BRADES, Montserrat, August 25th, 2011 – The Ministry of Agriculture officially published the Terms of Reference for the  Environmental Impact Assessment of the  Sand Mining Industry with specific reference to the Belham Valley Area on Wednesday.

The Government of Montserrat through the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment has contracted the services of a UK Based company IMC Worldwide to undertake this assignment. Dr Gordon Smith is now on island undertaking the study, which will be completed in late November 2011.

According to the TOR, the consultant is to provide “specialist environmental services” to the Government for the “effective management of sand extraction activities on the island.” This assessment will include the “undertaking of an environmental impact assessment, with reference to the Belham Valley area of Montserrat, the production of an Environmental Report and a detailed set of environmental management guidelines for the sand mining sector in Montserrat.”

Volcanic sand has been a byproduct of the volcanic activity which began in 1995. The importance of this resource for development is recognized in the Government of Montserrat’s Sustainable Development Plan 2010-2020, which identifies mining sand and aggregate for export as one of four primary economic drivers for growth.

Presently sand mining is being carried out in an ad hoc manner by a small number of private sector operators, who are trucking the sand from the Belham, north on the main road to the port at Little Bay. A DFID project to rehabilitate the main road is dependent on resolving the issue of overloaded sand mining trucks.

A number of local community based organizations have been campaigning for the resolution of these issues, most notably the Belham Environmental Protection Group.  These groups are focused on the effect of mining activities on the residential areas of Old Towne, Isles Bay Hill and Salem, the TOR states.

The Government says it is seeking to “regularise the sand mining industry, bringing an end to the individualistic and haphazard approach which has characterized the efforts to-date.”

The full TOR of the Environmental Impact Assessment can be found on www.gov.ms, publication’s page.

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