Few places in the world that have so much to offer, in such a small area, as the Chaguaramas Peninsula. Many people will not venture far beyond the new boardwalk, made with recycled materials and with renewable energy lighting.
Venture a little further and you can find Red howler monkeys, mountain bike trails, roads that are used as training grounds for road cyclists, sheltered bays with coral where turtles drift and dolphins frolic, hidden World War II bunkers, an old tracking station from which the first intercontinental voice transmission was sent.
It is also an area of light industry, yacht marinas, hotels, restaurants, bars, a museum, a dockyard and a few warehouses. In general, it is a mixed-use area. There are many competing user claims and in an area so diverse, it is easy to upset the balance, which could result in lesser worth for everybody.
One misconception about Chaguaramas, or more properly, the area administered by the Chaguaramas Development Authority, is that it is a national park like Yellowstone or Yosemite in the USA.
The Organic Act of 1916 created the US National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The important word here is conservation, while the intent is to make the parks accessible to the public.
Now the name says it already: it is the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) and not the Chaguaramas Conservation Authority. Nor does the CDA mission statement embrace conservation exclusively.From the CDA web site:
"Our Vision: "To be the premier provider of the ultimate customer experience in a world-class, ecotourism destination, business and entertainment centre."This vision speaks to where CDA sees itself in the future as a first-class provider of customer service by providing a wide array of product offerings to a wide market segment."
The CDA seems to refer to itself as a heritage park, a term that apparently means a 'tourist attraction and historic site that can be developed." So next time you call Chaguaramas a national park and whine about development there, just get it out of your head that the CDA area enjoys special protection. Unless it is declared a national park with the accompanying legislation, it is open to development. If you want to change that, it will take a political decision to do so.
It is unlikely and unfeasible to declare the entire CDA area a "no-development zone," "conservation zone" or "eco-tourism zone." The marinas, restaurants, service businesses have been there for decades, and they provide important recreation, employment and revenue building opportunities.However, it is also important to remember why the public wants to come to Chaguaramas, and that is the natural beauty, which can oh so easily be destroyed by creeping development.
I was just made aware of the proposed (but at the time of writing it appears that works have already begun) reinstatement of the Guave Road area. That's the road (now a dirt track) at the corner at Williams Bay where the fruit vendors used to be. The area had a long-running dispute between some farmers, according to the CDA squatters, who practised low-intensity farming there.
The area is for all intents and purposes what I would consider to be the start of Tucker Valley, and I'm very much opposed to any development in Tucker Valley. The proposed development calls for upgrading of the road, the establishment of a tram track, tram service area, a car park facility, a cycle track and a farmer's market.
Now I have nothing against all of these things separately. In fact, I would love to see 21st- century transport like a tramway–disregard that we had one in the 20th century that was sacrificed to the automobile. I am not opposed to a cycle track. The more of those the better. A farmers market is a nice idea that fits in with the local-food philosophy– just disregard that the local farmers had to be displaced to build it.
The problem is: It is just in the wrong place!
The car park is quite frightening. The certificate of environmental clearance (CEC 4087/2014, for anybody who is interested in looking it up at the EMA library), allows the clearing of 27,300 square metres of land. I had to blink twice when I saw the size, because that is 293, 855 square feet, or 6.75 acres. That will destroy the ambiance of the area.
The problem with the CDA area is not that there is development, but it is that there is no zoning based on the needs of all stakeholders, including the environmental stakeholders. This opens the back door for the type of creeping development that will damage exactly what makes Chaguaramas so special.
There need to be defined zones for commercial, residential, agricultural, recreational and conservation. It is something that we need to lobby for if we want to protect this area of natural and national interest.
I have decided to form a group of concerned citizens and Chaguaramas stakeholders to act as a watchdog and lobby group for the development of Chaguaramas in a way that it is of the greatest value to all, and something that we can proudly hand over to the next generations. If you are interested in being a part of this, please e-mail me at marc@papaboisconservation.org