Save Beef Island! Save Smugglers Cove! For our Childrens Future! Join the Peoples rally!
Palm Grove Rally, March 23rd, 2007
On the ground reporting from one of our group!
The rally started after 5 that afternoon. It had a small crowd but it got the word out and it made the public aware of the magnitude of the development. They had big posters with a before and after of Beef Island. It was my first time viewing the pictures and I was totally shocked. The only thing left when that development is finished is the Airport and the Dawson property. There will not be no room for even expanding the Airport or the parking lot unless Govt purchase property from the Developer. I stood by the posters with some other people of the public, and although people heard about the development, it is surely a difference when something is seen. The people were shocked.
The rally had T-shirts for sale, they had the petitions for signing, they had speakers such as Jenny Wheatley, Alfred Frett, a much older gentle man who spoke about the medicine bush that remedy a lot off things, I think he might be the bush doctor from East End. It had a young lady reading poetry, another young lady who urged the public to stand up for our kids’ future and Sowande spoke and he spoke very well. That guy is a fighter, he said he isn’t afraid of losing his job, he said he would rather lose his job than lose his country. There were blacks and whites there. There were some other people that spoke but I didn’t know who they were. They were also a power point presentation educating us about the area.
Did you know that the fish that are spawned in Hans Creek grow up to be the fish that even St. Thomas and Puerto Rico strive on? If our source is cut off, it will affect them too. Did you know that the big pond in Hans Creek area, the developer is going to scoop the entire pond out and open it so that water can flow through it to be a marina? Did you know the golf course alone is on 180 acres of land?
Information and pictures for this taken from BVI News Online and BVI Platinum Pictures were taken by Angela Burns Piper and Merrick Andrews.
Approximately 50-100 (depending on the source!) people showed up at the Palm Grove Rally last Friday afternoon. Demonstrators turned out with their placards and flyers to the rally which commenced later than originally planned.
The rally was being held in response to the fact that "the B.V.I Government has approved a development on Beef Island that will have a detrimental impact on the people of the B.V.I for generations to come, and are preparing to do the same with Smuggler’s Cove.
Persons in attendance at the rally, along with demonstrators, heard speeches by several persons speaking out for the cause, including Jennie Wheatley who can remember going as a child to Beef Island for picnics at the beach.
Persons were also able to gain more information on both Smuggler's Cove and the Beef Island Development from booths that were set up at the rally, including this one manned by Courtney DeCastro.
Former Minister of Natural Resources and Labour and Hon. Alvin J. Christopher says he is in support of Friday's rally against the Beef Island 5-star hotel development project. "I am here to support as well as to learn more about the Beef Island project. I know some things already because I was the minister of natural resources… I had my views then and my views haven’t changed," the legislator told BVI News Online. Christopher said the developer had forfeited his rights to the land that will be used for the development. As a result, he said government should have reacquired the land through the Alien Landholding Act. After doing this, he said the government should have then consulted the people of the BVI and carry out an environmental impact assessment study before undertaking any further development, especially of that magnitude.
"“Government should have been able to get certain legal rights to the property,”" Christopher said. Christopher, whose appointment was previously revoked as Minister of Communications and Works under the government of the day, says a 5-star hotel does not necessarily have to be large.
"A five star hotel does not mean big, it also means the quality of service,"he said.
Furthermore, the legislator said government should have given a BVIslander first choice for any such development by loaning them the money at a lower interest rate."“That way they would empower BVIslanders and still get the 5-star hotel they campaigned for," he said
The demonstration was organized by the BVI Fisherpersons & Concerned Individuals for the Protection of Beef Island.
Peaceful protest against Beef Island and Smugglers Cove development staged, by Mellica McPherson. Island Sun.
Drivers on Governments new bypass road pulled down their windows and slowed down their speed in order to catch a buzz of what was being said, while employees of surrounding businesses lent their ears to the speakers who bravely announced their disapproval of the proposed major developments that are to take palce at Beef Island and Smugglers Cove.
On Friday a gathering of concerned BVI Islanders clothed in their rally tshirts spoke out while curious tourists listened with intent as speaker after speakerr echoed similar sentiments opposing the projects. Large maps of Hans Creek hung on display for those who were not familiar with the area to see what was being discussed.
Most of the speakers against the proposed five star luxury resort hotel, spa, and golf course that is to be built on Beef Island based their argument on the fact that Hans Creek is a fisheries protected site. Some demonstrators displayed brightly colored placards all covered with messages opposing the developments. Meanwhile some officers of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force and other public servants observed the peaceful rally.
The BVI Fisherpersons Assocation, a group that had expressed concerns over the alleged detrimental effects this proposed development may have on Hans Creek and nearby environs was said to have been the organizers of the rally. They of course by supported by other concerned persons.
One very emotional young man questioned whether or not the territory social infrastructure would be able to support the population growth that may occur as a result of such large projects. While another well known daughter of the soil reflected sorrowfully on the time she spent in her early years on Beef Island.
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