NEPA says Falmouth development permits were ‘strategic decision’

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) says only two of the five permits issued for development projects in Falmouth, Trelawny, fell within the designated conservation area and has defended its “strategic decision”.

The permits are for areas along either side of the roadway leading into the town centre, Anthony McKenzie, acting chief executive officer of NEPA, told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

“So it’s not actually in the wetland itself, it’s the lot along the roadside,” McKenzie said.

The other three permits are for areas outside the conservation zone, he said.

All five permits, the acting NEPA boss said, were issued in accordance with the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act (NRCA).

NEPA is the operational and administrative arm that enforces the legal and technical mandates of the NRCA.

He explained that the permits were approved in keeping with an “emerging” development order and that it was a “strategic decision” that recognises the need to support further expansion of the coastal town.

“It is allowing for the further expansion and development of the town with some key infrastructure,” he said.

Lobby group Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) first brought the issue to public attention yesterday, claiming that it identified six permits that were issued to five private companies for wetland removal and development along a five-kilometre stretch of the North Coast Highway.

Citing the Town and Country Planning (Trelawny Parish) Development Order 2013, JET noted, too, that the areas associated with the permits are zoned for conservation.

While acknowledging that the Town and Country Planning (Trelawny Parish) Development Order 2013 remains in force, the acting NEPA boss explained that the “emerging” order “is what we call material consideration of the planning authorities”.

“So, this is not anything new. That’s how it’s practised… this is how town planning is operated,” he said.

NEPA is to issue a full public statement on the issue.

- Livern Barrett

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