Tag: Gina Ebanks-Petrie
Plan proposed to protect nesting seabirds
(CNS): The National Conservation Council has issued a draft Seabird Conservation Plan for public consultation to protect six of Cayman’s vanishing colonial nesting seabirds. Department of Environment (DoE) Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie has warned that some of the Cayman Islands’ most recognisable birds could be lost due to habitat loss, coastal development and invasive species unless […]
Road plan poses further threat to pristine habitat
(CNS): The National Conservation Council has confirmed that the extension of a farm road in North Side will need an environmental impact assessment as the proposed route would take it through some of Cayman’s most pristine remaining forest land. Flying in the face of the PACT Government’s policy of limiting development in untouched habitat, the […]
Dart seeks 7MB setback waiver for bar toilets
(CNS): One of Dart’s networks of companies has made an application to revamp the beach bar formerly named Calico Jack’s and is seeking a number of waivers to planning rules, including a high water mark setback in order to place a toilet block on Seven Mile Beach.
DoE chief receives surprise gong for tireless work
(CNS): Gina Ebanks-Petrie, the director of the Department of Environment, received the Women in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Leadership Award last month at the 2022 Island Innovation Awards for her tireless work for environmental protection. Unaware she had been nominated for this award by her DoE team, Ebanks-Petrie said the honour came as a complete […]
Cement driver caught clearing truck in Barkers
(CNS): Local mangrove activists recently came across a cement truck clearing its mixer in the mangroves at Bakers after delivering its load to a nearby development site. Although only a small amount of cement was dumped, it has turned to concrete and killed several mangroves in the area, which the activists reported to the Department […]
DoE director calls for ‘maturity’ in development
(CNS): The Cayman Islands must take a more mature approach to the country’s development goals and consider the environment rather than just the financial benefits of development and put the best interests of everyone here first, the director of the Department of Environment has said. The apparent short-term profits will easily be lost in the […]
Climate change presents major health risks
(CNS): Climate change poses a much greater threat to our health than the COVID-19 pandemic, the director of the Department of Environment has warned. Delivering an address at the 2021 Cayman Islands Healthcare Conference last week, Gina Ebanks-Petrie pointed to a catalogue of diseases and ill-health that awaits us all if the world fails to […]
Mangrove protection still limited by laws
(CNS): Mangroves are still disappearing under the bulldozer, even after the National Conservation Council (NCC) adopted a Species Conservation Plan for Mangroves, because this protection is limited by the parameters of the conservation and planning laws, which do not prevent owners from developing their land in accordance with the planning laws.
NCC confirms need for EIA on Dart PAD
(CNS): The application by the islands’ largest landowner and property developer for a 157-acre planned area development (PAD) in West Bay, which is expected to go before the Central Planning Authority in the near future, will require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before approval. The National Conservation Council has ratified the Department of Environment’s recommendation […]
Dart: WTE won’t hurt incentive to reduce or reuse
(CNS): Dart executives have stated that the plan to incinerate and convert the bulk of Cayman’s future garbage into energy will not undermine efforts to reduce and reuse the 100,000 tons of rubbish that the Cayman Islands produce on average each year. The projections for the anticipated increase in waste have emerged from government’s predictions […]
Ahearn returns as premier’s chief officer
(CNS): Jennifer Ahearn, a long-time senior civil servant, has returned to her old job as a chief officer, this time with Premier Wayne Panton’s Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency. While government has yet to reveal the full slate of chief officers heading up the new ministries, Ahearn accompanied Panton on Thursday during his first […]
