NCC highlights E-W arterial issues

At September’s meeting of the National Conservation Council, Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie gave details of the things decision-makers needed to be aware of when completing the East-West arterial road. In a letter to Environment Minister Kathryn Ebanks-Wilks, the NCC, having reviewed the final report from the Environmental Assessment Board on the Environmental Impact Assessment on the project, said there were three issues of specific significance. Once was the selection of the route, of vital importance from both a financial and environmental perspective.

“We reiterated the fact that the EAB recommended B2 because it was predicted to be cheaper and better for the environment,” she advised.

The second thing they highlighted was the benefits of the proposed solar canopy.

Mrs Ebanks- Petrie gave some background as to why a solar panel canopy was deemed important:

“Everybody is aware that construction of the East-West arterial would involve removal of quite a lot of mangrove wetland in the footprint of the road and the estimate that the consultants produced was that that in itself would produce almost 204,000 metric tonnes of Coz equivalent, so part of the EIA was searching for ways to mitigate that additional release of CO2 equivalent to the environment. Consultants therefore explored opportunities of putting a solar panel canopy along the length of the road.”

The DOE Director said in the cost benefit analysis they wanted to show that almost 35% of the total predicted net present value of the project could be attributed to the fact that there was a solar panel being proposed. Without that solar panel canopy, the benefits of the project were much less, she warned. The worry was that creating a solar panel canopy was outside the remit of the NRA, so the NCC worried who would be responsible for it.

The third point was that, despite the EIA showing there would be minimal benefits in terms of saving time for people on the road, the project was not a panacea for the island’s traffic problems, she said.

“That was made very clear from the assessment that was done on the NRA’s own traffic data,” she said. “We really do need to get serious about having some sort of national agreed targets or scenario for population growth against which we can plan for major infrastructure like roads.”

The letter that was sent to the Minister, on the 8th of August, closed the EIA process, Mrs Ebanks-Petrie advised. To date, the NCC had not received a response from the Minister. The Chairman of the Council, Dr Ian Kirkham, hoped that the recommendations would be heard.  

The report is available on the NCC’s website.

Stony coral disease mitigation

DOE Deputy Director Tim Austin spoke at the meeting about the DOE’s efforts to prevent the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease on Little Cayman in the southwest corner of that island.

“The department is working with the diving community to try and do everything we can to try and slow this disease and to prevent it from getting to Cayman Brac,” he advised.

Disinfectant gear had been shipped to the Sister Islands, and they were meeting with the diving community imminently, he said.

“We are encouraging all divers who frequent the Sister Islands to please disinfect their gear. This is really the most likely method by which it can get transported around the islands and to the Sister Islands. We are also encouraging divers to stay out of the infected areas, which is the southwest corner. We recognise this can be difficult when weather conditions force diving on to the south coast, but any avoiding of the area is to be encouraged,” Mr Austin stated.

They encouraged resident divers to make use of the two disinfectant sites they had set up.

“Hopefully this disease doesn’t spread as virulently as it did around Grand Cayman. We know a lot about it, and we will be monitoring it,” he confirmed.