We refer to a letter in your issue of Monday 21st December 2009, titled...Blanchisseuse: Balancing quarrying and eco-tourism by one S Seegobin of Claxton Bay. We are uncertain of S Seegobin's interest in a matter which has been attracting the attention of the Asa Wright Nature Centre Board, several international conservation bodies, and the villagers of the Arima valley for several years now, but the tone of the letter suggests that Seegobin has direct interest in quarrying in the Valley. The writer gives a brief history of quarrying operations in the valley, which we do not dispute, except to point out that the "best limestone deposits in the country" are located outside of the Arima valley.
We do not agree that "currently the lack of will to identify an approach to environmental management...is creating more confrontation than logic", and reference is made to Verdant Vale..."where environmentalists seem to believe that the valley must be kept in a pristine state." It would indeed be a tragedy for any of us to believe otherwise! What is being called for, by the Asa Wright Nature Centre, the villagers of Verdant Vale, and by our partners in government with responsibility for management of the already existing regulations for quarry operations, the Ministries of Energy; Housing, Planning and the Environment; and the Environmental Management Authority, is compliance with the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.
While the Asa Wright Nature Centre would prefer not to have any quarrying in the valley, we do realise that this may not be practical at this time, and have been active collaborators for more that 18 months in a stakeholder process led by the CEO of National Quarries Ltd to find workable solutions to the environmental concerns we raised. Hence we have called for the acceptance and enforcement of the regulations regarding biodiversity conservation, the silting of rivers, the deposits of mud, and creation of dust on the roads, and the suppression of noise in the quiet communities of the Arima Valley. In reference to the loss of a 60-year-old water supply to the William Beebe Tropical Research Station at Simla, water which has been used in scientific research on small stream animal species, the writer refers to an alleged offer of a water supply from PTF Mining, one of the quarry operators.
Asa Wright Nature Centre has no such offer on the table, but the writer has missed the point that an artificial supply of water might be useful for domestic purposes but would be useless for scientific research on the natural biology and ecology of species. Additionally, the writer that someone should remind the directors about stone and paving provided to the centre by this operator. Seegobin only has part of the history. The stone and paving were provided to the centre as compensation for trespass and mining on the Research Station's lands, where the encroachment exceeded 2 acres in 2001. There is another word for illegally entering someone's land and removing valuable property.
Since 2005, this illegal encroachment has been repeated by another operator of the same lease, and this, along with the removal of stone from the property, has caused a major and dangerous landslip. The writer goes on to describe how the quarrying has improved the lives of the villagers in the area. The villagers will not confirm this, and they too have been protesting, so far without confrontation, the terrible inconveniences they have suffered from these quarrying operations. These include the loss of their water supply as the rivers are silted, noise, mud and dust emanating from the operations, noisy trucks parked outside their homes from as early as 3 am, with engines running, speeding trucks through their communities, and destruction of the road by trucks heavier that the road design parameters.
AWNC is in total agreement with the writer that these "developments" destroy plant and animal life, and we have been working for over 40 years to try to harmonise development with the need to protect and preserve our forests and water sources. Indeed, we have been working with these quarries on getting them to replant the "played-out" areas with suitable vegetation for an eventual return of bird and animal life. We would also welcome the input of any knowledgeable professionals to assess the problems created by the quarrying, and to make their recommendations for the mitigation of these problems.
Asa Wright Nature Centre
Via e-mail