Diana McCaulay - FILE

The spotlight has been turned on the Bahia Principe Hotel in Runaway Bay once again as a call has been made for public consultation on permits issued to the proprietors of the hotel.

In a letter to Dr. Leary Myers, chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), from the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET), released to the media, the environmental agency complained that permits have been issued or are about to be issued by NEPA for subsequent phases of the development without further public consultation.

Requesting information

In a subsequent press release by JET and the Northern Jamaica Conservation Association, the two agencies say that they have been requesting information on several issues regarding the development.

However, adequate information has not been forthcoming. One such issue has been the size of the development. The agencies say that a permit had been issued for a much smaller development of approximately 750 rooms. However, permits for Phase 11 and Phase 111 of the hotel, which will increase the size of the building, is currently being considered without public consultation.

Permit granted

"We learned that a permit has been granted for Phase 11 for more rooms, we have been writing to the regulatory agencies asking for information and we have not gotten the information," revealed Diana McCaulay, CEO of JET in an interview with the Gleaner/Power 106 newsroom. "First of all, we feel that size has always been an issue and last year when we filed the judiciary review action, we were told in court that, in fact, the stakeholders have been listened to, and a permit had been granted for very much smaller amount of rooms."

The environmental watchdogs have also raised concerns about themonitoring of the development and compliance with the existing permits, noting there, has been several breaches at Bah?a. However, they have been unable to get any response from NEPA, in regarding these. They go on to complain that the developer has been able to obtain additional permits without any action taken against them.

The environmentalists say the approach of NEPA in the issuance of permits is incorrect as the public is only aware of developments in the project after the permits have been granted, and have called for an urgent public meeting among the stakeholders to discuss these matters.