The Jamaica Environment Trust has won a legal victory over that country’s National Environment and Planning Agency:
When Jamaica’s environmental watchdog group approved road expansion and coastal improvement works inside the Palisadoes Port Royal Protected Area without consulting the public, environmentalists took them to court and won.
Lobbying group the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) sought a judicial review of the National Environment and Planning Agency’s (NEPA) decision to permit the construction of a four-lane highway within the Ramsar Wetlands – 13,000 hectares of cays, reefs and mangroves.
At risk, they contended, were more than 300 species of plants and animals, including six native species of cacti.
The project, slowed by International Monetary Fund (IMF) budget restrictions, also included boardwalk construction and coastal improvement work along a 2.5 kilometre section of the 14-kilometre roadway that links Jamaica’s capital to the historic city of Port Royal.
This work required the removal of centuries-old sand dunes inside the Palisadoes/ Port Royal Wetlands, which scientists say are critical to the environmental and structural integrity of the tombolo.
JET charged that NEPA and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) board had breached local environmental laws when it approved the project without consulting the public on major changes to its original design.
The NRCA Act makes it a necessity for the public to be consulted on all developments requiring environmental permits and licences. The NRCA is lawfully responsible for approval, while NEPA issues such permits and licenses.
The court victory was bittersweet, however, as NEPA, the agency charged with protecting the environment, also claims absolution. In the Oct. 13 ruling, Supreme Court Judge Jennifer Straw wrote that while the Agency breached the legal standard for public consultation, NEPA and NRCA had upheld their responsibility to protect the environment by issuing adequate permits and licences.
In handing down her opinion, Straw noted that NEPA “fell woefully short and breached the legal standard of consultation and the legitimate expectation that all the relevant environmental information would be disclosed to the public before approval was given”.
She continued, “The defendants did not breach their statutory duty in failing to require an environmental permit as conditions were attached to a previous beach licence granted in relation to the sand dunes.”
NEPA’s CEO Peter Knight celebrated the ruling as a vindication of the agency’s commitment to its duties. The agency has repeatedly been accused of failing to adhere to its mandate to protect the environment and for overlooking its legal duties under pressure from government and investors.
“The court rulings, as we understand them, did not challenge our processes, but rather, they concluded that we did not adhere to the processes,” Knight told IPS in a written response. He pointed out that the agency would appeal the ruling in relation to the public consultation.
Read more in the complete article from Caribbean360.
[Photo: ramsar.org]
