CONTRIBUTE
CONTENT
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Aerial
photo of a section of the Hope Estate.
©
Government
of Jamaica
Take
a closer look
at this photo or compare it to a map (1966
government survey) reproduced in Alan Eyre's "The
Botanical Gardens of Jamaica".
UPDATE:
We win round one.
Prime
Minister PJ Patterson announced on Tuesday, January 11, that with
regard to the proposed housing scheme in Hope Gardens, "no
such development will proceed as of now". He did not
say, as we hastily reported earlier, that "no houses will
ever be built" there. Read
More...
Read the detailed objections from Vivian Blake, QC, OJ, and John
Maxwell, CD.
TO
MINISTER DOUGLAS
...it
is our contention that the enterprise known as the Hope Country
Club cannot be in the public interest and must be in contradiction
to every pledge the Government, its Ministers and you as Minister
of Housing and Environment in particular have made to safeguard
the environment and national heritage. Read
More...
TO ESTECH'S EIA
The [Environmental Impact
Assessment for the proposed Hope Country Club] is hereby challenged
by the undersigned as being inadequate, irrelevant and misleading,
and constitutes a dangerous basis on which to make any decision
concerning any development on the lands at Hope, St. Andrew....
Read
More..
Read the releases
MONA
HEIGHTS CITIZENS' ASSOCIATION
...this
area should be left for expansion of the zoo [and] car parking
area. Space should also be left for further expansion of the University
of Technology [to] be integrated with surrounding gardens and
parks... [We have] far too many absorption sewer pits serving
housing developments in the Liguanea Plains.
Read More...
BIRDLIFE JAMAICA
BirdLife Jamaica is the
only local organization specifically interested in the conservation
of Jamaicas birds and their habitats. Whereas the organization
has not taken a public position on the development itself, BirdLife
... has noted that it finds the results the faunal survey surprising.
Read
More...
CHALLENGE TO AVIFAUNA SURVEY
...at the site of the proposed Hope Country Club Development ...I
recorded 17 Species, or subspecies in my brief [90-minute] survey
while the professional survey done by ESTEC recorded only 7, including
the Turkey Vulture; I found 4 endemic and they found only 1; I
saw over 70 individuals, they reported approximately 10.
Read
More...
View some of the
email sent in protest
PETA-ANNE BAKER,
DEPT. OF SOCIOLOGY
At a time when most metropolitan regions are attempting to protect
and expand their green spaces, we seem to be determined to limit
ours. In doing so we are ignoring the wealth of research which
demonstrates clearly that there are not only ecological benefits
to be derived, but also that the mental health of us humans is
similarly benefitted. Read
More...
GLORIA ESCOFFERY
The most
urgent need is for this short sighted, in a sense criminal abuse
of political power be terminated before the developers are allowed
to interfere with the environment and destroy the natural landscape
background which is one of the greatest assets of Hope Gardens.
Read
More...
For a dissenting
opinion (in support of the proposed development), we invite you
to visit
the Gleaner's website where a December 15 article states:
...the
reality is that the Hope Gardens site lies idle and is unlikely
to see much happen to it unless the development goes ahead. Read
More (link opens in new window)..
For those who
came in late, we've archived recent articles
by John Maxwell who has been writing on this issue since
November.
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