JET has received a report of mangrove clearance at Fort Charles - does anyone have any information about this?

Diana from JET

I hope this is not true.Mangrove plays an integral role in maintaining balance in the ecosystem, therefore they should be preserved.

Could be that they are preparing to sell property? were is that in Fort Charles?

I guess they will just have to make it their duty and pay a visit to Forth Charles.

What do you think? Is this not a part of the job?
Better get their soon.

To Thininking Out Loud - Whose duty is it. Are you telling me not one person from TB can go look and tell Diana what he or she sees, or does Diana have to drive all the way from Kingston for a straight-forward answer?

How can we get NEPA to check out if this is true or not?

Emails to them do not seem to work, as, in the past when I have sent emails, there has been not even the courtesy of a reply, and certainly no action to rectify what is wrong.

Do we the taxpayers pay NEPA salaries?

It is our Land.

We are all responsible for It's integrity.

Does ownership of land give the right to do anything we wish as long as any restrictive covenants are not broken?

Is there a law protecting mangroves? Are absentee owners always aware what is happening on their land?

I think both JET and NEPA are grateful for assistance and are under similar constraints as many of us.

I know that mangrove woods are utilised by the communities that have lived near them for generations. They understand the importance of an intact swamp for their shrimp and fish.

Cutting and clearing is a different matter.

One Love, Many Ideas.

I have e-mailed NEPA and asked them to investigate - have not heard back. I can't drive from Kingston to look, sorry.

Diana from JET

According to Helllooooo NAPA it does seem ........Thinking out loud was on to something. ..
People get promoted in their jobs and expect others to do it for them.
I see/hear/read all about that forsaken canal,one of the biggest sore-eye in Treasure Beach.

Jamaica Land We Love.

You cannot get NEPA to check this out. In their list of priorities, it is way down. If they come and find out the mangroves have been cut, they will do nothing because the laws are so weak. Do you remember the canal?

JET needs financial contributions to operate. They get very little from the government.

The government of Jamaica has very little.

What we have here is a local problem. It shouldn't be that way, but that's how it is. If the people of TB care about not having the shoreline eroded, then someone needs to get down there and check it out.

For everyone who is [edited by TB.Net] and moaning about how little the government and the government agencies do in Jamaica, let me remind you of things that are happening in America, a country certainly with more money than Jamaica. Teachers are losing their jobs. Schools are being closed. People are being told to deal with their own emergencies and not call 911 in some communities. Horrible criminals are not getting extradited because there isn't the money to transfer them. Some public ambulances staffed by volunteers are asking for outrageous sums to transport dying people to hospitals.

And someone is complaining about NEPA?

Do not waste your breath.Just clean-up your land the best you can and get on with your life.
All of a sudden people are so concern about the Mangrove in Forth Charles they seem to forget about that awful unfinished Canal which is just waiting for another Hurricane to strike and then FLOOD CALABASH BAY.

Wake up people put your concern where it is more needed.

JET gets no funding from the Jamaican government - we raise all our own money. We used to operate an environmental education programme under contract from the GOJ, but it was terminated in February 2010.

We should complain about NEPA. Our taxes support this vital institution and it should function much better than it does.

The laws are much stronger than we think - it's just that they are almost never applied.

Until the environment is an issue on which votes are won or lost, the GOJ will continue to ignore it and you will get your canal and mangrove destruction and all the other types of environmental damage that we see every day. That is our task as ordinary Jamaicans - to make the environment an issue on which votes are won or lost.

Diana from JET

There is a saying!
"Money Talks, B---S--- walks !!
This is even more true in Jamaica !!
One person cutting mangrove is bad, a resort developement doing the same is even worst !! And it will not be long before the AI's arrive on the South Coast !! Then how will the voices of the concerned residents, and those of NEPA and JET be heard above the piles of money that will talk louder.
ONE LOVE !!
Mike

How about the wall? Anyone knows what the dilly is?

Why are the laws almost never applied, Diana?

MikeyMike - we already have an AI. It is called Sandals Whitehouse.

Where ARE there mangroves in Fort Charles? Someone must know. Someone?

I am having increasing concerns about all the problems facing TB. Oil wells off the coast?
All-inclusives? Big money buying up land and putting up huge houses? It's all beyond sad.

I intuit that a block here is our "Informa" aversion.

Ya know: "Man a try a ting an dem come an bring on di police on I...Cho! Dem man fi..."

It occurred to me after I asked about the location of the mangroves in Fort Charles: Could they be in the swamp behind the dunes? Doesn't someone know?

and the canal-still looking at this mess-nothing happened-nothing Diana

I have checked to see if there was mangrove clearing in Fort Charles and as far as I could tell there was none. Some of the mangroves were badly damaged during a storm a number of years ago and to the unknown eye could appear to be clearing.

Thanks A. Todd.

To Question who asked why laws are not applied, and Axel who says he is still looking at the canal mess:

My opinion as to why the laws are never applied is: (1) We are not generally inclined to enforce laws, this is not confined to the environment - check out traffic, e.g. (2) We Jamaicans are not overly interested in environmental issues - we are most concerned about economic benefits and we actually like lots of concrete. We regard natural areas as "bush" - something to be got rid of. Therefore the politicians respond to the pressures they feel - which are for jobs and not for protection of the environment. (3) A functioning democracy requires an engaged citizenry prepared to take legal action against non functional government agencies, carry out civil protest, attend public meetings and so on - we don't have that, particularly for a sustained campaign over time. (4) We are much more concerned with the short- than the long-term.

Many people have called or written me over issues in TB, but the generally are not prepared themselves to take a stand. JET will stand beside those prepared to take a stand, but not in front.

Re the canal, essentially NEPA required the NWA to carry out various works which they have not done. NWA simply says they do not have the money. In order to compel the NWA to comply with NEPA's enforcement notice, someone would have to file a Judicial Review action in the Supreme Court, as JET recently did for the Harbour View Sewage Treatment Plant - we got a court order that the plant must be fixed and it is being fixed.

JET, however, does not agree with what NEPA has demanded via their enforcement notice - which is basically making the canal permanent - for all the reasons we have already stated on this list - so we are not inclined to go to court to get the enforcement notice complied with - even if someone in Treasure beach could be found to join with us in the action.

It took ten years to convince the Harbour View citizens to go to court over a sewage treatment plant that had not worked in over 30 years - THAT is mainly why the environmental laws in Jamaica are not enforced.

Diana from JET - sorry to be long winded!

Diana, as they say in the US, people have to put their money where their mouth is. It is one thing to get upset and protest and say something in a place like TB.net where people cannot see your face and may not know your real identity. It is more difficult to do something in public, sometimes against your neighbors, even if you believe in your heart you are doing the right thing.

The canal is best left how it is now. Parts of it are almost back to it's natural state.

All I will say is (God Have Mercy) on the citizens of Jamaica if that is how the Laws are.
It would seem every community just have to go ahead and do what they see best for themselves as long as they are not putting anyone in harms way.