There is a very beautiful area of Jamaica, often described as “lush,” which we have been visiting for around forty years or so now, in the eastern part of the island. It is in the parish of Portland. I have written, shared photos, brought family and friends to stay, spent many happy hours in the area. Every year, BirdLife Jamaica makes a pilgrimage to the area, enjoying a long weekend of birdwatching and companionship, and taking a dip in crystal-blue seas. The place has magic and mystery.

The main road is bumpy, narrow and pot-holed, and the surface certainly has been in need of repair for some years. In fact, a few years back I wrote about the neglect the area in general has suffered for some years. The elite hide and enjoy themselves in their villas, while employment for local people is scarce – and the environment has suffered from neglect too (for example, the exquisite Blue Hole, or Blue Lagoon). It could be so much more, if it was truly cared for and protected. And appreciated.
Yes, Portland needs development. But it must be the right kind (OK, “sustainable” if you like – if we even know what that word means, any more). Roads need fixing, with good drains (including the smaller farm roads, so that farmers don’t have to struggle to make it to market) and infrastructure improved (better water supply, decent Internet connectivity, and indeed proper power supply).
So, about ten days ago, I had a shock on receiving news from a friend who lives in the area that something terrible had happened to the largely unspoiled beauty of the area. This is San San Hill and very close to the beautiful Blue Hole.

Enter the South Coast Highway project.
The pictures tell the devastating story. The road must be widened. We need more cars, and to go faster, through this peaceful, green area, beloved by visitors and locals alike. This is one of Jamaica’s most beautiful coastlines, with long, trailing vines hanging down alongside the road, rocky outcrops of limestone laced with ferns and mosses (often wet with rain), graceful old trees, and glimpses of the sea and a small island offshore…
Yes, the behemoth that is the South Coast Highway is carrying all before it, inexorably ploughing its way through communities, forests and fields, leaving dust and deforestation in its wake, and with callous disregard for the health and welfare of the communities it drives through. We must not only have roads, it seems – we must have straight roads, cutting off the natural curve of the coastline and the hills.

Please be reminded that the small communities of Fairy Hill, Drapers and the like are places where people have conversations from one side of the road to the other; there are two or three schools on the road; there are small shops, cook shops, and bars; and there are senior citizens and other vulnerable people who would wish to cross the road. High speed roads (with the customary concrete barriers down the middle?) are not suitable.

And anything that gets in the way – mature trees, for example – must go. I understand the glorious highway will be forging onwards towards the town of Port Antonio. Ahead of it is a small area of wetland in a quiet bay, where the environmental NGO Alligator Head Foundation has its headquarters and where we spent a quiet, relaxing weekend among the trees on the hillside at Bay View Eco Resort. Is that hillside to be reorganized by China Harbour Engineering Company and their Jamaican partners in crime, the National Works Agency, also? I shudder to think. I suspect the mangroves might be in the way.

Now, the green is disappearing, to be replaced, I understand, by retaining walls. The top of the hillside has been (IS being) sliced, and the hillside dug out to the bare limestone. They’re not done yet.
I have questions (I don’t know the answers, so am just throwing them out there):
Was an Environmental Impact Assessment done? If so, where can we find it?
Was any consultation at all done with local residents prior to the road works? (Allegedly, there was none).
Did the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) approve this, and if so where is such an approval?
What is being done to protect the springs and water courses in the areas, including the one that feeds into Blue Hole?
Was the owner of the hillside land that is now carved up consulted?
What is to be done to prevent run-off of building materials into the sea, choking coral reefs and marine life (this happened at the end of the North-South Highway into Old Fort Bay in St. Ann)?
Are there going to be concrete barriers in the middle of the widened road?
What provisions have been made for walkers, joggers, pedal cyclists?
And finally, how does this fit in with Jamaica’s avowed climate change adaptation/mitigation plans? Jamaica rails against the developed countries (quite rightly) for the role they play. However, doing so while doggedly destroying mature trees, wetlands and mangrove systems (in the case of Green Island, Hanover, for example) in pursuit of new hotels, new roads, new tourism developments, smacks to me of deception and hypocrisy.
Our Jamaican Government doesn’t love the environment at all, although it professes to. Actions speak so much louder than words.
The young co-host of a programme on Nationwide News Network, Danielle Archer, commented on the situation today, linking it to our illegal trade in wild birds (about which more in a later blog post, I hope) and the need for bird sanctuaries – the hillside at San San is one.

