Environmental Groups Concerned About Large Negril Development

The Jamaica Environmental Advocacy Network (JEAN) is concerned about the scale and type of the planned Negril Peninsula Development Resort.  Representatives of JEAN attended the public meeting on May 8^th, 2007 and have submitted a thorough review of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). 

The proposed development covers a large land area on the West End of Negril, roughly half of which  is still in secondary and primary forest of the most threatened kind in the Caribbean and Jamaica. This tropical dry forest includes small highly specialised ecosystems, which are unique to Jamaica and the rest of the world.  Negril Hill was an island for extended periods of time; hence its very special evolutionary history of which little is known.   

This large development is termed an “eco-tourism resort” by the developers and the authors of the EIA, but it does not in fact conform to any known definition of ecotourism.  Ecotourism is defined by the World Conservation Union as “environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature…”  The Negril Peninsula Resort Development, with a planned 6,228 rooms on 361 acres, is a high-density housing and hotel development that would destroy most of a primary and secondary tropical dry forest, as well as irrevocably alter the coastline of Negril’s West End.  

The EIA failed to provide a complete assessment of either the plants and animals on the site.  The section of the EIA that deals with environmental impacts and mitigation is wholly inadequate, failing to address sewage or drainage impacts sufficiently.  The EIA proposes coral transplantation as a mitigation measure, but fails to provide any information on the success of coral relocation.  In fact, according to experts, this is a risky and costly approach with a spotty record of success. 

Negril Peninsula Resorts proposes to build a marina and completely modify the shoreline, by dredging and building five sandy beaches, but the EIA does not assess how the shoreline would respond to the proposed coastal modifications, does not adequately describe the impacts of dredging and does not assess the impacts of the marina, including effects on air quality, invasive species, hazardous waste management, oil spills and storm water management.   

With respect to cultural heritage resources, the EIA states that “there are no known historical or archaeological sites that could be affected by the proposed resort development project,” but according to the journal of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica, there are five Taino cave sites in Negril, four of which are burial caves, and one of which had a petroglyph.  There were three other middens, one of which was destroyed by the bridge in the 1960s.   

JEAN calls on NEPA to insist this EIA be redone, ensuring the Terms of Reference are followed, the scale and type of the development is objectively assessed, the massive coastline modification be rethought and a scientific  assessment of plants and animals be undertaken.  The most valuable areas on this site should be declared conservation areas and  conservation strategies should be developed and implemented.  All cutting and bulldozing on the site should be stopped immediately.   

 JEAN is a network of individuals, community and environmental groups and scientists working together to protect Jamaica’s environment through advocacy and information-sharing.

NEW! Please see EIA Review Negril Peninsula