Beach erosion wreaks havoc on Monkey River

In recent weeks we’ve been following the debate over a large resort development proposed for the top of the Placencia peninsula. One of the major issues in that controversy is the question of beach erosion that could be caused by the construction of a huge marina. And while scientists and laymen may argue over what may happen in Placencia, a short distance down the coast, the village of Monkey River is a living reminder of what can happen when mother nature becomes irritated.

Eleanor Sandlin, Chairperson, Monkey River Village
?We are definitely at the mercy of somebody and have to try and get some kind of help for the people of Monkey River.?

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
In 1998, I visited Monkey River Village and returned with a story of imminent tragedy. At that time the houses you see here were in danger of being destroyed by radical erosion of the beach. Today, eight years later every one of these houses no longer exists, as the sea has claimed forty feet of beach.

Daniel Castellanos, Resident, Monkey River Village
?At least two row of house from outside of where we are standing and all of that the sea has taken away already. Plus form the last row of house to the beach you would have about forty, fifty feet of beach going from the bar right down to the coast, and all of that like I said is already in the sea.?

In 1998, we heard the cries of the villagers who appealed to the proper authorities to help them. Today the residents say there is simply no time to waste as they nervously watch their beach fight a losing battle against the waves.

John Alexander Watler, Resident, Monkey River Village
?Like this is our last stand and as you can see both directions and all the dead trees, those are signs that all of these were once living fruit trees, that have all bee killed by the erosion. This is only neglect on the part of those who are in the position to do something; they have neglected over almost fifteen years to do anything and this thing has become real critical.?

The village chairperson, Eleanor Sandlin, says while they did suffer damage following hurricane Iris in 2001, the storm is not responsible for what is taking place. Sandlin strongly believes it?s the negligent actions of citrus farm owners, who have been taking water from their river to irrigate their fields that is causing the problem.

Eleanor Sandlin
?So it slows down the flow of the river and it doesn?t bring down the amount of sand or silt that it normally brings down that it would reach the river mouth.?

Mary Tillett, Resident, Monkey River Village
?During that time when I was here in the nineties, that was the time when the Mango walk started moving into oranges and bananas and they started digging these canals. And I think, it affected the sea grass beds. I remember places where I use to see sea grass, it was all gone.?

Eleanor Sandlin
?With the rainy season hopefully we would have gotten the flood from the river like we use to get that is not happening. You can tell by the amount of beach we have by the river mouth that we have not been getting the kind of floods that we should be getting on a yearly basis, because of the flow of the river.?

Jacqueline Godwin
?I am now walking on what was once Front Street. In just twelve months the village main street has not only been washed out to sea but an entire row of properties including seven houses have all disappeared. Today, the villagers have been laying down sand bags in a desperate attempt to save their homes that are now being threatened.?

Sandlin?s house is just one of those properties that are threatened. The building only a year old now stands just a few feet from the water. Sandlin says she has already lost one property to the sea and it will be difficult to watch her dream home disappear.

Eleanor Sandlin
?I have lost about thirty-five feet of beach already. And in the last three to four weeks I have lost an extra ten out of that thirty-five. So it?s going extremely fast.?

Enelda Garbutt, Resident, Monkey River Village
?Well I think we have lost about thirty-five to forty feet of land right out here. And that is scary because you cannot move your house the kind of house that you have, so I think the next step it will be here because a whole lot was in front of me.?

The villagers have been using sand bags, sticks and even conch shells to protect their properties from the relentless power of the sea. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This poster done by the primary school children speaks volumes of what is occurring in the village. Principal Mary Tillett says just as the art work grabbed the attention of judges and won first place in the Earth Day Competition they are hoping the proper authorities will now do something about the problem.

Mary Tillett
?I was here in the sixty?s as a young principal for this school and Monkey River was way out yonder. And I lived out to the front and I could remember this river after the rainy season begins this river roared down, and you saw the sea coming with an east wind and the river pushing and all that water boiling you. You never see that anymore now.?

Sandlin, who is also the president of the National Association of Village Councils, says they have also been trying to get representatives from the Geology Department out to the village to help but to no avail.

Eleanor Sandlin
?We have requested for them to at least come down, look at it see what they know if they know anything. If they don?t know, let us know they themselves don?t know what to do about it. Then maybe look at the right person who does know and see what we can do. But we do not have a year, we do not have six months, we need some temporary fix right now.?

Recent rains in the area have not helped the situation as the rough seas batter the shoreline taking away more sand. The villagers say they are a poor community and just do not have the financial resources to save their homes much less the whole village.

Mary Tillett
?Now when a flood comes it cannot even take the sandy bay to bring the sand back around, so something has gone wrong. I have not been up in the higher reaches of the river, but I hear people say the sandy bays are all up there, but the river has no force to push it down so something has to have done it.?

Eleanor Sandlin
?There are at times we have of up to seventy-five tourists that come in, we have our restaurants, we have our guest house here and eventually all of that will be gone. And we have the fishing industry and if you cannot live here, you cannot fish. We have tourists who come in and stay for maybe a week just to do deep sea fishing or snorkelling and things like that and even that we will loose.?

According to Chief Environmental Officer Martin Alegria, in 2002 a thorough assessment of the erosion problem was carried out. That study suggested a combination of factors were responsible, including weather, the use of water for agriculture and mining of sand and gravel upstream. No solutions were proposed although Alegria says there are plans to revisit the situation and seek ways to mitigate the damage.