CEO of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) Dr Joth Singh says the EMA did its best to help save the turtles of Grande Riviere, although hundreds were killed during excavation to re-route the river over the weekend. The work brought relief to Grande Riviere residents whose properties were being threatened by the river, which had changed its direction from south to west,eroding the beach. The re-routing came at a huge cost. Hundreds of turtles and hatchlings were destroyed. Singh was on his way to Grande Riviere to assess the damage when contacted yesterday morning. He said despite receiving guidance last week from Piero Guerrini, owner of the Mt Plaisir Estate Hotel, whose property was being threatened, the Ministry of Works crew who carried out the work did not follow directions. "The intent of re-routing the river was to prevent further damage and protect the rest of the beach, where there are still turtle nests, and also to save properties," he said. "It's unfortunate that intervention was not done in the proper fashion. "But the damage has been done. I'm interested in seeing the condition of the hatchlings which were recovered, to see what we can do."
Singh said while he could not speak for other ministries and agencies which Guerrini had previously contacted for help, the EMA moved quickly to rectify the problem. "He spoke to the EMA on Wednesday and we were there on Thursday, and work began over the weekend," Singh said. However, Guerrini, who described the situation as an environmental travesty, said the crew that did the work did more harm than good. About 200 of the 400 villagers directly benefit from eco-tourism-a major element of which is the leatherback turtle egg-laying season. "Turtles were struggling to come up on the sand. They were dying. I could see the destruction but there was nothing I could have done. It was too late," said Guerrini. "They cannot continue to operate in an environmental area like if they are building a highway. Yes, they closed the river and stopped the erosion, but at what cost?" Guerrini said the army brought in the excavator and bulldozer, the machinery needed to re-route the river, on Friday evening and work began on Saturday morning. Although workers were told to excavate the lower end of the beach, he said they "did their own thing," resulting in the death of hundreds of turtles. "They bulldozed the highest part of the beach to make a big pile of sand. They pushed the sand into the river to block the river mouth-but in doing so, they dug on top of the turtle and hatchling nests. They totally disregarded the turtles," Guerrini said. "You could see the turtles trying to come out. Hundreds of nests were damaged. "Of course they would have seen it, but nobody, even from the turtle groups, intervened to stop them. When I went to the beach on Sunday, I was shocked. "There were many tourists on the beach and most of them had cameras. They were looking on in horror. I'm sure they will be talking about this disaster all over the world."
Guerrini said he expected the problem to recur soon, as no permanent barrier was constructed to prevent the river from changing its course again and doing more damage to the area. "They used sand, so if there is a heavy rain again, it will go back to how it was. They needed to put something like a boulder to stop it." Councillor for Toco/Fishing Pond Terry Rondon, said while he was not present during the excavation, there was nothing the workers could have done to avoid killing the turtles. Calling on Guerrini and residents to look at the bigger picture, Rondon said the army and the workers should be congratulated for their efforts. "There are turtles throughout the beach, so there was no way they could have avoided that situation. I was the first politician to visit the area three weeks ago, and I am humbly apologising for it, but there is nothing we could have done," said Rondon. "Hotels going, people losing their jobs-I know the struggles of the north-east coast. "It took that army truck two days to get up here. But at the end of the day, you are hearing they didn't follow instructions. "Residents should be thankful. I want to tell the workers that they did a good job. I am happy with it, very happy with it."