For as long as these parts have been inhabited, a frenetic battle has been waged with the seas to protect the coastland in which self-propagating mangroves have played no small role. This struggle is likely to become even more desperate in the context of climate change and rising sea levels. It is therefore incomprehensible that the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill speaking on behalf of the government can venture to say that the decimation of a swathe of mangroves at Versailles-Malgre Tout on the West Demerara is an acceptable casualty of the quest for development and that more acreages face a similar fate.
The ripping away of these mangroves is an environmental crime and the cavalier manner in which the government has addressed this abomination must be the surest sign that the oil and gas sickness has invested itself in key parts of this government in only just nine months. The pillaging of mangroves – in an arena where much has been invested in preserving all types of sea defences here – must be brought to an immediate halt.
No investor who furtively descends on the country and removes mangroves in a manner that jars with key pieces of legislation and the gigantic enterprise to hold back the seas should be openly welcomed. That the main investor hails from the West Demerara is shocking particularly in light of the fact that President Ali himself grew up not far from this area.
TriStar – the transgressor – must be held accountable for the removal of the mangroves and face the full force of the law. It is now for the PPP/C government to decide whether better sense will prevail.
