Coastal works pose threat
Posted on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 08:39 in FOI
(CNS): A coastal works application made by a Dart owned company to dredge two canals inland at Vista Norte in the West Bay area will have an irreversible adverse impact on the marine environment in the North Sound, government conservation experts have warned. According to a memo sent by the Department of the Environment to the ministry regarding the application, the two canals will destroy over 138,000sq.ft of sea grass and remove over 161,000 cubic yards of material. The work’s application by Crymble Land Holdings for the proposed canals -- one 2,135 feet in length and the second more than 1,500 feet -- are to serve a proposed canal-based hotel and tourism development and take almost three years to dredge.
The details of the application and the DoE’s concerns were revealed in a memo released following a freedom of information request made by a CNS reader. The memo shows that the DoE recommended that the application made in September be held in abeyance until a master-plan has been submitted for the entire development, which covers some 340 acres.
The DoE’s environmental assessment officer stated in the memo that the department would need to see a “full and robust justification” for the extensive dredging works because of the adverse impact it would have. However, the agent was unable to supply the DoE with any information as the plans were not completed. The department official pointed out that government would be negligent to authorize these significant dredging works without seeing a plan for the development.
The department also recommended that a full Environmental Impact Assessment be undertaken on the project with the terms of reference being established by a specially convened environmental advisory board.
This is a requirement that the developer would be obligated to undertake if the stalled National Conservation Bill had been passed.
The issue of dredging continues to raise controversy as developers seek ways to provide access to the ocean for the wealthy boat owners that they hope to serve with their high-end projects. But the impact of dredging on the local marine environment can be devastating. Local conservation experts have warned that dredging continues to be one of the most significant threats to the local marine environment and should be avoided wherever possible.
See DoE memo below.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Memo to Ministry re CW Application 28 Sep 2011.pdf | 992.21 KB |
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Look at what Dart hs done for
Look at what Dart hs done for Cayman. Look at what Bush and the Bushits have done for cayman. What do you see?
Atleast DART is investing his
Wow! There is DOE trying to
Wow! There is DOE trying to protect our coastal waters? Why have they not produced an EIA for that brown oozing liquid flowing into the North Sound by the landfill...?
I am sure that is doing more damage to our environment. Perhaps I do an injustice to DOE? May be they have and the Government have buried that report!
Sounds sensational; Why did
Sounds sensational; Why did they use sq ft for the turle grass area? Tring to make a big number? Why not use sq inches for an even bigger number?
138 000 square foot = 19,872,000 square inch
or sq acres
138 000 square foot = 3.168 acres
or house lots 10
or sq miles
138 000 square foot = 0.005 square mile
Looks like a resonable size area to me.
That's just the turtle grass
That's just the turtle grass at the opening to the sound. There is no turtle grass where the canals are dredged into the land.
Oh it won't be long until
Oh it won't be long until Cuba is open to the States....and then we will all say...CAYMAN WHO????? It will be like what Cayman used to be and what we want.
Ken Dart is an interesting
Ken Dart is an interesting man, to say the least. Yes, he is a citizen of Cayman, now that he has given up his U.S. citizenship to avoid paying millions in taxes. (One could ask how he became a citizen so quickly) But he is also a citizen of Belize. "google" his name and you could write a book. Love him or hate him, he is fascinating. He bought a billion dollars of Brazil's debt to help them "restructure". He only made 605 million dollars off that deal, and was disappointed it wasn't more. Sounds to me like he could buy Cayman "lock, stock and barrel" along with every person on it. But is he a bad person? Does being a billionaire make you a bad person? Like it or not, he is pouring millions of dollars into Cayman.
An interesting man indeed! A
An interesting man indeed! A man that has invested millions in the Cayman Islands and some say has bought up the islands for future development.
So I ask myself why would he want to destroy the environment with these canals that would diminish the value of his investment? Seems to be some scaremongering here!
How did Ken Dart become a
How did Ken Dart become a "citizen" so quickly, you ask??? The same way Michael Ryan and John Kaweski did. He got irrevocable Cayman Status because McKeeva Bush gave him it.
It is not irrevocable - it is
Are you suggesting that Darts
Are you suggesting that Darts Status needs to be revoked...If so please explain why when he's done nothing wrong...
Nice of you point the finger
Nice of you point the finger when with a certain amount of local investment and having lived on the island for certain amount of time anyone can ask for Status. So stop trying to make it seem like there something fishy going on. These to have invested more into the island then any born Caymanian and they both actually have lived here for years. Having set down roots and invested their heart and soul as well as there money I'd say they deserve status ..
Please do not compare Dart
You're right I don't know
You're right I don't know anything about this Ryan guy. Except for the Ritz what has he done in Cayman..
Darts Canals - The Real Dart
Darts Canals - The Real Dart Agenda - what will the "For Cayman" spin be on this????????????