“We need to do more than pay lip service,” stressed Ms. Archer (and I am thankful she raised the issue). Ah, but we are good at talking, aren’t we.
And then there is enforcement of environmental laws. Forgive me if I give a loud guffaw. That barely exists.
Dear China Harbour and Jamaican Government: You have deliberately tainted the beauty of San San. I hope you are proud of yourselves.
For years the farmers have been asking for better roads to get their produce to easier markets. Not everything is a govt conspiracy.
LikeLike
Yes, they have. It would be much better to fix the farm roads and improve their productivity. I am not suggesting a conspiracy?
LikeLike
I am very saddened to hear of this how horrible I cannot imagine the impact this will have on the area how can this benefit anyone really other than easy access to the area which in turn will distort the beautiful of the area but like most of our world we change it for humans not really for anything else
LikeLike
Yes, Christian. We are changing our world, our landscape, in a way that we think is for our own benefit. Although there are many places that have a special ambiance and beauty in Jamaica (and attract many visitors) this part of the island has its own special beauty. Yes, it will create easier access, which is not necessarily a good thing. And faster traffic. It is designed for private cars, without taking humans – pedestrians, cyclists, runners, walkers etc – in mind. This is happening in many communities across the island and it is a great mistake.
LikeLike
This is really a travesty. Such a shame that the Jamaican government has bought into the capitalist ideal and set about commodifying the land for profit.
LikeLike
It is a travesty, indeed. I am not sure if it is for anyone’s profit (or even the government’s). It’s part of their obsession with highways, and the highways must go one, and on!
LikeLike
I hear your concerns and admire your writing but..The road from Aqualta Vale, Robert Schuman Roundabout to Port Antonio is excellent and if what is what is being built is in keeping with this then..please build on. I have no problems with breaking eggs to make omelette. (I know the birds will survive the road widening exercise, they aren’t partridges in a pear tree, they’re Jamaicans)
LikeLike
No. What is being built is NOT in keeping with that excellent road, which follows the coastline. That was built by a European company. This is quite a different “kettle of fish.” Of course the road needed fixing but not widening into a “highway.” As for your quip about “the birds will survive” – many of our birds are not doing too well at surviving these days.
LikeLike
Vaz and his family owns vacation homes along that strip so they’re making sure their guests have access
LikeLike
When will it end? Is there no one in government or the agencies charged with protecting our environment, willing to look at the devastation that is being caused.? This is so sad. I drove through Portland at the start of the bulldozing and was just heartbroken, the hillsides were being savaged….
LikeLike
Carol, I don’t know where it will end. I suppose humans will eventually succeed in destroying the Planet. It may take a while, but they will get there. (Sorry, feeling a bit depressed about all of this!) It must have been a shock to see them digging out the hillsides. And for what? Is this really “progress”? I don’t know what to say.
LikeLike
I cannot blame the Chinese or China Harbour for any of this because they are only doing what the Government of Jamaica allows them to do. The blame for this, rest 100% with the Jamaican Government and the Jamaican people because we are the ones who allow this in the name of progress and prosperity. This building without commonsense and without proper planning or due diligence, is the Jamaican way. I am not against roads or highways but I expect, no hoped, that when we hit sensitive environment areas that we plan accordingly. One just have to try driving on barbican road when it rains. The surrounding area is fortified by concreate, gated communities as far as the eye can see and the water no longer have access to the underground water table. Greenspaces are taken out of the water management equation and so, the water rushes out of these gated Concrete Compounds and on to the streets, but the streets were never designed to handle this much water.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Our brave new world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nothing really brave about it, at all.
LikeLike
Of course, I agree. The Government presumably sees and approves the plans. I am not singling out China Harbour for blame. “The Jamaican people” do not, however, always know what’s going on until it happens (as appears to be the case here; residents say there was no consultation or announcement). This is especially true with land and development matters and has happened with the bauxite mining issue in Cockpit Country etc. One day you wake up and there’s a bulldozer outside your door. YES! Barbican is a classic example of poor urban planning. If they even had medians with green space that would soak up some of the water. Thank you for your comments!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
LikeLike
Ya, well, she comes out as a”champion” for something, but it’s not for the environment, that’s for sure. No one in that government is.
LikeLike
As I said, it’s “lip service” only…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I want to cry
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that was my first reaction too Carolyn!
LikeLike
And here I thought “Action Ann (Marie Vaz)” was a steward of the environment. No? Not so much eh?
LikeLike
Oh boy. I don’t know what happened here. Why did that road need to be widened though? It just needed to be fixed.
LikeLiked by 1 person