Two noted environmentalists are urging the government against lifting protection from the North East Marine Management Area (NEMMA) in order to allow a marina and other environmentally damaging amenities to be built as part of the much-touted Yida development.
The caution comes after the Chief Environment Officer Diann Black-Layne told OBSERVER media in January that because building a marina would require dredging, Parliament would have to remove the prohibition against dredging laid out in the Fisheries Act 2006.
When contacted, President of the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) Tahambay Smith said, “I would not support dredging whatsoever in that area regardless of whether the laws were changed to accommodate it or not.”
Diver and fisherman Eli Fuller told OBSERVER media that the touted multibillion development does not have to come at the expense of the NEMMA.
More in today’s Daily Observer.