What I find most confusing is
What I find most confusing is that there are literally 100's of condo's and houses for sale on GC. When you look in the Compass there are 100's of empty properties waiting to be rented, and rents are going down!. Hotels always seem to have plenty of availability and numbers of visitors are down. So my question is why do you need to build more properties?. A friend has just sold their condo, it took over 2 years to find a buyer and then only because they sold it for the same price as when they bought it, over 4 years ago!!!.
Follow the money......
Follow the money......
I wonder what Jean Michel
who really cares what Jean
who really cares what Jean Michel Custard thinks of this???
Jean Michel has done nothing
Jean Michel has done nothing but gone around the world trading on his father's name as he enjoys freebies from fawning tree huggers.
Unlike investors he has not contributed one cent to the benefit of our country, so I really don't give a stuff what he thinks.
I hate to sound so
I hate to sound so pessimistic, but it seems whatever Dart wants, Dart gets. Cayman no longer belongs to Caymanians. It is paradise lost. And Mr. Dart doesn't give crap about Cayman or Caymanians. If Cayman didn't have Offshore Banking where he could hide his millions from the United States tax man, he wouldn't have set foot in Cayman.
Dart has nothing to hide
Dart has nothing to hide from the US Tax man he is a Caymanian Citizen weather you like it or not....Personally If I were him I’d just leave this little island to itself and go somewhere I would be appreciated.
He has been everywhere
He has been everywhere
Yes he is caymanian now, but
Yes he is caymanian now, but I ask you, what kind of American was he? Cayman is happy to have an accomplished family and corporation settling here,(taking full advantage of our very tax free lifestyle )what is not welcomed is the arrogance to imagine that money can buy anything and anyone(as i type this im thinking actually it does e.g. our blessed govt that can only manage "handouts", I often wonder if Govt Chiefs just wait for Dart to call with money and one sided deals)
But hey im just an old hippy what do I know!
Dart gave up his US
Dart gave up his US Citizenship to avoid paying taxes there. That's one place he cannot "go to" or "be appreciated in", I'm sure Belize is another. Followed by Argentina.
There is no such thing as a "Caymanian Citizen", Dart was given irrevocable Cayman Status by McKeeva Bush. He stays here because Mac will allow him to do whatever he wants.
Well it seems to me like the
Well it seems to me like the USA's loss is our gain, would it have been better if he stayed in the US and gave them millions of dollars a year in taxes for them to just waste instead of choosing to come here and invest it into the Caymans..I commend him for his decision to control his own destiny. The US only hates him because they can no longer milk him like a cow and Argentina hates him only because he asked them to pay back the money he loaned them which was the deal they signed. No different than people who blame the bank because they can’t pay their mortgages it’s not the banks fault if you fall on hard times Unfortunate but true.
Whether you like is are not Dart has invested heavily into this little island and for him to succeed Cayman has to flourish and recover so he’s not going to do anything to destroy the island. Everything he’s built has been built in a way that enhances the island. So we need to show him some appreciation and stop hating, because quite frankly if he’d never came here our island future would be grim.
Guys get real. Go to Google
Guys get real. Go to Google Earth and check. Less than 40% of Grand Cayman has even been touched or part of a district (and that EXCLUDES all undeveloped land in WB, GT, Prospect and BT.)
The actual figure of land developed is likely to be half that or around 20% that has been developed.
Conclusion:
1. We have lots of land available....
2. We have lots of development to go.....
3. As development is what pays for our free schools, free hospitals, gives granny some seafarers money, pays our police, pays $80M per year in Social Services handouts development is HERE TO STAY!!!!!
Like it or start paying income or property tax. Or find another source for the $505M that your government spends on you each year. Your choice, but you cannot have no development and still expect Government to give you all those goodies "free".
Hey thanks for that. Do you
Hey thanks for that.
Do you own property? If so do you have a back yard? Yes?...Excellent.
Lets develop that because the loss of amenity to you is a mere trifle to the profit it will generate for the builders and everyone else. Just send us your address and the title deeds and we will get straight onto it.
On the other hand, if you think that that is not such a good idea then please stop lecturing Caymanians on why the amount of the island that remains a tropical island should in effect be open slather for transformation into new Miami.
Free! not sure where you live
Free! not sure where you live but none of that is free, we pay for it in every dollar we spend, whether that is in duty, on a power bill or food from the store, we pay that's how it works, free, you must be joking...
I know I may get alot of
I know I may get alot of thumbs down for this comment. But I personally believe Cayman should adopt a transparent Income Tax system for the purposes of Social Services. Starting with taxing those who are well-off, higher than those who are earning a low wage. And exempting senior citizens, those who are unemployed, and those making lower than 5 dollars an hour.
And just who, pray tell, is
And just who, pray tell, is going to collect this income tax? Employers? And you think they'll just pay that over to the new expensive tax authority that will have to be created, unlike the way they do with health lnsurance and pensions? Unless you're willing to put a lot of Caymanian business owners in jail (and you better start building a new prison right now!) for basically stealing the tax they deduct from their employees, then this will become just another fee for the big companies while the little ones get a way with murder. It simply won't work here because it won't be enforced. Not to mention, companies would flee in droves.
