Lawyer speaks out on beach sand mining, Montserrat

montserrat-rob-young
Views of Soufriere Hills Volcano and the capital Plymouth, covered by pyroclastic debris and ash by eruptions that began in 1995. Captions and Photo courtesy of: © Rob Young and Katie Peek, PSDS.

Excerpts;

Substantial quantity of sand is currently being removed from the southern end of Carrs Bay Beach, and area that is both environmentally and ecologically sensitive…

Read Full Article, The Montserrat Reporter (05-27-2016)

Ash to cash’: Montserrat gambles future on the volcano that nearly destroyed it; Guardian UK (01-28-2016)
Around 2010, sand mining began in the island’s exclusion zone – the area most at risk from volcanic activity where people are no longer allowed to live.
During the day, the island’s main artery road is clogged with sand-loaded trucks en route to the port. “It’s like a gold mine on Montserrat,” said Claude Hogan, Montserrat’s minister of agriculture, trade, housing, lands and environment…

Montserrat’s Unexpected Life; New York Times (02-05-2016)

Beijing highway: $600m road just the start of China’s investments in Caribbean, Guardian UK (12-26-2015)

Biologist urges action on illegal sand mining, Antigua; (05-24-2016)

Negril Chamber Outraged Over Sand-Mining Operations, Jamaica; Jamaica Gleaner (01-16-2016)
The Negril Chamber of Commerce has expressed outrage at what it says appears to be shady sand mining activities connected to major hotel developments in Negril and elsewhere on the North Coast…

Illegal Sand-Mining Threatens Sea Turtle Population, St Kitts-Nevis; Caribbean News (03-19-2011)

Sand Thieves Are Eroding World’s Beaches For Castles Of Cash, by Martine Valo, Le Monde (09-2013)
The pillaging of sand is a growing practice in the world. This is because it represents 80% of the composition of concrete that it is the object of such greed…

Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks: A UNEP report (GEA-March 2014)
Despite the colossal quantities of sand and gravel being used, our increasing dependence on them and the significant impact that their extraction has on the environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely unknown by the general public.
In March 2014 The United Nations released its first Report about sand mining. “Sand Wars” film documentary by Denis Delestrac – first broadcasted on the european Arte Channel, May 28th, 2013, where it became the highest rated documentary for 2013 – expressly inspired the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to publish this 2014-Global Environmental Alert.

Sand Wars, An Investigation Documentary, By Multi-Award-Winning Filmmaker Denis Delestrac ©-2013.

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