Both are supporting construction of two mammoth tourism
projects there. The first, San Miguel Four Seasons Resort, would consist of
1,800 hotel and residential units, plus two golf courses. The proposed Dos
Mares Resort would include 1,250 hotel and residential units and a golf course.
Project backers, such as Marriott International, claim the
developments will create nearly 3,500 direct and indirect jobs. But activist
groups, including the Surfrider Foundation, Grupo Arena Mar, the Sustainable Development Initiative and
the
“Our beaches and forests do not belong to us, we borrow
them from our children, and we have the moral obligation to return them in a
better state than when we found them,” said Grupo
Arena Mar in a statement.
“If we allow the development of our natural resources without
appropriate planning, our future generations will lack the natural beauties
that God blessed this island with.”
Instead of massive tourism, residential developments and
golf courses, environmentalists want the 3,240 acres to be preserved as the
Northeastern Ecological Corridor (NEC).
They say it contains more than 40 species of marine mammals,
birds, snakes, sea turtles and plants seldom found in other parts of the world,
including the Puerto Rican plain pigeon, the snowy plover, brown pelican, the
hawksbill sea turtle and the West Indian manatee.
“The region is best known as one of the most important nesting
grounds for leatherback sea turtles in areas under
“All of the coastal wetlands found in
The planned NEC also includes a world-class surfing beach
known as La Selva..
Opponents of the two projects are also concerned about the
impact they will have on already scarce water resources.
“A deficit of over 2,000,000 gallons of water will result
from their development, worsening the present situation for many local
communities in the region that lack potable water,” says the
“The development of these two projects is contrary to (
But Four Seasons president for worldwide operations, Kathleen
Taylor, defends the planned San Miguel resort, and claims it will benefit the
environment.
“The project will preserve and enhance more than two-thirds
of its land, including the entire maritime-terrestrial zone, 100 percent of the
mangrove forest, 97 percent of the wetland areas and the forest in the eastern
ridge of the project site in almost its entirety,” she said in an open letter
to Puerto Rican environmentalists, dated Sep. 19.
The ecological value of the area was acknowledged as far
back as 1978, when
In 1992, the natural resources department and the Conservation
Trust suggested that the rest of the area now proposed for the NEC be included in Las Cabezas. But the government had hotels and big
developments in mind.
As early as 1993, developers began presenting proposals
for tourism projects in the area. In 1996, governor
Pedro Rosselló declared his support for tourism development in the Fajardo-Luquillo beach area, and had the lands there
re-zoned for residential development. There were no public hearings, which the law
requires when lands are re-zoned.
Environmental scientist Luis Jorge Rivera of the Sustainable
Development Initiative questions the economic viability of the two proposed
projects.
In recent testimony to the Puerto Rican Senate, he said
that international trends in the tourism industry favour
moderate-priced tourism, not extremely expensive hotel suites such as those in
the proposed Four resorts. He cited as an example the
bankruptcy of the local Ritz-Carlton hotel.
Rivera emphatically denounced the government’s “attitude
of indifference and disregard for the laws that govern the administration of
our natural resources and public participation”.
Activists also criticise what
they see as corporate welfare. “Of special concern is the fact that the proposed
projects would be significantly financed by public funds, would benefit from
several tax-exemptions and would be established mostly on public lands,”
declared the
You can blow out a candle,
but you can’t blow out a fire.
Once the flame begins to catch,
the wind will blow it higher.
·
Peter Gabriel
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