Following two days of protest, residents of Layou have been given a sense of hope as the government has taken the decision to halt the operations of five companies dredging the Layou river as well as the operations of the asphalt plant located nearby, pending an investigation.
The announcement was made by the Chief Physical Planner, Dr. Genora Joseph and other government officials including Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning, Senator Gregory “Karessah” Riviere and Senior Minister and Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Reginald Austrie.
This comes on the heels of protest action undertaken by villagers on August 17 and 18 due to what they say is the over dredging of the river which they claim is interfering with their livelihood.
Residents got the opportunity to voice their concerns at a meeting held on August 19 which was also attended by the Minister of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security – Fidel Grant, Parliamentary Representative for the St. Joseph constituency – Dr. Addis King, the Chief Development Planner – Dr. Kyra Paul, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries – Dr. Reginald Thomas and Director of Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division – Minchington Burton.
Guided by the Physical Planning Act of 2002, Dr. Joseph revealed that each company was issued a compliance notice and subsequent to this, two of the operators – Jack Ghaddakan and Sam Holland – were served with Stop Orders.
She said operations at the river will soon be regulated and companies wishing to undertake work in that area must follow certain guidelines.
“What the compliance notices mean is, anyone who wants to conduct any work in the area must comply with Physical Planning regulations which means that they need to apply for permission and if we find that the operation cannot be permitted due to environmental cost, they will not be permitted,” Dr. Joseph explained. “We want to have a situation where we are monitoring any activity which is happening on the river that will ensure sustainability is maintained after these activities.”
She stated the companies have forty-nine days within which to comply with guidelines.
Regarding the recently-discovered contamination in the river which was caused by an oily substance, Dr. Joseph noted that the source of the problem is still under investigation and her department has engaged the Bureau of Standards to conduct testing in the river.
“What the testing will be able to do is tell you the people of Layou what is in your water and what is the quality of water in the area,” she said, adding, “the investigations are there to ensure that everything is done in a very thorough manner. We’re not doing anything rushed and we are certainly not going to take actions based on observation.”
Dr. Joseph said the authorities are ensuring that there is science and the testing to back their decision, “so we come from a very strong position if, or when, we identify the problem and we may need to approach those responsible.”
The Chief Physical Planner pointed out that there were constraints with the testing process, such as finding resources which may not be available in Dominica and identifying the appropriate staff to analyze the test, however, she assured the villagers that their complaints were not falling on deaf ears.
Meantime, Senior Minister Austrie says an amicable solution for all must be identified rather than a decision taken based on “emotion,” as one action may affect another.
“The situation we have in Layou is an environmental situation caused by natural and man-made disasters. We must find a resolution to it because if I was to tell a contractor or would-be home owners that we are taking a policy position where we will have no mining at all for sand or stone, you can well imagine the impact of that on the economy,” he argued. “Construction is a major indicator of economic development so we may have to live with mining but I agree, in a controlled environment.”
Notwithstanding his advice to the residents that the Court is available to seek redress, he cautioned that this may be a setback to the government and Dominica’s development, as such action can be costly.
“One thing this country cannot afford to do is pay more legal fees; we spending too much money in the courts as a country, defending every little issue and that is the same money we have to use to pay for COVID centers, pay for test, fix the roads on top of the amount of things we the government have to do,” Austrie remarked.
The Parliamentary Representative for the area, Dr. King, pledged her continued support to the residents of Layou in ensuring that the situation is dealt with swiftly.
Nature island. What a mess!!!
The best way to save the Layou river is to dredge it.Dredging must start below the Hillsbrough bridge.It must be dug at least 20ft,down to the sea.The people of Layou does not depend on the river for economic survival.The river is used for bathing and recreation,at onetime it was used for doing laundry.A few years ago speedboats used the river,now it is too shallow for this to happen.What need’s to happen is to dredge the river,plant trees on the banks,the river is back.That is how it was.
After all this long time is it not rather late for the environmental authorities to be engaged in this long standing Layou River Issue
RastarMarn is impressed wiff mistadem move wi,,,
Lets see how thins will be fruitful,,,
Now lets put a lavish Value Added Tax on these operators for their misuse of natural resources,,,
Ideally RastarMarn would suggest Nationalizing all these companies that taking Dominica’s “Black Gold” and been making Millions for the past decade,,,
Allyou never drive by these places and see the amount of money mistadem have invested in equipment???
Dey must be making millions to have them equipment dere so why not have the government owning these equipment and facilities to be bringing all these moneys to the National Purse,,,
Mayby Dominica could have an additional Gross Domestic Product in exporting aggregate material to its neighbors whom are less fortunate
Years and years where Galakhan whatever his name is has been mining in layou. Loads and loads of sand going out, no one is accountable.. Really don’t know, how come this company is such a sweetheart to the government?
