CEC5345_2017 Toco Port Project EIA - COMMENTS by Mark Meredith

the claims made for the need of a large multi-purpose port in Toco are predicated on assumptions and falsehoods devoid of any economic analysis, data or fact. The EIA fails to address any of these concerns, and in fact in many areas appears to show little understanding of the environment, in the broad sense of the word, in which the foreign-based consultants, ERM, were working. They assume mitigation and management measures will be of a standard they might find in developed, first world countries. The EIA shows no understanding of the harsh realities on the ground: of the inefficiencies and neglect that actually exist in Trinidad. ERM’s suggestion to “Implement a community grievance mechanism” is proof of that. For ERM to live up to their self-proclaimed billing of “the world’s leading sustainability consultancy” one wonders what they are doing involved in such a project in the first place.

Here we are twenty years later and it is again crystal clear, that the required due diligence has not been done. The current developers being mindful of the overwhelming opposition which those in 2000 received, have been marketing this latest incarnation of the port, as one where there would be no need to displace anyone from their homes. That statement alone shows that they have not done their homework because anyone who is familiar with, or who embarks upon an inspection of the area, would recognize that a project of this magnitude requires a substantial acreage of land, on which to store the heavy equipment and the massive volumes of material that would be required. It would therefore necessitate, the acquisition of several properties for this purpose. Even if that were true, the fact that the proposal is to now to construct the project off the coastline, does not make the proposition any more palatable, or any less offensive.