(CNS): A consortium of local environmental activists issued a statement Monday urging the Cayman Islands Government to follow the lawful and scientific process before starting work on the East-West Arterial extension. The six non-profit organisations raised numerous concerns about proposals by PACT to stop the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for part of the road.

They said the new road must “undergo robust scrutiny” before it is built, especially given Cayman’s slow pace of adaption to climate change.

The controversial six-lane highway from Newlands to Frank Sound was the subject of a private member’s motion on Thursday that was adopted by the government after a debate in which many MPs said they wanted construction to begin immediately. The CIG has now agreed to consider waiving the EIA for the stretch of road between Hirst Road and Lookout Gardens.

Amplify Cayman, the Cayman Islands Mangrove Rangers, Cruise Port Referendum Cayman, Protecting Paradise, Plastic Free Cayman and Sustainable Cayman have joined forces to press government not to stop the EIA. The group pointed to the significant risks this entire stretch of road poses to the Central Mangrove Wetlands and the increased threat of flooding to existing homes along the route.

“This decision undermines the commitments of this government to rely on scientific integrity and public participation in the evaluation and development of major infrastructure projects,” the activists said, as they called for the government to stick to the robust process. “Our Island’s recent experience with the proposed cruise berthing facility highlighted locally the important information an EIA provides a community to help with informed and inclusive decision making.”

The activists said they are all keen to find solutions to the traffic chaos, but they said that if the EWA is started without a proper understanding of the hydrological dynamics of the area, a critical opportunity will be missed to design and construct a road that minimises threats to the wetlands and avoids the potential to cause flooding to communities along the corridor.

The activists also pointed out that the development of this phase of the highway will open up land for more development, increasing traffic even more.

“Without identifying proper mitigation options, there is a real concern that the general flow of water will carry contaminants, runoff, construction debris, oil, gas and other emissions… into the wetlands and the surrounding community as well as the North
Sound,” they said.

“Flash-flood events, as recently seen in Ft Lauderdale, pose a threat to life and property without proper modelling assessments. Presently, the southern wetland basin acts as a natural solution for stormwater drainage and filters the water that replenishes our nationally important water lens in Savannah.”

The local non-profits said that in the absence of a climate policy, Cayman’s adaptation to climate change is so far ineffective.

“The lack of formal adoption of policies is resulting in dangerously slow progress for climate change adaptation. Changes in the planning regulations provide opportunities for improving resilience to climate change, but these have yet to be realised, and we submit that building a six-lane highway through sensitive land areas contributes to the climate change problems we are trying to mitigate, especially when we have not fully assessed who is most at risk and how to prepare,” the activists warned.

Urging the government to continue with a full EIA in accordance with the legal directive issued under section 43 of the National Conservation Law, the non-profits said that without it, informed decisions could not be made.

This would fly in the face of Premier Wayne Panton’s commitment to do things properly and ensure that the road is constructed in full knowledge of all the consequences, including the socioeconomic and environmental impacts.

Shirley Roulstone, a founding member of Cruise Port Referendum Cayman who was instrumental in preventing the CIG from pressing ahead with the cruise berthing facility, said that she was sad and angry about the lack of any plan to fix all that is badly broken here.

“Sadly, it seems like many who are in charge and have the brains and will to make the changes are also in a bucket of crabs with others who are using all they have to gain more for themselves instead of working together to make a better Cayman for all of us [and] leaving generational Caymanians completely out. I did not vote for this,” Roulstone said.

See the full statement from the activists in the CNS Library.

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