Several hundred feet of ironshore near the Blowholes in East End have had truckloads of fill dumped over it by mistake.
‘They have damaged it forever,’ said land owner Gilbert McLean. He called the area one of Cayman’s few national natural attractions.
Mr. McLean said he was incensed because the shoreline had been in pristine condition. He had allowed people access because both residents and tourists are fascinated by the Blowholes phenomenon.
He discovered what had happened when he went to the site on 27 February.
The ironshore was covered when the National Roads Authority began a project to reinforce the road.
NRS chairman Lemuel Hurlston apologised for the mistake.
He said the verge along that strip of road had been undermined during Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 to the point that it had become unstable.
‘We went onto the property without consulting Mr. Gilbert McLean and we did a little bit more of an intervention than he had envisaged. We deposited a substantial amount of fill on the property… We were intruding a little deeper than had been intended,’ he said.
Mr. Gilbert McLean agreed with Mr. Hurlston that he had talked with the Minister for Infrastructure about the area. The land owner said he thought the NRA would be doing something to shore up the road, like putting in pilings similar to those at the East End cemetery.
Mr. McLean said the indiscriminate dumping would not have occurred if the NRA had given him notice of their intention. But no one had said anything to him about going onto his property or what was being done.
The Roads Law states that, for specified purposes, the Roads Authority may at any time without previous notice enter upon any land not being a yard or park ‘or ground ornamentally planted’. Specified purposes include temporary traffic diversion, installation of drains and deposit of refuse from any road.
Mr. Hurlston denied that the NRA had done anything illegal, but he did apologise for the lack of courtesy. Even though the NRA may be legally entitled to do something, it’s only courteous to advise owners before entering their property, he said.
‘I acknowledge that when we looked at what we had done, we really wished there had been a greater degree of supervision,’ Mr. Hurlston said.
Now an unfortunate situation has developed because once fill is deposited on ironshore it’s very difficult to remove.
‘It was never our intention to ruin the property, but clearly what we did came across as detrimental,’ he said.
The NRA did respond to Mr. McLean’s objections. ‘I think we’ve done our best to restore it as best we can, but it may never be perfect,’ Mr. Hurlston said.
The basic problem was lack of proper consultation, he said.
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