Development Programme resident representative. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

"What we have done is create a two-tier system to see what we can get done, in 30 days and under, and what else can be done using another channel," Fearon said. "So I think it is a matter of working smarter and being realistic about what can be done in a specific time. Nonetheless, the mandate is we need to be more cognisant of being more efficient to serve customers to move things ahead."

NEPA's position is, however, not sitting well with environmentalists, who argue there is nothing in current legislation that stipulates that all projects must have an EIA done before it can be approved. Additionally, there are no clear guidelines as to the type of projects that must have EIAs, which could lead to some harmful projects slipping through the cracks.

Borrowed money

McDonald

"There is no such thing as a mandatory EIA, our law is discretionary and discretion is given to NEPA to decide what needs to have an EIA," said Diana McCaulay, executive director of Jamaica Environment Trust.

Environmentalist Peter Espeut added that most major projects are not included in national development plans either, and therefore pose a further challenge when they are brought to NEPA for approval.

"You have the kitchen cabinet coming up with these great ideas and then they were able, through political influence, to push it through. But this is after you spend tens of millions of US dollars-borrowed money ... and yet, what is actually implemented is not the result of this expensive sector planning," Espeut said.

gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com