Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

Developers at Felicitas Limited may have to wait a century if they look to nature to reproduce the sand reported stolen from their property at Coral Spring, Trelawny, last month.

Geologist Basil Young told The Gleaner recently that the volume stolen would take a long time to replace.

"If you take out that amount of sand, it will take more than a hundred years, approximately, to get it back," said Young.

The prime real estate area, which was slated for a multibillion-dollar development, was compromised when it was discovered that an estimated 500 truckloads of sand had disappeared from the beach.

Young, who has been a practising geologist for the last 38 years, revealed that in addition to the disruption of the shoreline from the illegal sand mining, some aquatic life may be displaced.

Turtle nests

According to the geologist, there are particular areas where turtles nest along the north coast beaches and in the Trelawny area, they have a number of turtle beaches, and if you remove that amount of sand, then you're most likely going to remove their nesting ground".

He also noted that, like the effective use of DNA, sand could be easily traced using a series of tests. The most popular method that can be used, according to Young, is a grain-size analysis and a chemical analysis.

Managing director of Felicitas Limited, Fredrik Moe, said that, in order to replace the quality and quantity of sand that was stolen, it would have to be purchased overseas from a reputable source and would "cost millions of US dollars".

According to Moe, "We do not have any plans at this moment to replace the sand as everything is on hold pending the outcome of the investigations."

He added: "We are not even sure if we will be going ahead with the development."

Forensic tests, Moe said, have begun and the company is expected to receive some information shortly.