Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Ramble Community Development Committee (CDC) is rejecting claims by Water Minister Dr Horace Chang that the Royale Rest Cemetery in Ramble, Hanover, will not affect the community's underground water system.

Reacting to the ongoing standoff between residents of the 32 communities surrounding the controversial cemetery and its operator - Delapenha Funeral Home - Chang told Parliament's Standing Finance Committee on Thursday that the residents had nothing to fear.

"The technical officer responsible for the Water Resources Authority is one who the country can be proud of and whatever advice he gives, we can stand by it," Chang told the committee.

However, the Ramble CDC chairman, Amburton Wray, yesterday rejected Chang's claims, which, he said, were uninformed and unprofessional.

Wray argued that contrary to the minister's position, several noted hydrogeologists found serious flaws in the environmental impact assessment (EIA), which formed the basis for the approval which the Government granted to the Delapenha Funeral Home.

"Dr Chang is not a technical person and we have qualified persons saying that a cemetery here will contaminate our water supply," Wray said. "In addition, it is quite strange that despite residing here in western Jamaica, Dr Chang has never seen it fit to come and listen to our concerns."

fiery roadblocks

Since the Delapenha Funeral Home got government approval to use the cemetery in January, it has made several attempts to start using the facility. However, militant residents, using fiery roadblocks and other means of protest, have thwarted their efforts.

Early last month, the CDC, with the backing of the Office of the Public Defender, initiated action in the Supreme Court, seeking leave for a judicial review to challenge the EIA submitted by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

However, following a meeting with Health Minister Rudyard Spencer, in which he promised to help if the matter were taken out of the courts, the legal challenge was put on hold.

With the environment portfolio no longer under the stewardship of Spencer, it is unclear whether he will still have the authority to pursue the concerns of the residents and their rejection of NEPA's EIA.

Responding to Chang in Parliament on Thursday, Dr D.K. Duncan, the member of parliament for Eastern Hanover, asked whether the water minister was prepared to take responsibility for any health-related misfortune in another 20 years that might be caused by the establishment of the cemetery so close to the water system.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com