Final ToR guiding road EIA includes public views
(CNS): The final terms of reference (ToR) forming the basis for the increasingly controversial environmental impact assessment for the East-West Arterial extension have been published, and many of the public comments and questions submitted during the consultation process have been included. Some have also been taken on board as part of the final terms, including the expansion of the study area from one mile from each side of the road corridor to 1.5 miles.
Those involved in compiling the document said the suggestion from Sustainable Cayman to increase the induced growth study area to 1.5 miles would enable a better evaluation of the potential development along the corridor.
“The results from this analysis would then be coordinated with the stakeholders, including the Department of Planning and the public, to determine if changes should be made to the access points or other policies to reduce the potential for development,” the document stated.
These terms of reference have been developed by the National Roads Authority in collaboration with the Environmental Assessment Board, which includes representatives from the Department of Environment, the Department of Planning, the Water Authority and the Public Works Department. The result of the EIA will be an environmental statement, which will help to inform the decision-making process.
The document stresses that the goal of the project is to achieve no net loss of biodiversity and to avoid or at least minimise the impacts. The NRA said it would be seeking ways to mitigate impacts that cannot be avoided. However, the document notes that “mitigation ratios cannot be established prior to the EIA studies being completed”, underlining the importance of the EIA, which the parliament has now voted to stop, despite it being a legal requirement.
In the document, the NRA agrees that long-term monitoring of mitigation is also necessary and should be included as part of the EIA and the subsequent environmental management plan (EMP), which would establish monitoring and mitigation during the project.
The NRA also stated in the report the importance of considering all of the environmental
impacts of the project on the mangroves and the wetlands, as well as on quality of life. This is to ensure that alternatives are considered and mitigation measures put in place, another acknowledgement by the NRA that the EIA is needed, despite recent assertions by Planning Minister Jay Ebanks that the roads authority does not think there is a need for an EIA except beyond Lookout Gardens.
The document includes questions and comments made at the meetings together with responses, as well as the formal technical submissions and individual submissions from interested parties, local environmental groups, non-profits and landowners. In many cases, the NRA has responded directly to the submissions, noting that the road could still be re-aligned in response to suggestions.
It also includes dozens of submissions from local school children, all of whom are begging the government not to cut down the mangroves. In clear and simple terms, the students draw and write about the importance of mangroves and the services they provide, which the children conclude are more important than roads.
See the final full terms of reference and all of the attached public submissions in the four appendices at the end of the document on the National Conservation Council website here.
See more information on the EIA process here.
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Category: development, Land Habitat, Local News, Science & Nature
Time to build upwards if you can’t build outwards…
Turn town into high rise residential buildings with parking underneath and develop a public transport system from town to SMB…
Please proceed with chopping out whatever bush is needed. The damage being caused by car exhausts of thousands of people sitting in traffic literally every single day is sure to outweigh any damage caused by chopping out some bush.
Those of you complaining about “development will follow”. Just where do you propose that Caymanians might develop? The road and developments just need to be done with the EIA and mitigation planning / engineering in mind.
Or you all could just go back to where you came from!
Your complaining is sounding like you all are “N wire mental cases!”
move some of the businesses out of george town into the east side will be a good start to ease traffic in the capital.
All you have to look at is the roundabouts added on to this terrible road just to know that they’re actually planning developments and not really a road to ease congestion….because we all know that adding more people to the roads out in that area is going to ease congestion.
Thank you GOV for making the hard and unpopular decisions around this controversial topic. I say that not as a supporter and someone that is actually quite concerned about our environment… but that end I say it as one of the many THOUSANDS of people that sit daily in traffic for > 2 hours travelling East West. I get to watch the frustration on people’s faces, the aggressive driving that gets worse as we sit in the daily stall of traffic and as someone whose positive and happy mood is daily melted away as the agony of the drive(s) set in.
I support the road not because it’s the end-all solution or because I am ignorant of the facts around the dangers to the environ, but rather simply because THIS HAS TO CHANGE.
