Ryan Mannette provides commentary on the first public consultation for a hotel development by Superior Hotels TT Ltd at Rocky Point in Mt Irvine.

Mannette is a Tobagonian, a marine scientist, and a director of the NGO SpeSeas that advocates for marine conservation and awareness.

The public consultation was highly anticipated. Arrival an hour early was not unusual as there were several people already registered and in their seats at the Buccoo Multipurpose Facility. Closer to the start time, people continued to file in. The numbers were impressive, every seat was filled, then walls were lined, doors were blocked (people were relocated) and people were standing in the courtyard outside where a speaker was mounted.

There were close to 200 attending – more people than at the Toco port EIA consultations three years ago. People from the communities around Mt Irvine, including Pleasant Prospect, people from the surfing community wearing “Save Rocky Point” T-shirts, NGO representatives – Buccoo Reef Trust and SOS Tobago among others, with members of the Tobago House of Assembly looking on.

Certificate of environmental clearance

A development project of this scale and nature requires a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) from the EMA. The EMA has determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), guided by a Terms of Reference (TOR), is required to inform its decision. As part of the EIA process, the developer is required to conduct a series of stakeholder engagement exercises of which this public consultation was the first.

As the consultation began, it was clear that opposition was anticipated, with John Aboud (chairman of Superior Hotels) declaring that they are aware of the various concerns already raised by the public and recognise the importance of the site and they will not be touching the coastline, nor the marine space. However, none of the presentations that followed directly addressed any of the concerns and no clear plan was presented.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) is clear on the objectives of the first public consultation. Apart from introducing the project, the first round of public engagement should be conducted before the EIA studies are initiated and should include:

1. All project proposed designs and alternative actions;

2. Descriptions of the environmental impact assessment process;

3. Precise location of the project and components;

4. All logistics (timelines, resources, schedules) associated with the activities; and

5. Details on the studies to be undertaken

A table was provided showing some generic impacts resulting from the construction and operation of a hotel, and equally generic proposed management options. None of the plans proposed in the CEC application were shown, and no details of the studies planned to inform the EIA were presented. The project team repeatedly stated that the final layout and design were unknown as they are still in the preliminary stages of design. The designs submitted in the CEC application were dismissed as initial concepts that