This whole conversation with layou folks was just town fooolery and Ole talk..
Not a cent layou folks getting from Dat mining deal… Yet layou folks would vote Skerritt and Labor..
You think this government worry about layou people and Dominicans on a whole? Just check this out: cabinet including the pal rep for layou approved 64,000 x12 for rent and upkeep for Pm and royal family.
Who in Dominica recieving that kind of money? Plus minister are paid monthly, calculate who really cares about ya all.
In a land of town fooolery and where the rich get richer and poor gets poorer, layou will just be just the same..
Dominicans must learn to stop playing politics and hold leaders accountable like other countries… All you all have is sand, sea water and sun, nuff…
Too much sand in the river creates a floodplain which washes away homes, the road and property. If left without dredging then the village will eventually be in danger. They need to find proper ways to get the sand and stone and preserve the landscape and water. There has to be a balance.
That is not what mr. Austrie says.
The issue is about pollutants in the water thereby harming the environment. The river can be dredged without harming and polluting the area thereby affecting the livelihood of the residents. Don’t get things twisted.
The minister who is a prime initiator and supporter of $64,000.00 a month for a royal resident paid for on the backs of the people, is talking about the government having enough things to pay already? Well get rid of that $64,000.00 a month, and you might have some money to pay for things that really benefit the citizens.
Today I returned to Dominica from Venezuela, and I must say there’s a lot of significance in how things related between Venezuelan and Dominican Government, it’s only a matter of time for the situation to escalate to the level it is in Venezuela, a few years ago I visited Venezuela and it was no different than what is happening in Dominica. Opposition members were being harass lock up and put in jail, now without any real opposition Venezuela is totally lawless, corruption is at the highest, bribery is the only salary most people know. This was easily manipulate buy the government keeping it’s supporters poor while they enrich themselves, if Dominican don’t find a way to remove this government from power soon, sorry to say Dominica will be the next Venezuela, once I think the Dominica government had ties with Venezuela, now I believe we need to take a stand before it’s too late, it looks like Dominica is heading in the same direction, Dominican, it’s not about party it’s…
Must have been a slow day in government headquarters. Such a high powered group of officials attend the meeting, only to tell the residents that they don’t have a clue about what’s going on. They don’t even know where to begin since they haven’t identified a place to have the pollutant analysed and identified. In the meanwhile, the residents still have to live with their daily lives interrupted. The Parl. Rep. Should define what “swiftly” is to the residents since this has been going on for some time now.Too many cooks in the kitchen and no food to eat, oh boy.
Nice,they do listen,I stand corrected
They always pretend to listen but unfortunately they never do something. Mark my words this issue as all the others will be swept under the carpet.
Honestly Reggie, you talking crap saying the government can not afford prosecuting environmental polluters but you have no problem approving expensive lawyer from Trinidad to go on a wild goose chase persecuting the opposition and giving the PM allowance for renting a home for more than 60,000 dollars a month. Brother, we boasting in the UN about being the first climate resilient nation in the world but now you defending pollution of our nature isle because that is making money for foreigners. What side are you on bro.? I really getting angry now with your nonsense. Think before you talk.
So people can just do what they want to the “nature Isle” with no recourse? Reggie more and more you are becoming the biggest donkey in that party. Before it was JI, not clearly it is you. want some absolute ignorant rubbish to be said? call Reggie.
Everything suffers under the misguidance of the incumbent Misadministration. These include the economy, the environment, salaries and wages, not even the rivers and sea water escape being assaulted.
Every sane government in the region knows that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) MUST be done before even a shovel of earth is removed.
This inept autocracy always put the CART before the HORSE.
I remember that Sam Holland fellow. He was going to do quarrying, I seem to remember right above Colibistrie along the coast, before Buleau wasthere some years ago and Austrie stopped him when he started his mess without approval despite objections from the villagers. I hope it is not the same American guy because he is bad news and to be honest I had hoped he had disappeared from the scene.
Is Austrie alright in his head! I very much doubt it. Listen to what the minister of government is telling Citizens, first he wants these poor people to take their issue, which his government has so far failed to address, to the courts. Doesn’t he know that court costs will be a burden for the poor people of Layou? I guess as far as he’s concerned, construction and economic development in Layou are more important than the health and livelihood of the citizens who reside there. What an irresponsible reaction from an irresponsible minister. Then Austrie says that his government is tired of going to court. Is it only when his government has to take the opposition to court that he doesn’t mind the high court fees. They bring up trumped up and bogus charges about a coup plot using a flatbed truck with speakers. They hire expensive lawyers from overseas to come and defend their nefarious charges. Did they have environmental impact studies done before work commenced? What about that?