Peter ESpeut

The Natural Resources Conservation Authority has not yet responded to the judgement against them in the Bahia Principe case, and in my view this is long overdue. But now another controversy is brewing with another Spanish hotel over environmental matters. Investors in the Fiesta Hotel proposed for Point, Hanover, have publicly warned that unless environmental approvals are quickly given, they might take their money elsewhere. Their attempt to pressure the government was backed up by the private and public sector of Hanover.

When I heard this, I wondered what assurances these Spanish hotels receive from JAMPRO and other government agencies that give them the confidence - nay, the arrogance - to demand quick environmental approvals. I remember clearly the early response to the Bahía Príncipe court judgement of Mrs. Pat Francis, then director-general of JAMPRO and recently decorated with a high civil honour by the Spanish government, that some people are just not in favour of investment.

Quick response

In a quick - almost reflex - response to the Hanover hotel issue, the Minister of the Environment announced that the developers would have an answer by today. When I heard this, my immediate response was, "Oh no! The Bahía Príncipe effort was a waste! The Government hasn't learnt a thing! When the investors say 'Jump!', the Government jumps. The environmental approval process is just a formality, and permission to proceed is inevitable".

But then yesterday, in an about face, the news was that Minister Dean Peart has advised that the investors will have to wait a little longer as the due diligence process has to take its course. It warmed the cockles of my heart! Maybe now the process is being taken seriously. It would look bad, I suppose, if there was a second court case so soon convicting the Government of ignoring its own environmental approval procedures. It would look flagrant! And so there is progress, and learning, and the investors have to wait.

But the process itself is far from perfect. My experience from commenting on a number of such proposals is that the environmental impact assessment takes place much too late down the line. Usually, the investor has already spent money to buy the land, has spent money on architects, has spent money on engineers, and has spent money on quantity surveyors; then they are asked to spend money on environmental consultants. If there is a serious problem with the site from an environmental perspective such that the project should not be allowed to proceed, the investors would have wasted a lot of money, and Jamaica may get a bad reputation as a climate not suited to investment. Putting the environmental assessment so late down in the process puts pressure on the Government and almost guarantees approval; it also demeans the environmental process and the environment - Jamaica's natural heritage - itself! And often by the time the assessors arrive, the natural values at the site have already been destroyed by the planning.

Assessment process

I have many times written about the assessment process itself, where it is done by an agent of the developer instead of by an agent of the government environment agency - a profound conflict of interest guaranteed to result in a good report. Any consultant who develops a reputation for recommending against projects will become short of work.

The Government has designed a process which is guaranteed to result in progressive degradation of our natural resources in the name of development. This would be a good time to improve the environmental assessment process to ensure that we move away from counterfeit development towards sustainable development.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.