If government can fund a 300
If government can fund a 300 plus police force with luxurius salaries, I am sure they are able to fund a tax authority to oversee taxes being paid for social and educational programs.
300 plus police force with
300 plus police force with luxurious salaries? Where do you live, because it isn't here in Cayman!
Plus, that still doesn't address the fact that a) many Cayman employers won't pay over deducted income taxes unless they were made to go to prison and b) there's no political will to put Caymanian business owners in prison.
And... you uninformed comment also doesn't address that fact that being income tax free is one of the primarly recruiting tools used to attract top legal and financial industry talent (the kind not available here in sufficient numbers). Impose an income tax and employers would simply have to pay more to that top talent, making it less attractive to be here. Your multi-national companies will transfer jobs out of here, meaning more Caymanians lose their jobs.
Luxury salaries??! The
Luxury salaries??! The average Police Constable is paid slightly less than a baggage handler at Owen Roberts Airport. Suggest you get your facts straight before spouting off...
The concept of SUSTAINABLE
The concept of SUSTAINABLE development seems to be lost on some commenters. It's no use us dredging out all that sea grass etc to have a development that will produce some stamp duty, work permit fees and provide some business to the establishments frequented by manual labourers if the result is, say, that the variety of marine life in our waters is 5% less each time we dredge. Tourists will start to say 'the diving isn't as good as it used to be' and our LONG-TERM prospects will be damaged. Small increase in business for Nana's Jerk House (which was doing well already), one struggling SMB restaurant closes and one dive charter firm goes bust. Good compromise?
This is worth thinking about. For example, let's say a given development destroys some lobster habitat. How could that ever be worth doing if it means lobster season has to be shortened by a week and every tourist that wants one during that week is told 'sorry, there aren't as many as there used to be' and they stop coming. I don't know if this is a realistic scenario, but it's an example of the kind of trade-off we risk every time we do this.
We need to be looking at the interplay between tourism, finance and development to see how they impact each other and make sure that nothing we do is taking from one to give to the other. We need to UNDERSTAND our economy, and start making it work for us. Of course, all three of these areas are under the purview of the Premier when each should be receiving the attention of a dedicated minister, but that's a separate problem.
The real problem is that we need a national consensus on where and how we continue to develop, and a clear understanding of when and WHY we are going to take EDUCATED risks with what we have, after full disclosure from the developer and independent reviews. Profit for some company and the payment of a few government fees is not enough reason. Few rational people oppose continued development, but we can see that we need a Phase 2 for Cayman and it can't be another Phase 1, which has got us to where we are (lots of problems).
We could do without the
Yeah more concrete and less
Crime will stop people from
Crime will stop people from coming before development will...Clean up your own backyard..
Development was too rapid,
Development was too rapid, its kind of linked. Anyways, its over-construction and monopolisation in my eyes, not development.
They banned building canals
They banned building canals in Florida over 20 years ago because of their adverse environmental impacts. How come we're sill doing it? OK, don't answer that queation....
It doesent matter how many
It doesent matter how many people object. Dart will get what he wants anyway, he always does. The Premier is his puppet all he has to do is pull a few strings.
Agreed. No one pays any
Agreed. No one pays any attention to the man behind the iron curtain.
Go on Google earth. Take a
Go on Google earth. Take a close look at the shoreline of north sound. What do you see? Not much left undredged. After all that has allready been done NOW many of you want to jump on the bandwagon. What was the difference here? Was it that a non Caymanian is going to do it? All your typical crying and blameing, and lets all get together and stop this action will have about as much effect as trying to get your own government to do what you want. Caymankind. You can't stop progress when you can't even control it.
Mr. Dart is Caymanian.
Mr. Dart is Caymanian.
If Dart is Caymanian, Why do
If Dart is Caymanian, Why do he want to destroy his Island? This also applies to the Premier, who definitly is a Caymanian but he has allow greed overcome him.
Define "destroy".....you mean
Define "destroy".....you mean getting rid of swamp and dead mangroves? Or maiden plum? Changing old bush and imported iguanas for living accommodation? Converting some of Cayman into food for us and money for the treasury?
One man's "destroy" is another man's salary......
Simple, Money, Money,
Simple, Money, Money, Money.......
Sometimes it boogles my mind
Sometimes it boogles my mind to keep hearing of the number of new developments in the planning process. Who are we building for? Certainly we would need to grossly increase the permanent population just to start to fill the proposed residential developments between Emerald Sound, Camana Bay and Vista Norte, not to mention every other residential project already subdivided and registered. It seems to be in stark contradiction to current immigration policy, yet developers are bending over backwards to spend a lot of money planning to create more and more potential living space. Remebering that not so long ago, our fearless leader suggested that a full time population of 100,000 is needed to support this economy, just common sense would suggest thats just the tip of the iceberg to come.
Who are we building for?
It's called building for the
It's called building for the future...
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