Judge reserves judgement in Pear Tree Bottom hotel case
June 15, 2006
SUPREME Court Justice Brian Sykes will, within seven days, decide whether to uphold his May 16 ruling to quash the environment permit, allowing for the construction of the Pinero Group's multi-million dollar Bahia Principe Hotel at Pear Tree Bottom in St Ann.
Justice Sykes ruled on May 16 that the permit should be quashed on grounds that the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Natural Resource Conservation Authority (NRCA) had failed to adequately consult with residents and stakeholders in Pear Tree Bottom before awarding the permit.
He said this was evidenced by the absence of a marine ecology report, which explored the benefits of flora, fauna and geographical features of the area in the environment impact assessment (EIA), which was publicised before the hotel's construction began. The public, he said, was therefore left to evaluate the development on the basis of insufficient information.
The judge said, too, that his reading of the EIA had left him feeling it was an unreliable document, showing little that its creators could speak with authority on the site's marine life, water quality, coral reefs and oceanography.
The judge's decision will come after just over a week of hearing submissions from attorneys for the investors, whose local representative is Hoteles Jamaica Pinero Limited, and the Environmental Solutions Limited to have his order to quash the permit discharged or varied.
In court yesterday, attorney for Environmental Solutions Limited (ESL) Carol Davis argued that Justice Sykes ought to vary his ruling on grounds that the EIA report presented by her clients was empirically sound and scientifically correct.
"The report was prepared in terms of proper scientific practices with the professional assessment of the scientists assessing the information in a professional and scientific manner and duly presented to the authority (NEPA)," said Davis....
Author: Petre Williams
Source: Jamaica Observer
