Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) chairman, Anthony Pierre, has given an assurance that if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) shows that construction of a hotel at the old tracking station in Chaguaramas would disrupt the wildlife, flora and fauna of the area, the proposed project will be discontinued.
Pierre made the comment yesterday as he tried to allay fears of naturalists, environmentalists and users of the area, many of whom took to Facebook in the last three days to condemn the CDA’s plan to build a hotel at the tracking station site.
The criticisms came after the CDA on Monday placed a media ad for expression of interest (EOI) for investors/developers into the planning, design, construction and commissioning of a full service hotel at the old tracking station at Macqueripe, Chaguaramas.
The EOI invited local and internationally qualified and experienced developers/investors to submit an expression for the project by October 6.
“If the EIA shows any significant negative impact on the environment we would not proceed. I could tell you that,” Pierre said when contacted yesterday.
“We would not proceed if the EMA does not give us a Certificate of Environmental Clearance. We would have a change of heart.
“But at this point in time it is purely exploratory. There are other locations that we can look at. I know there are a lot of feelings around the tracking station. We are fully cognisant of how many people use it and the history behind it. We would not do anything to disrupt the wildlife and ecology of the area,” he added.
He said the hotel the CDA was looking to construct was not a “Hyatt hotel-type arrangement, but an eco log hotel that would cater for tourists and visitors whose hobby was animal, birds and butterfly watching.”
The tracking station has also been a place for star gazing.
The road leading to the tracking station, which is a favourite for joggers, cyclists and walking enthusiasts, passes through the spectacular Bamboo Cathedral and runs to the top of the hill where, instead of the expected ridge line, one encounters a flat grassy field surrounded by old, decaying buildings.
On Monday, many took to Facebook to describe the CDA’s move as “disruptive to the environment, horrific and worst idea ever.”
Yesterday, Pierre said the tracking station was only recommended as a possible site.
“We will be very careful in making a final determination on the matter. People would be consulted,” he added. He said the EMA would play a major role in whether a hotel should or should not be constructed there.
“Most likely, the EMA would request an EIA. There are so many safeguards in place. It’s not our intention to flaunt the law on any public authority.
I think there are adequate security measures in place to ensure that we do not start a project that is not in the best interest of the population,” Pierre said, adding the last thing CDA would do was go against the wishes of the population.
He said another site the CDA had in mind was where the Macqueripe hotel was once located, which was a stone’s throw from the tracking station.
“If it is more feasible to go up the valley than come through the tracking station and do the hotel at that side, then we will do that. It’s not that we are thirsty to do this project at all costs.”
Asked if there was a third or fourth location the CDA was eyeing, Pierre said no.
“The CDA has 14,000 acres of land. We will see.”
Pierre also gave a commitment to preserve the tracking station, since it was a historical site.
“It is not the intention to demolish any of the facilities around the tracking station but to incorporate it into the hotel’s design.”
Voices against plan
Historian and author Angelo Bissessarsingh yesterday objected to the proposal.
“The mere fact that they want to put a hotel on that site I think is apprehensible. It’s one of our great beauty spots on the north western peninsula.The public should not support this in any way imaginable. I am in total disagreement with it,” he said.
While Bissessarsingh said there was a great need to diversify the economy from hydro carbons, he said whatever the Government did must be sustainable and benefit all. Environmentalist and nature lover Stephen Broadbridge described the decision as dreadful.
“The only hotel that I would support there would be a low key eco hotel,” he said.
Stating that Tucker Valley was a sensitive area for endangered species which should be protected, Broadbridge added: “Do they have to encroach on the wildlife all the time? Can’t they just leave Tucker Valley alone for wildlife and eco-type experiences?
“I am really getting fed up of Trinidadians for their lack of respect for wildlife. Go and stick the hotels in the industrial and party areas.”
For the past 15 years, Broadbridge said the CDA had been ignoring Tucker Valley’s wildlife.
“To have a hotel that creates noise and bright lights would disturb the animals. I am totally against it. They don’t have to put a hotel there,” he said.
Broadbridge said while the CDA had to generate revenue they should not destroy the flora and fauna of Chaguaramas which is a national park and should remain with its green spaces.
“So you want to build a hotel for all the visitors that aren’t coming. That’s interesting,” he said.
Former president of the Caribbean Institute of Astronomy, Graham Rostant, meanwhile, said the tracking station meant a lot to its members and public. He said on dark nights the institute would host stargazing events at the site for the public and its members, for which they pay the CD.
“It would be sad to lose the site because we have been using it for 13 years.
“I feel this development is a mistake for Chaguaramas. I do question the feasibility of a hotel up there. There is no water or electricity to the top of the hill. I can’t see how a hotel would be a viable business there,” Rostant said.