There are fresh calls for the government to think about the long-term ramifications of projects like the second special economic zone and its effects on the environment.
Environment advocate Raul Samuel said recently that if the project is to go ahead as planned, it could affect more than just the development area in the future.
“We don’t study these things, we are not the type to go and examine just what the contribution these wetlands make to our GDP but they have an effect when we destroy them, and the projects we bring in are no longer  useful so what will happen is that our import bill will go up.”
Raul Samuel added that, “there is a domino effect and just like YIDA which has pretty much failed, what do we get now when the mangroves are gone.”
“There can be development without total destruction,”he expressed.
Samuel recently organized a walkthrough of the area that he fears will be destroyed by the development project. He also launched a petition that received over 1000 signatures.
