Anti-port petition drafted

East End Legislator Arden McLean
has drafted a petition asking Premier McKeeva Bush, Cabinet and Governor Duncan
Taylor not to support the port project proposed in East End by developer Joseph
Imparato.

Mr. McLean told an audience of well
over 100 adults on Monday night that he was not circulating the petition until
he heard their comments and decided whether it needed amending.

As people entered the district’s
William Allen McLaughlin Civic Centre, they could pick up a drawing of the
proposed facility and also view an aerial photograph relating its site to the
general area, historically known as Clarinda Beach, between Half Moon Bay and
High Rock Drive.

The proposed seaport involves
digging a channel 600 feet wide from the sea through the ironshore inland to a
basin that would cover 100 acres, Mr. McLean explained, adding that the basin
would be dug 55 to 60 feet deep. To get to a 60-foot depth in the sea,
developers would have to dig outward some 2,500 to 3,000 feet, he said.

The channel is too wide to build a
bridge over, so the proposal is that people will have to drive around the
project, which goes three-fourths of a mile inland at its deepest point.

The project would change forever
the character of the district and land used for farming, require closure of the
scenic coastline road, and cause significant disruption to people’s lives, Mr.
McLean predicted. “That is what they’re proposing to destroy your community
with,” he said.

However, he emphasised, that was
his personal view: “My political position will be dictated by the people of
East End.”

He also raised the issue of related
costs. Building an east-west arterial to accommodate all the containers coming
from the dock would cost $100 million, he said. Filling in government-owned
land on the east side for use would cost $15 million.

Mr. McLean said Mr. Imparato had
asked to meet with him as the district representative. The businessman had told
him the project would yield 14 to 15 million cubic yards of fill. He said he
was convinced the project was about a quarry.

“They just want to mine the fill,”
he said, adding that there were already five quarries, which would then flop.

People in the audience who
commented included Sydney Jackson, who had been involved in the measuring of
the East End water lens, and Marvin Frederick, who cited a 1988 university
survey. Both said the digging would deplete the fresh water and turn the area
into a desert instead of land for farming and cattle raising.

Mr. Frederick asked if information
had been obtained from the Water Authority about the project’s impact. Mr.
McLean said no; he had asked and the premier had replied that the study provided
by Mr. Imparato would be good enough.

“This is not just an East End
thing,” noted Bodden Town resident Emile Levy, raising questions about damage
to elevations below East End in the event of a hurricane.

Frank Conolly pointed out that
government in 1953 had put a crusher in the area to crush rock and remove it.
The result was that they then had to build a million-dollar wall to protect the
land. “If a storm comes from the south and he has that open 600 feet you’ve got
a lot of trouble in the Cayman Islands,” he asserted.

Kenross Conolly thanked Mr. McLean
for the information provided and he asked that, if a bill is brought for law
pertaining to the project, people be told so they could visit the legislature.

If the law is introduced in Cayman,
it will pass because Government has the majority of votes, Mr. McLean pointed
out. But then the Governor has to sign off on it. The Governor can refuse, in
which case he must notify the Legislative Assembly and the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office. The Assembly then has 60 days to respond.

This process was one more reason
why the petition was important, he indicated. He was providing information so
East Enders could make an informed decision. “You’re still in control; it’s
your district,” he said.