 |
| Director of Physical Planning and Environment, Mr. Ellis Hazel |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MARCH 29TH 2006 - The Department of Physical Planning and Environment in the newly-created Ministry of Sustainable Development is charged with promoting the rational use of lands and at the same time taking such steps to ensure the protection and management of the environment in a sustainable way.
"The Department seeks to achieve its mission by providing for the stewardship of the country's environmental resources, so that in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, citizens and residents alike can enjoy a high quality of living.
We also seek to protect public health through proper planning and development control measures and in a large way, we strive to ensure that there is consistency and efficiency in the way we deal with development and building applications, as per our legislative and regulatory environment," said Director of Physical Planning and Environment, Mr. Ellis Hazel.
He said that the mandate following the creation of the Ministry of Sustainable Development has expanded. "Rather than dealing with just the planning issues and the development control issues, we now have to deal with the environmental issues, and so that has pretty much compounded the challenges which we face as an organisation," said Mr. Hazel.
"Some of these challenges have to do with the fact that there is a need for us to get out there into the community to have a higher degree of visibility and a higher degree of interaction, not only with the stakeholders, but with the common man on the street," said Mr. Hazel, who added that although the Department has representation on the Solid Waste Management Corporation Board and working with its line Departments and Ministries, "we have attempted to get the message across in terms of the need to protect the environment, the need to protect and refrain from dumping garbage illegally and indiscriminately, and so there has been some emphasis over the years, in trying to educate the public."
Other challenges he mentioned include the illegal cutting of trees in the forest or the poaching of plants from the forests to be sold as ornamentals, the indiscriminate agricultural practices in some instances, where persons keep herds of goats, sheep and other animals on the land for too long and so it promotes land degradation and soil erosion, etc.
The Director of Physical Planning and Environment also highlighted the illegal mining of sand from beaches and ghauts. "This is something that we are going to work with the Public Works Department to try and address. The Public Works Department is now the agency responsible for the sale of both ghaut sand and bay sand, but we have an oversight to play in terms of environmental management," said Mr. Hazel, who added that a programme is to be launched with the Public Works Department to address the issues of illegal sand mining.
On the development control side, he said the Department is also concerned that some persons building without approved plans.
"Since government created the Development Control and Planning Board, we have held several sensitisation meetings; both with our stakeholders, with the private sector, in particular the private sector. We held meetings with the Loan Officers of the Banks and advised them as to what the requirements are for building application approval and I must say that the Banks have been very supportive of this initiative. In fact, even when persons would submit the approved plan to the Bank, once the those drawings are not in any good condition, they are directed to come back to the Development Control and Planning Board to which we provide Secretariat services, to have those drawings reexamined; and so we applaud the assistance of the Banks in that regard," said Mr. Hazel.
He said there were some contractors who undertake work without approved plans and there are procedures to curtail the problem.
"First we are required to issue a Compliance Notice, basically informing that they are in breach and that they should correct that breach. If they do not follow the Compliance Notice, they are then issued with a Stop Order. The Stop Order is to say, close down the site until you get the necessary documents. Failure to comply with a Stop Order, even though the law gives the Development and Control and Planning Board the authority to enter onto that site and take such steps to ensure that breach is corrected, we have a number of constraints - financial and capital to go on the site and effect whatever change that needs to be taken; and so we have to rely on the court system," Mr. Hazel said.
He encouraged stakeholders to get on board and singled out the good relationship with Construction Technologies Limited (CONTEC) and St. Kitts Masonry Products in not delivering concrete to an illegal site.
"So there are certain checks that we have in place. However, we cannot get around it, because sometimes people do construction in the night and even on the weekends. It is difficult to police construction in the night and on the weekends. So we have a number of constraints that we have to work on; everybody, the stakeholders, the contractors, the suppliers of materials and the suppliers of concrete. There's a need for all of us to work together to try and eliminate illegal construction," said Hazel.
He said the Department is also facing an increased challenge since the closure of the sugar industry.
"All of a sudden people feel as if they can go and capture land and illegally squat. I'm aware that a meeting was held about two weeks ago trying to address the issue and we want to encourage voluntary compliance. I don't think none of us would want the government to exercise all of the powers that it has, in terms of compliance, in terms of eradicating squatting or the illegal capture of Crown Lands or private lands in some cases," said Mr. Hazel, who appealed to the general public to follow the rules and procedures.
"There are land application procedures in place and there is a misconception that if you go and you occupy a piece of land, the government is not going to do anything," said Mr. Hazel.
"This is not so," the Director of Physical Planning and Environment warned, "as the government has at its disposal the appropriate authority, the appropriate power, to move on to its own land and effect what ever change is desirable."
