The Grenada Land Actors Inc. vs Physical Planning and Development Authority legal case – is NDC choosing the same strategy as the previous Administration ?
As Grenada Land Actors Inc.'s (GLA) case against the Physical Planning and Development Authority (PDA) continues, what was supposed to be an urgent Judicial Review matter, which would provide much needed transparency on important development issues in Grenada, is now dragging into its second year. The case has been plagued by multiple delays as all three parties to the developments in question - Mt Hartman, Levera and La Sagesse - have joined the PDA (represented by the Attorney General) in opposing the matter and attacking GLA on the issue of standing. In a legal sense, “standing” is the legal right for a particular person to bring a claim in court. When there is a matter of public interest, such as this one, legal standing allows local persons access to the courts to ensure that laws are being upheld and that oversight and transparency are being maintained through informed public participation in environmental decision-making. This would be in keeping with the Escazú Agreement (the Regional agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean) to which Grenada is a party, although it is one of the remaining two countries in the OECS region that have not yet ratified the treaty.
Earlier this year at the High Court level, Justice Glasgow ruled in favor of GLA that the issue of standing should be decided at a later stage in the case, allowing all the issues at hand to be presented.
Photo Credit: Reginald Joseph
The Attorney General was not satisfied with that decision and filed an appeal, which is supported by all three developers. This appeal will be heard at the next court date on Thursday 22nd of September 2022 before the Court of Appeal in Grenada via Zoom. This will be the first court date since the NDC Administration was sworn in.
In recognition of the change in Administration and cabinet, GLA reached out to the new Attorney General (in July) to discuss if any of the issues arising in the case at hand “could be resolved without further recourse to litigation”. In August, GLA wrote to both the Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry for Planning, the Ministry for Climate Resilience and the Environment, and the Ministry for Culture to request a meeting to: 1) provide context to the new Ministers about the case and why GLA instituted legal action against the PDA in 2021, 2) discuss the need for expediency on legislation that could provide more protection for these ecosystems (e.g., Environmental Management Act, Natural Resources Management Act, updated Forestry Act, updated Planning and Development Control Regulations, Land Use Act); 3) the need for a cabinet-approved Coastal Zone Management Plan and appointment of a Coastal Director to enforce our 2019 Integrated Coastal Zone Management Act; 4) enforcement of the Museum Act of 2017, which would ensure proper protection and management of archaeological remains in areas of cultural importance; and 5) ratification of the Escazú Agreement (the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean), which Grenada signed in 2019. We still await a date for these meetings from the respective Ministries. We provide an example of the letters and appendices that were sent here: PSForEnvironment_10-AUG-2022, Annex A (Summary of Concerns), Annex B (Six Sense Review of EIA & Landscape Plans), Annex C (Levera Resort Review of Landscape Plans)
The basis for GLA’s case is that permissions for the developments at La Sagesse, Levera, and Mt. Hartman had not been properly granted by the PDA and that the environmental impact assessments (EIAs), which are a mandated part of the development procedure, either did not happen before development began or showed major deficiencies, including lack of public consultation. During its efforts to uncover this information, GLA members also found that the public register, which is supposed to keep a record of all developments in Grenada, together with the accompanying materials such as Environmental Impact Assessments, was not properly kept by the PDA and was not being made accessible to the Public.
The filed affidavits in the Court case from the previous NNP administration opposing the action laughably accused GLA members of being covert opposition members. Now that the Government has changed and the ruling party is now the NDC, will they continue down the same line of thought as the previous administration? As the Attorney General has not indicated otherwise and continues to try to argue that GLA has no right to take this matter to the court, GLA’s members can only assume that this is the case.
GLA's case remains clear. That the PDA has skirted the planning process and allowed these developments to be approved without conducting the proper environmental impact assessments. This touches not only these three developments, but all major developments in Grenada. In the interim, these developments are continuing. In Mt. Hartman, work by “The Hartman Group” continues on, as Phase 1 of the project has now morphed into a massive University Town and Resort – a major threat to the surrounding wetland areas and Grenada’s critically-endangered national bird that is only found on mainland Grenada (i.e., The Grenada Dove). At Levera, work on yet another ill-fated golf course appears to be taking place by Singapore Heng Sheng Grenada Development Ltd. At La Sagesse, despite destroying all the mangroves at the La Sagesse Pond, Range Developments is attempting to engineer an artificial wetland complete with manufactured islands to take its place. Public access to the beach, in a location well known for its turbulent history with Lord Brownlow, looks to be restricted once again.
Furthermore, not satisfied with one mega-resort, Range Developments intends to build another massive hotel – the InterContinental Grenada Resort – right next door to its first Six Senses resort, encompassing all the remaining beach land in La Sagesse up to the river. This would remove popular recreational areas for locals, destroy important known archaeological sites in this area, and have potentially irreversible impacts on the marine and terrestrial biodiversity in La Sagesse. GLA's recent inquiry into the status of the EIA for this forthcoming development was met with no answers. This highlights that the problems with the physical planning process are not restricted to the three developments that GLA is focusing on,
but are instead deep-rooted and ingrained into the system. We await to see whether the NDC Administration is satisfied with this ongoing situation.
GLA, as a small NGO, has also had to continually canvass for local support for legal fees and technical expertise to continue this case. We would like to thank all members of the public who have supported us and the over 7000 people who signed our initial petition to the Government(https://www.change.org/p/our-paradise-and-sovereignty-under-siege-protect-grenada-from-destructive-development). The organization is also incredibly grateful that Leslie Thomas Kings Counsel, a staunch advocate for human rights in the UK and throughout the region, who has agreed to take our case pro-bono, supporting our local lawyer, Ms. Rita Joseph-Olivetti who helped the organization initiate this case. We are also gratefully being aided by the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW). GLA would also like to thank the many local and international partners who have supported and continue to support our cause.
GLA looks forward to the outcome of the hearing before the Court of Appeal and trusts that sustainable development in Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique is still an attainable goal in the very near future. As the world prepares to gather for the global climate change Conference of Parties in November once again, more emphasis has to be placed on countries’ individual actions (including small island states) and assessing whether they have the technical capacity, legal framework and political will to implement climate adaptation actions and fulfill their climate change goals.
Please visit our website (https://grenadaland.org/take-action) where you can find details to sign up to support our ongoing initiatives in Grenada.
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