Ed Bartlett ... "NEPA and the Minister of Commerce (Phillip Paulwell) must accept responsibility for the precarious state in which the investment climate of Jamaica has been placed as a result of this ruling." - FILE
RUNAWAY BAY, St. Ann:
OPPOSITION SPOKES-MAN on Tourism Ed Bartlett says the recent court ruling in the case of the Bahía Príncipe Hotel in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, may have damaged the country's status as a viable investment location.
Mr. Bartlett said Jamaica is already a high-risk area where crime and violence and labour issues are serious challenges.
"To add an approval system which is unreliable, is to relegate Jamaica to the bottom of the investors' lists," he added.
The Supreme Court, on May 16, quashed the environmental permit for the construction of the Bahía Príncipe Hotel at Pear Tree Bottom, an ecologically-sensitive area.
Justice Bryan Sykes, who delivered the judgement, described as flawed the consultation process leading to the presentation of the requisite environmental impact assessment (EIA) by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), which was succeeded by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). He backed up this assertion
by declaring that a crucial component of the EIA, the marine ecology report, was not presented to the public.
IRREPARABLE DAMAGE
Mr. Bartlett chided NEPA for what he called the agency's dereliction of duty, saying it may have caused irreparable damage.
"NEPA and the Minister of Commerce (Phillip Paulwell) must accept responsibility for the precarious state in which the investment climate of Jamaica has been placed as a result of this ruling," he said.
"This dereliction of duty will have dire consequences for future investments, not just in tourism, but other sectors where large investments may impact on the environment," Mr. Bartlett added.
The Opposition spokesman said the Government should look seriously at the operations of NEPA, with a view to improve its efficiency.
