FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
KINGSTON, JAMAICA
GOVERNMENT ISSUES ANOTHER CERTIFICATE OF EXEMPTION TO PREVENT RELEASE OF INFORMATION ON GOAT ISLANDS TRANSSHIPMENT PORT PROJECT
The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) has learned that the Minister of Transport, Works and Housing, the Hon. Dr. Omar Davies, has issued a new Certificate of Exemption to exempt agreements and proposals on the proposed transshipment port near Goat Islands from public disclosure. The new Certificate, dated October 24, 2014, claims that the information is exempt from disclosure because premature disclosure would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the Jamaican economy, or the Government’s ability to manage the Jamaican economy.
The new Certificate was signed the day after the Supreme Court had ordered, by consent of the parties, that the previous Certificates issued by the Minister of Finance and Planning, the Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips, should be quashed as they had been issued by the wrong Minister.
“We are astonished by the lengths to which the government is going to avoid having to release this information by issuing a new Certificate. The Access to Information Act was passed by the GOJ to promote transparency and public participation in decision-making and this goes against the very objective of the Act,” said Danielle Andrade, Legal Director of the Jamaica Environment Trust.
At the next hearing date on June 3- 4, 2015, the Court will continue hearing the case concerning the Port Authority’s refusal to provide information to JET.
Contact:
Ms. Danielle Andrade
Legal Director
Jamaica Environment Trust
960-3693
(c) 392-7341
Ms Diana McCaulay
Chief Executive Officer
Jamaica Environment Trust
960-3693
(c) 469-1315
If you are in Kingston, please join us THIS EVENING for a discussion on Goat Islands and the continuing struggle to save this beautiful place. There will be short films, fun, a raffle and more. REDBONES BLUES CAFE, 6 – 8 PM. ADMISSION FREE.
Petchary's Blog 
Goat Islands is part of a big story –I know that’s obvious– so how do we get a bigger voice for Goat Islands? Someone with a big name in the media needs to take up the story of China’s aggression toward the environment… Designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2010, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua is threatened with blasting and dredging to build a canal that can accommodate giant cargo ships. They’re going after oil under the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador, also declared a UNESCO Reserve in 1989. Of the Nayarit mangroves, slated for development of a maritime port, the World Wildlife Fund says they are “…the most productive systems of northwest Mexico…These mangroves and their associated wetlands also serve as one of the most important winter habitat for birds in the Pacific.”
Proponents of the PBPA transshipment port insist that, “developing nations cannot afford the luxury of protecting the environment and endangered species.” In other words, beggars can’t be choosers. To foster, or tolerate economic policies that keep people in debt, poverty, dependency, and hopelessness so that they are forced to sell out is unethical, not to mention heartless. As director general of WWF International Marco Lambertini put it, “protecting nature is not a luxury….it is quite the opposite. For many of the world’s poorest people, it is a lifeline.”
Industrialized nations must help people in developing countries protect their natural resources and wildlife. Norway is doing just that, by entering an agreement to pay Liberia to stop deforestation. In a BBC report, “Liberia is to become the first nation in Africa to completely stop cutting down its trees in return for development aid.” Alternatives are needed, all kinds.
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Yes, it is a big story. I have noted this and in fact in a previous blog post I wrote about the situation in Ometepe Island (ironically, the Portland Bight Protected Area was about to be declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve too, but the application was withdrawn when the Chinese investment loomed on the horizon). I wrote about this and other Chinese transgressions against the environment (in the Americas, although I know that this is happening in Africa, too) on September 1 here: https://petchary.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/the-systematic-dismantling-of-paradise-a-preliminary-checklist/ I love those quotes from WWF – so true. Yes, Norway is also helping Guyana to help preserve its huge tracts of rainforest…while on the other hand, a Chinese firm (yes, them again) is busy chopping it down, as I noted in that blog post! Yes, we must must find alternatives. Thank you so much for your contribution and I plan to update my “checklist” soon – this will help.
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Reblogged this on Ned Hamson Second Line View of the News and commented:
follow the money folks – who profits?
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Thanks so much for the reblog, Ned!
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Oh, for crying out loud! This just gets worse by the hour!
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Yes. It does. The Government is determined that no one will lift the veil of secrecy that hangs over this matter. They will go to great lengths…
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