By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

IN response to environmentalists’ concerns about the $250m resort and cruise port planned for Long Island, Tourism Minister Chester Cooper maintained yesterday that any development approved by the government will not begin major construction until it meets the required environmental safety regulations.

Mr Cooper, who spoke to reporters before touring the downtown area yesterday, was responding to Sam Duncombe who recently voiced concerns about the multimillion dollar project’s potential environmental impact.

“Firstly, every project that we approve is required to do an environmental assessment and an environmental management plan,” Mr Cooper said yesterday.

“So when we talk about a delay in the completion, what that means is that full scale construction cannot happen — no dredging or no building of seawalls or anything impacting the coastline cannot happen — until that environmental plan is in place.

“So, I’ve heard some comments where a certain environmentalist was talking about consulting local environmentalists. That’s exactly what’s done already. It’s mandated by law, it’s in the requirements and there’s no approval of any development, unless there’s consultation with local environmentalists.”

During a groundbreaking ceremony on Long Island on Monday, one of the developers behind the planned cruise port and resort, called the Calypso Cove, revealed the company was “still in the process of doing all the analysis as well as the environmental impact assessment” for the project.

In an interview with The Tribune on Wednesday, Ms Duncombe said “talk is cheap” and questioned developers’ promise to act within environmental safety regulations.

She also said if project developers were truly concerned about the protection of the environment as they claimed, officials would have sought advice from the local environmental community.

However, Mr Cooper claimed yesterday that consultation was done with local environmentalists as he insisted that the government will not compromise its “environmental integrity.”

“There are many firms of coastal engineers who provide services to the developers and we always make it clear to every developer that unless they pass the environmental protocols, we have nothing to discuss,” he continued.

“So, we don’t compromise our environmental integrity, we believe in balanced development and that is what we have been doing and all of the developers of the country have recognised that. We’re putting in place a compliance unit to ensure there’s full compliance with all of the elements of the heads of agreement. So we’re doing well in that area.”

Asked when the compliance unit is expected to be formed, the minister said it will happen early in the new year.

A heads of agreement for the project, which will consist of a 200-bedroom hotel, mega yacht marina facilities, casinos and cruise port among other amenities, was signed between the government and Azul Destinations and Calypso Cove Destinations Ltd in October.

Less than 90 days after the project’s heads of agreement signing, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on South Long Island that was attended by several senior government officials, including Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis.

At the ceremony, Mr Davis committed his administration to doing its part in ensuring the project is a success for the benefit of all.

However, he also told developers that its environmental impact assessment needed to be completed as soon as possible because there was not much time left.

“I hear them talking about time and time. Well, we don’t have much time,” the prime minister said “… So we’ll get those environmental studies done and looked at and ensure that there’s a proper environmental management plan that our environment is not destroyed – because a component of the development is to ensure that they preserve a lot of the nature, natural habitat and landscape in this area.”