Amar Wahab
In addition, identified as a country of medium poverty (World Bank) and
ranking at number forty in the world's Human Development Index (United
Nations), there has also been a snowballing appetite for development without
consideration of the ecological and social costs incurred. Recently, the
destruction of the largest freshwater wetland on the island, the Nariva
Swamp, by profiteering civil pirates (i.e. private entrepreneurs) not only
raped the wetland systems of its balance, but also destroyed the survival
economies of over 5000 people living in fringe communities. The governments
of the day were not only inactive, but uncommitted to the cause of the
ecological and survival economies of the citizenry.
One would have thought, from the Nariva saga, which could also be heading
for a sequel, that the lessons which seem to be apparent in environmental
conflicts throughout our history, would have informed more environmentally
and socially responsible approaches toward national environmental
governance. Yet, three years after the rape and slaughter of the Nariva
Swamp and the total disrespect for communitiesí relationship with the
environment, the threat of development has reared its ugly head in a way
that can cripple a nation reputed to possess the oldest nature reserve in
the western hemisphere.
There is a current mounting conflict between state/private development
efforts and the interests of community empowerment and environmental
protection in the Toco region on the north-east coast of Trinidad. The Toco
region comprises many villages along a stretch of over fifty miles of
coastline, with the main survival activities for the over 5000 people being
farming, fishing, small scale community entrepreneurship and other
community-based jobs. Because the area is quite remote from the other
centres of development in the country, it is regarded as one of the few
remaining places in the Caribbean that has been able to preserve traditional
and sustainable environmental cultures. The many extremely scenic bays and
beaches and abounding reefs of Toco has made it a prime area for local
vacationers and the communities have thrived on low impact local tourism for
many years. In addition, it is one of the few places in the world where the
gigantic Leatherback turtles nest from May to August every year. Turtle
watching has become a main feature in the communitiesí drive to sustain
themselves and their environment through sustainable eco-tourism. I even
remember myself as a child, being in Toco every Easter holiday and enjoying
the natural richness of the area and the culture of the people. Rituals such
as small village chats and walks, fresh mud-oven baked breads, and swimming
in the pristine bays are what I regard of some the priceless attributes of
the Toconian experience.
But the human-environment balance that currently exists in Toco currently
hangs in the jaws of confusion and threat. The government of Trinidad and
Tobago along with private interests has developed a plan, without the
participation of any community representatives or environmental
non-governmental bodies to transform the pristine community-environment
system that is Toco, into a huge port. Fifty percent of the project's
stakeholdership (defined in terms of financial contribution) comprises a
local private engineering firm, Lee Young and Partners, and Worldwide
Traders International which is registered in the Netherlands Antilles. The
port development is estimated to be a joint US$71 million venture.
Even though villagers have always been in support of a small ferry between
Toco and nearby, Tobago, Toco residents were extremely surprised and
disgusted to learn that the development plans include bunkering and
refuelling facilities for passing oil tankers and other international
shipping, oil industry servicing capabilitiues, cruise ship berths with
facilities, a marina for pleasure craft, a fishing fleet of ten long-line
trawlers, berths for 40 pirogues, facilities for the treatment and storage
of fish, hotels, a national security outpost, customs and police facilities,
a seaquarium and "improved" roads. Every single aspect of this plan has both
ecological and social issues that the people of Toco feel are adverse to
their interests and future. Yet, the government, with its local and
regional cohorts, in true wild west style continues to expedite the
commencement of the port development, with out mind or matter of the
impacts. Imagine, an environmental impact assessment commissioned by the
government is actually being conducted by one of the partners in the
development deal! How can a party with a vested interest in the development
be incharge of charting its evaluation in the midst of the spectrum of
diversity concerning the intervention? And the government continues to take
no actions to ensure that a socially and politically just assessment is
conducted along lines of procedural justice! For readers in the Economic
North, the Wild West is still very much alive in the Economic South/Third
World! We are not only the victims of decisions outside our world but we
ourselves create that self-victimization!
Residents are extremely angry and confused about the development plans,
especially since they were never included in the decision-making process. In
addition, there is a real possibility that homes will have to be relocated,
livelihoods dispossessed and disempowered. In addition, the abounding reefs
and bays which support the local leisure industry and the small-scale
community fishing industry, when dredged for cruise ships and oil tankers,
will become only memories.
Some of the villagersí concerns are echoed in the following questions:
Would people have to be relocated and how will development affect their
culture and livelihoods? Would the movement of large water craft cause the
destruction of the reefs, disturbing the local fishery and the natural
scenic values of the area? Would the Toco people really benefit from
employment in cruise tourism and massive hotels, especially since they do
not have the skills employers will need to service these industries? Could
the advent of cruise ships and oil tankers promote a vigorous "fun, sand and
sex" industry that can destroy the community youth and obliterate the
existing sense of community? What sort of waste management plan is in place
for incoming water craft, particularly when one reflects on the spate of
problems of yachting communities in the Eastern Caribbean? What will be the
social, economic and ecological impact of an oil spill in the area? What
will trawling do to the sustainability of the community fishery? Who will
really benefit ń a community that has had absolutely no part in the planning
OR state/private interests that are prepared to invest US$71 million for the
sake of profit?
Despite the hard work of environmental NGOs there has emerged an
indifference of the State to civil exclusion and non-participation in
decision concerning the Toco Port and Ferry Development project. A group of
community members called Stakeholders Against the Destruction of Toco has
also come together to advocate community interests and criticism against the
development project, but there is a need for even great support from the
local, regional and international spheres. The community-based activist
group has identified the following alternative perspectives for development:
- the rehabilitation of roads between communities in the Toco region
with proper agricultural access roads will by themselves begin the
transformation and stimulation of economic activity in the entire region.
- A revitalization of the agriculture and fishing sectors together
with micro-industrial enterprises based on the resources of the region is
feasible.
- We have the power to develop, implement and sustain a viable
ecotourism industry in our community and the north-east coast of Trinidad.
- A fraction of the money wasted in these grandiose schemes,
irrelevant of the harmonious development of communities they will affect,
can be better invested in soft loans and grants to facilitate the above
initiatives.
The advent of such a mammoth development project, not to mention partisan
decision-making process can only spell destruction of the cultural and
environmental values of the Toco region, in the name of private
profiteering.
I am appealing to the international community to support us, the citizens of
Trinidad and Tobago, by sending letters of support against the wide scale
Toco Port and Ferry Development project. You can write to: The Environment
Management Authority, Mutual Life Building, Queens Park West, Port-of-Spain,
Trinidad and Tobago OR to The Prime Minister's Office, White Hall, Queens
Park West, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
You can also e-mail your comments and letters of support via:
amarwahab@hotmail.com
from where your messages will be sent to the relevant authorities, NGOs and
the communities.
Trinidad and Tobago is the most southerly Caribbean nation. It possesses a
population of 1.3 million, an area of over 5000 square miles and is a
petroleum-based economy. The country is reported to be the fifteenth most
bio-diverse nation on the planet for diversity of mammalian species. Within
the past decade the country has witnessed alarming atrocities to its
environment such as the slaughter of Leatherback turtles, the Amazon parrot,
the West Indian Manatee, and other endemic species, as well as the
alteration and obliteration of important habitats.