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+--- Thread: Negril Breakwater Cancelled (/showthread.php?tid=101478)
Negril Breakwater Cancelled - Passion4Diving - 07-13-2016
In a story in the Gleaner, the new government has decided to cancel the Negril breakwater project:
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20160713/scrapped-govt-pulls-plug-controversial-1-billion-negril-breakwater
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - Blues Pirate - 07-13-2016
It's quite ironic that the stakeholders continuously complained about beach erosion and wanted something done about it because business would suffer, then the government came up with a plan after a long extensive and expensive study for the submerged breakwater as a solution, which now has been scrubbed because the stakeholders didn't like the solution as it would affect business. Duh!
One step forward and two steps back.
Sounds very Jamaican to me.
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - Passion4Diving - 07-13-2016
That true. Just for minor information: John Issa placed a submerged breakwater parallel to the shore in front of his Negril home. Seems to be working.
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - rastagirl777 - 07-13-2016
The struggle was the plan that the government presented, which was a very damaging breakwater plan. Sure, business is "disrupted" when the beach erodes (and comes back, and goes away...all the time) but the proposal for the breakwater plan was basically going to shut down Negril's West End for 2 years. They were going to be hauling boulders, staging across from the corner bar and basically cutting off West End Road at the needs. Add in the damaging environmental impact and town went crazy! I think "stakeholders" smaller in rank that John Issa or Butch Stewart finally woke up and so did the residents. I have to hand it to Sophie Grizzle and Mary Veira, they were true leaders in this fight and in the end victorious. I for one couldn't be happier that this plan has been filed in the circular file.
What's "Jamaican" to me is that all the while the government is shoving this breakwater down everyone's throat they are allowing continuous development on both Long Bay and Bloody Bay. If they keep building and expanding in the end no form of erosion control will work. The first step in erosion control is a complete and unequivocal moratorium on any building, new or expansion on both Long Bay and Bloody Bay.
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - Blues Pirate - 07-13-2016
Speaking of large developments, whatever happened to the grandiose plan for the mega-development in the deep west end?
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - CardBoardBox - 07-13-2016
"... when the beach erodes (and comes back, and goes away...all the time)"
Sands shift, I would guess in one direction, but 3 decades ago one had to figuratively take a bus from bar/restaurant at the Negril Beach Club to reach the sea. At least they still have a beach.
IMO not all aspects of the breakwater project were bad, but enough was to warrent more (better?) research. So I take it that nothing is "in the works?"
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - rastagirl777 - 07-14-2016
Streamertail...wow, I'd just about forgotten about the massive development that was "planned" for southern Negril and beyond....
That sign came down within a few years of being put up. Have no idea what happened. I can let my imagination run wild with the rumours on the street....I remember these "developers" would have meetings with "investors" at LTU, you'd see them at a table, all these big blue-print type things spread out...we think maybe it was all one huge scam and these guys took off with the money. Whatever it was, its not, thank god!
CBB, true, sands do shift - the beach in Negril that I first met looks nothing like the beach today on many levels. The more a beach is built on, the more bush pulled out, the more buildings encroach on the shore....this speeds up the natural erosion of the beach. I remember after Hurricane Ivan going to Alfreds - the music was set up in the parking lot and the bar was swim-up. By early-December they had their beach back.
I've not heard of any other proposals but like I sad, the first plan of action is to halt all development.
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - CardBoardBox - 07-14-2016
This tread is/was about the Breakwater and I feel guilty about diverting it, but ...
I too remember a week after Hurricane Ivan but being a West End person, my memory is the lack of trees on my walks to town, and lots of entangled coax on the poles.
I do recall waves lapping at piles/wall foundations someplace but don't necessarily attribute it to Ivan. Yet recent walks by a popular hotel had beach chairs crammed together leaving the high water mark the only avenue of passage, leading me to conclude Alfred's beach returned but NOT ALL of the sand. There IS a difference. I had not given any thought to HOW it got there.
Maybe someone should think about a breakwater. (humor)
FYI, Ivan was 9/16/04, and Gilbert was 9/12/88.
http://www.hurricaneville.com/gilbert.html
I hate when bananas have to be imported.
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - JonTom - 08-19-2016
Negril To Get Climate Risk Atlas By Year End
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20160818/negril-get-climate-risk-atlas-year-end
I think having a Climate Risk Atlas is helpful (if anyone actually uses it as a basis for project approval). However some of the "facts" in this article were surprising.
This part is about the cancelled breakwater project.
"However, hotel stakeholders were against them, insisting instead on beach nourishment as their preferred intervention option.
They lobbied to have their way, using inadequate public consultations as their argument one that found favour with the Office of the Public Defender, and in the wake of having filed a complaint with the AF Board Secretariat."
The articles I read didn't have stakeholders declaring that the solution must be one or the other; rather that beach nourishment must be part of the overall solution.
I also didn't think that "inadequate public consultations" was the sole basis in their argument, but was in addition to complaints of inadequate studies on the effect of the breakwater and of alternative remedies.
I'd be less surprised if I saw this in The Observer, but The Gleaner??
RE: Negril Breakwater Cancelled - oldtimer - 08-19-2016
As a fisherperson for over 55 years I can say for sure the destruction to the ocean bottom with that unneeded breakwater would be changed for ever never to return to " natures " way . Also the destruction to the roads and surrounding land would just mirror that of the sea . Just look at the St Mary's Bay jetty and tell me how much longer that will be before it becomes abandond ( not used ) and who will take it down ( nobody ) and see that mess .