Davies' big mistake about two likkle lizards

Transport Minister Dr Omar Davies and Prime Minister Portia Simpson have effectively painted a damning portrait of environmentalists as idle, rich people with lots of time on their hands and who are committed to preserving their status quo - in the process keeping poor Jamaicans rooted at the bottom of the economic ladder.

With US$1.5 billion in investment on offer with a 'guarantee' of 10,000 jobs on offer from the Chinese, the dislocation/death of "two likkle lizards" should not even come up for consideration, according to Dr Davies. After all, we're talking about major infrastructural development, and as the goodly transport minister noted in one of his public utterances, even if these or any other group of investors were to get upset and pull out afterwards, they would have to leave the investments in place. Definitely a win-win situation for the country.

Unfortunately, it is the very irreversible
nature of these 'developments' that makes necessary the need for the
kind of careful, detailed, objective environmental analysis for which
the tree huggers and lizard lovers (myself included) are advocating. The
reason is that they know and understand the importance of maintaining
the biodiversity of the Goat Islands, more so for its vast economic
value to the residents of neighbouring communities than do the
much-heralded textbook economists now engaged in a 'let's bash the
environmentalists' campaign.

They understand, even
without the benefit of a promised environmental impact assessment (EIA)
study, that US$1.5 billion is not worth the destruction of this
environmental haven. Unfortunately, environmentalists do not have the
benefit of the many propaganda platforms to which politicians are
entitled. And it is unlikely they would use them for spreading the
misinformation which has been the hallmark of a coordinated effort by Dr
Davies and other high-ranking party faithful to browbeat us tree
huggers into submission.

In addition, their success at
making out environmentalists to be anti-development and
anti-progressive has gained traction in many quarters, with Everald
Warmington, in whose constituency the Goat Islands fall, as well as
Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott, hailing the proposal as well
needed.

That Jamaica is in desperate need of
investment is beyond question, but it does not have to come at the cost
of the environment. Unfortunately, the Pied Piper, Dr Davies, aided and
abetted by high-ranking Comrades, some posing as columnists, have
succeeded in getting the public to believe that environmentalists are
fundamentally opposed to development and that the two concepts -
investment and environmental preservation - are diametrically
opposed.

Nothing could be further from the truth, and
the Government needs to recognise this if it is serious about making
Jamaica the place of choice to live, work and raise families by 2030.
Detractors often point to the dictatorial rule of Singapore's founding
prime minister Lee Kuan Yew as the price the Asian country paid for
achieving its strong economic status.

They often point
to its high per-capita income without any reference to the fact that it
is one of the world's cleanest, greenest, safest and most liveable
cities. This is not a result of happenstance but, rather, careful,
deliberate, strategic planning which recognised the intricate
relationship between the natural and built
environments.

SIMILAR
CHALLENGES

Among the many challenges facing Singapore
at the time of political independence in 1965 were high unemployment and
limited job opportunities (sounds familiar?), with an economy dependent
on port, trade and services.

However, when it opted
to build a manufacturing sector, the government was determined to
industrialise without polluting the environment and, to this end,
established an anti-pollution unit (would you believe it?) in the prime
minister's office.

"Any investment proposal deemed
pollutive, the said unit was turning down. This was a courageous policy
at a time when Singapore was in desperate need of investment and jobs,"
Professor Tommy Koh, the country's ambassador-at-large, told the legal
and technical commission of the International Seabed Authority on July
10 at a meeting in Jamaica this year.

Today, Singapore
has one of the busiest ports in the world, but its marine environment
is in excellent condition, even though its beaches are crowded with
families on weekends. Some 270 species of hard coral and 111 species of
reef fishes are on record, as revealed by a recent audit of its marine
biodiversity.

Another important chapter of its success
story is the Singapore Cooperation Programme, under which some 80,000
government officials from 170 countries have been trained in areas such
as public administration, economic development, port management, civil
aviation and water management.

"The programme is
founded on our experience on how, with sound advice, a small country
with little or no natural resources can build up institutions not only
to survive but also to thrive and prosper," Professor Koh told the
meeting in Jamaica.

SCHOOLING
POLITICIANS

This is a lesson that needs to be shared -
in all its details - with the current and aspiring occupants of the
George William Gordon Houses of Parliament.

Among the
first cohort of students should be Dr Davies, Prime Minister Simpson
Miller, Environment Minister Bobby Pickersgill and, most definitely,
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness, whose recent fact-finding mission to
the Goat Islands, media in tow, makes a mockery of the hard work put in
over the years by people such as Dr Karl Aiken, Professor Dale Webber,
his wife Professor Mona Webber, Dr Ann Sutton, Dr Brandon Hay, and
Ingrid Parchment.

These are people who know,
understand and appreciate - much more than our textbook economists - the
real value of all the bush, dirty water, insects, lizards and other
occupants of the Goat Islands.

They are aware that the
world is losing its biological diversity at 1,000 times the rate of
normal extinction, which is leading to not only the loss of important
species of flora and fauna but entire ecosystems as well. They know,
unlike the occupants of Gordon House, the long-term implications for
small island developing states like Jamaica.

They
understand that development does not have to be at the expense of the
environment, and that sound environmental practices actually enhance the
built environment.

Dr Davies seems convinced that
devastation of our natural resources, by design rather than default -
which is going to happen anyway - is the preferred route he posits, and
so goes into oversimplification mode in order to garner support from the
man in the street. His reference to the mere dislocation of "two likkle
lizards" as the price for attracting this godsend of US$1.5 billion is
the height of intellectual dishonesty.

Were the
transport minister so inclined, he could consult with members of the
Caribbean Coastal Management Foundation, who would tell him what he
already knows: that an estimated 40 per cent of the global economy is
based on biological products and processes. And how poor people, the
ones living in abject poverty which he claims will drive them to destroy
the environment in order to survive anyway, depend especially heavily
on its genetic diversity for their daily bread.

The
promise of a study on the likely impact of the proposed development
project to be completed by month end gives me little hope that objective
analysis will be done, given the short time frame. Especially given
that despite the 2,000 years since Judas Iscariot set the standard for
selling out, 30 pieces of silver still goes a far
way.

Christopher Serju is a journalist who covers
rural development and agriculture. Email feedback to
columns@gleanerjm.com and
christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com.