NEWS
SUNDAY EXPRESS
SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 2022 7
Coral reefs face ‘wipeout’ Opponents warn on resort plans for Rocky Point
BY MARK MEREDITH CRITICS of the Marriott resort development plan for Rocky Point, which sits directly above Mt Irvine’s world-famous point break surfing location, fragile coral reefs and turtle nesting beach, say it threatens a wipeout of the very attractions which have drawn tourists to Mt Irvine for decades. The Rocky Point Foundation (RPF), an NGO set up to fight the development and come up with an alternative and sustainable tourism plan for the rugged peninsula, believes that while a Marriott-branded hotel should be welcomed by Tobago, the location chosen at Rocky Point could prove a death knell to Mt Irvine, its wave, its reefs, its turtles and its vibe. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has said the $500 million Marriott resort will be built “come hell or high water”, while certain Tobago politicians have promised it will not become another Sandals, referring to the pull-out of the Jamaican resort group from Buccoo in 2018. RPF and environmental NGOs SOS Tobago and Speseas are of the view that the location chosen is unsuitable for the development comprising a 216-room hotel (which includes hotel bungalows) with dozens of villas, cabins, cabanas, townhouses and duplexes scattered over an archaeologically important site surrounded by coral reefs and a turtle nesting beach. The 28-acre development would sit on the site of Fort Monk, a Courlander fort built in 1680, making it potentially the oldest structure in the whole of T&T, and an area with an
important Amerindian history where artefacts turn up routinely. Environmentally, and critical to Mt Irvine’s success as a tourist destination, opponents are concerned the massive scale of the development’s construction and operation would threaten the integrity and health of the coral reefs and well-known dive sites used by diving operators, including the Mt Irvine Wall. The demise of any reefs would, in turn, threaten the unique circumstances which lead to the formation of the famous surfing wave which draws riders from around the world, they say. Previous attempts to build a large-scale resort, port and casino at Rocky Point in the 1980s were thrown out because of these environmental concerns. Fragile habitats The July 2022 developers’ (Superior Hotels) Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) application and master plan show they plan to remove 45 per cent of the vegetation. To denude the area of so much vegetative cover poses serious risks of erosion and run-off pollution to the reefs below, say marine biologists who spoke to the Sunday Express. SOS Tobago told the Sunday Express: “Suspended sedimentation in the water snuffs out sunlight and further smothers corals when it settles. This makes it hard for the microscopic algae in the coral to photosynthesise leading to reduced productivity and growth and even coral death.”
Silence from THA, developers THE Marriott-branded resort, which will be built by Trinidadian John Aboud’s Superior Hotels, is being sold to the Tobago public as the new answer to Tobago’s tourism woes. The Sunday Express asked Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and the development consortium why they believe a ubiquitous Marriott hotel and real estate development sprawl situated above a beach too dangerous to swim on would miraculously turn everything around? And why did they believe a brand-driven resort like Marriott would succeed when the experience of having a Hilton-branded hotel and championship golf course at Lowlands failed so dismally? With the THA putting up loss-making Magda-
lena Grand (the old Tobago Hilton) up for sale – had the THA discussed with the developers that they buy and take over that resort? Did they look at the developers taking over the defunct and once-beautiful Arnos Vale hotel site, or Manta Lodge or Sanctuary Villas, currently bleeding THA coffers? The Sunday Express asked Augustine whether there was logic in building more hotel room stock when demand for the existing ones remains so depressed, when empty sites already existed in better locations? How did that concept and message square with building a potentially destructive concrete carbuncle perched high on the handsome bluff of Rocky Point, decimating the otherwise glorious coastal
SOS Tobago and Speseas said, “The proposed scale and scope (of the development) is incompatible with the nearby fragile habitats.” Asked about potential impacts of the project, another marine scientist, who preferred not to be named, said: “Replacement of coastal habitats and watersheds with hard surfaces means greater run-off, higher pollution and sediment influx, not to mention the alteration of the habitat itself, all resulting in poor water quality, a rise in coral diseases, smothering of reefs and mass die off.” Sitting above the beach of Back Bay – one of the island’s most dangerous beaches and scene of numerous drownings – the Marriott resort threatens turtle nesting sites of critically endangered leatherback and hawksbill turtles which use the dark, sloping, wave-lashed sandy beach to
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS: Unspoilt Rocky Point with its vital coastal fringing vegetation above the reefs, with turtle nesting beach of Back Bay and Mt Irvine beach and waves. Artist’s impression of the huge real estate and Marriott hotel development which convinced the THA of its merits. The developers plan to clear 45 per cent of the vegetation, threatening the reefs.
lay eggs, according to SOS Tobago. The NGO, which has monitored Back Bay for 20 years, told the Sunday Express: “It is a dynamic, high-energy beach and one of the last truly ‘green’ untouched beaches in the south west. It’s ideally suited for turtles’ unique nesting needs.” In part two next week, Mark Meredith looks at an alternative tourism vision for Rocky Point which takes into account turtles, surfing, coral reefs, birding and archaeological heritage, and reports on the unique set of geological circumstances that make Mt Irvine a famous surfing destination and part of the island’s unique appeal.
DANGER LURKS: A surfer is wiped out on Mt Irvine’s famous wave. There are concerns the massive Marriott development will wipe out the reefs which form the wave. —Photo: PIOTR ANDREWS vistas for miles in every direction, threatening the environment and archaeological treasures? Requests by critics of the resort for information on the lease for the project and what was paid for it under the Freedom of Information Act to the PM’s office, THA and E-Teck have not been responded to. The developers requested confidentiality of their CEC application, which was rejected by the EMA. The EMA has requested further information from Superior Hotels, which they have now supplied. This document, available at the EMA, makes clear the enormous environmental challenges facing the developers to prevent pollution and degradation of the coral reefs and disturbance to nesting turtles.
Animated graphics, drawings, as well as the Master Plan in the Application for a CEC to the EMA by the developers, show that the Marriott hotel takes up less than a third of the 28-acre site. The rest of the project is devoted to development of real estate: villas, duplexes, townhouses, “weekend cabins” and “cabana zones”. “Private residences” are clearly marked on the original plan. The Sunday Express e-mailed two members of the Superior Hotels development consortium, John Aboud and John Scott, seeking answers to several questions on the project, but they have declined comment. THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine also did not comment.