Is Another EIA Necessary for Cruise Port in Port Loyola?

Geovanni Brackett

According to President Geovanni Brackett, the initial assessment to determine the feasibility of a cruise port in the designated area was done with smaller ships in mind.  With the advent of Oasis Class vessels another EIA would have to be conducted.

Geovanni Brackett, President, COLA

“When the studies were done, they were done with smaller ships, ships that were current.  Now there has to be spent millions on a new assessment using Oasis Class ships because you can’t use the assessment for small ships for these big ships and so they would have to do further dredging and digging and I think a whole lot more.  And I think that the environmentalists who had concerns about the Stake Bank Project should have equal concerns about this project in that areas as well and not only because of manatees.  Manatees are one thing but when you’re dealing with the lives of people it is a whole other issue.  And so at this moment we are very cautious and we are very concerned about the government flip-flopping on the issue.  So it’s not COLA flip-flopping, it is government that has taken the Stake Bank through almost seven and a half years of turmoil to prove that it was viable legally and environmentally and we seem to be readily, the government seems, the prime minister seems to be readily available to entertain quickly a new project or a revised and re-disguised Luke Espat project and we believe the concerns remain the same.”