The same Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal decision that is allowing a controversial luxury resort development on Beef Island to move forward may also have invalidated laws protecting more than 12,400 acres of the territory’s waters, an environmental group claims.
A Friday judgment issued by the Court of Appeal ruled that Hans Creek, a 119-acre area close to the site where Quorum (BVI) Limited plans to build a luxury resort, was invalidly declared a “fisheries protected area” in 2003. Because the territory’s 13 other fisheries protected areas were set up in a similar fashion, they also may be invalid, according to a statement from the Virgin Islands Environmental Council.
“This finding has numerous negative implications. Firstly, it effectively invalidates the entire fisheries protected area system in the BVI,” the group said in a statement.
See the Aug. 25, 2011 edition for full coverage.