SO YES, please put in whatever roads are needed EVEN if it only helps cut the commute by 15minutes daily.. both ways that’s 30min, times 5 days a week, times 52 weeks per year…. I for ONE know that it will improve people’s general well-being considerably. So yes… THANK YOU.
Building roads does not reduce traffic congestion. We need to fix our public transportation system first prior to any additional massive road work. Band aid approach to fixing a dam, usual cayman kind way #facepalm
Ready, Fire, Aim!
With no coverage from The Compass, The Caymanian Times or MarlRoad 🤔 it kinda clarifies who owns the media and is ruling Da islands- ie not our government.
The kids are alright.
How about the adults who used the children to promote their complaints.
Jay Ebanks needs to go to the north pole to study how to build good roads. He seems to be set on building something he likes, and DAMN the people of the Cayman Islands! The travel expense would be rather high, but getting rid of him for a year or two (or more) would be worth it.
Mr. Ebanks going away for a few months would help the Cayman Islands greatly. Try it for six months,Jay. Or give us a real break and stay away for a few years!
If voters do not support these decisions, we need to group and protest peacefully but decisively. And to the nay-sayers that tout, “you get your sign and protest and stop inviting others” I say: There is strength in numbers. You may not be comfortable showing your disagreement but our children cannot do it, and we have a duty today to build something they can live and thrive in tomorrow.
Interesting reading “At a meeting with NRA and Ministry officials on 22 October 2019 it was agreed that Phase 1 from Hirst Road to Woodland Drive could be constructed prior to the EIA being completed because it is within a densely developed area with minimal environmental concerns and minimal opportunity for amending the design of the route. It was also confirmed on 22 October 2019 that an EIA would need to be conducted for the route from Woodland Drive to Lookout Gardens.” – So since 2019 they’ve been able to build the first part of the road but haven’t materially started (a sign is not a start) and known they needed to do an EIA for the rest but haven’t and NOW its such a rush that they have to abandon the EIA to build what? The part they already can build? Someone ask the Minister for Roads that if there were no EIA requirement when is the soonest they could actually put pavement to dirt on this road. Since apparently 2019-2023 is too short a time.
It may be possible that the negative environmental impacts of the road construction can be mitigated but it seems to me that development along the proposed arterial road system will inevitably follow. That is where the real damage will occur. The impacts of the future development will need to be considered in the EIA. I don’t believe the majority of Caymanians want the road or are convinced it will actually alleviate traffic and certainly, will not do so in long term.
GD
the development is the point. the traffic will not change because this all leads back to the same bottleneck that is the hurleys roundabout. they know saying they want to open the area to developers outright is a non starter but by claiming it’s to help traffic they can get the short sighted and I’ll informed onboard.
That’s what the roundabouts are for.
Roundabouts were made by the devil. They just make things WORSE!
Roundabouts serve no useful purpose.
The EIA shouldn’t be seen as a vote on whether or not to build the road, it’s about how to design and build the road to minimize damage to the environment – surely a good thing.
The real issue is the time it takes to conduct the EIA and the delay in starting construction. Rather than taking an all or nothing approach, can’t the government look at ways to expedite the process so as not to cause long term pain for the sake of short term gain.
They could have expedited this by doing the EIA any time in the last ten years or however long it is they’ve known they need to do one. The time to do the EIA is – not – what is holding up the project.
Why have they refused to do the EIA at any time in the last decade is the real question here.
We need about 17 1/2 more roundabouts to correct the traffic issue. Roundabouts fix all traffic issues.
Roundabouts were made by the devil. They just make things WORSE!
Wrong! Roundabouts were made by the devil to frustrate those who want to get where they are going easyly.
Cayman’s decision tree must ask for a regime that will adopt and follow accepted international best practice. We spend millions annually on mostly unread consultation reports that universally stress the importance of adopting international baseline standards for passing grades. Worse, we safeguard the determined forces eager to subvert due process and expedite the lining of pockets without any risk of consequence.