A US$55 million deal struck by the Sierra Leonean government with China to build an industrial fishing harbor on 100 hectares of beach and protected rainforest has been criticized as “a catastrophic human and ecological disaster” by conservationists, landowners and rights groups.
The gold and black sands of Black Johnson beach fringe the African nation’s Western Area Peninsula national park, home to endangered species including the duiker antelope and pangolins.
The waters are rich in sardine, barracuda and grouper, caught by local fishers who produce 70 percent of the fish for the domestic market.
After reports of a Chinese-backed fish meal plant began circulating on social media, a statement that appeared to be from the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources confirmed the deal, but denied the planned construction was a “fish mill.”
The facility would be a harbor for tuna and “other bigger fishing” vessels exporting to international markets, the statement said.
The facility would include a “waste-management component” to “recycle marine and other wastes into useful products,” it said.
The Sierra Leonean government said the beach, one of many along the nation’s 400km coastline, was the “most suitable place” for construction, adding that the Ministry of Finance had set aside a compensation package of 13.76 billion leone (U$1.34 million) for affected landowners, but the statement left more questions than answers, those objecting to the plan said.
Two legal campaign groups, the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) and Namati Sierra Leone, have written to the Sierra Leonean government, under the Right to Access Information Act, demanding to see the environmental and social-impact assessment studies, and the report showing that the beach was, as claimed, the most suitable place for construction “in terms of bathymetry, social safeguards (minimum resettlement costs) and environmental issues.”
They are also seeking a copy of the grant agreement between China and Sierra Leone.
“The press release was very vague. It left us wondering how did we arrive here and how come we are only hearing about this now. We have a right to know more,” ILRAJ lawyer Basita Michael said.
OPEN LETTER
James Tonner, who owns land at Black Johnson with his mother, Jane Aspden Gbandewa, has written an open letter to Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio urging him to intervene and stop the construction, which Tonner said would be “disastrous for the country and the planet.”
It would destroy pristine rainforest, plunder fish stocks, and pollute fish breeding grounds and several ecosystems, Tonner said.
The beach is on Whale Bay, so named because whales and dolphins are seen there.
Tonner, who lives in London, has set up a crowdfunding page to fund a judicial review into the deal.
The Sierra Leonean government could be acting unconstitutionally if it acquired the land compulsorily, he said, because the constitution requires any such move to be in the public interest.
The compensation stated by the government was also unfair, he said, claiming that the rate was about 30 times lower than the market value of the land.
“Under the constitution, the government can sequester land if it is in the public interest,” Tonner said. “Even if this [is] just a deep-water harbor, it is not in the public interest because it’s not a suitable site. There are fish breeding sites in the lagoon. It will wipe out the local fish people live on.”
‘EVERYTHING SPOILED’
“If they do this here, the water will be dirty, there will be a lot of oil and noise, the trawlers will be all around. Our own fishermen won’t have a place to fish. Everything will be spoiled. Tourism will be finished,” said Tito Gbandewa, Tonner’s stepfather, who is a former fisher who runs an ecotourism business on the beach and owns about 1.2 hectares.
Conservation Society of Sierra Leone president emeritus Sama Banya said that the proposed development would have a “disastrous” impact on tourism and “the very fish industry that it’s supposed to support.”
Sierra Leonean Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Emma Kowa Jalloh said that the plan was for a harbor and not a fish meal factory.
“I can categorically tell you there is no fish mill [sic] going in at Black Johnson. What we are doing is a fish harbor that will be built by the Chinese government. A fish mill is something where you go and catch all the baby fish and grind it into food to give to piggeries, and fish in aquaculture — and that is so not true,” Jalloh said.
It would be built with a Chinese government “grant” and equity from Sierra Leone in the form of land, she said.
Half of the land needed was government-owned, including the seafront, up to 200m from the sea, while the rest has been acquired through compulsory acquisition, she said.
‘BE PATIENT’
“People are making this fuss about it,” she said. “I would just appeal to people: ‘Be patient, we want to be developed, we want to grow, we want to be classified as an upcoming country. There must be development and somebody has to sacrifice.’”
“I’m not saying everything is going to be 100 percent perfect, but we will make sure that it is near perfect,” she added.
HOUSES FLOODED: The ground shook in Tonga as explosions were heard, followed by gushing water and pelting rocks, sending people running to higher ground A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust, but the full extent was not apparent with communications still cut off yesterday. The eruption on Saturday was so powerful that it was recorded around the world, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the US. Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, suffered “significant” damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding that there had been no reports of injury or death, but a full assessment was not possible with communication lines down. “The tsunami has
‘ZERO’ STRATEGY: Carrie Lam said the airline faced a probe over its compliance with the rules after an outbreak was traced to air crew who breached quarantine Cathay Pacific is being investigated and faces possible legal action over an outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong that began with the airline’s employees, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said yesterday. The revelation came as Lam announced the suspension of all kindergarten and primary schools until after the Lunar New Year early next month. Like China, Hong Kong maintains a “zero COVID” strategy that has largely cut the international finance hub off from the mainland and the rest of the world for the past two years. A recent outbreak traced to Cathay Pacific air crew who breached home quarantine has sparked
PORT CONGESTION: Ships heading for Omicron-affected Dalian and Tianjin are being redirected to Shanghai, which does not have the capacity for the sudden cargo influx China has detected the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a second major port city, deepening concern that the vastly more infectious variant could spread quickly across the world’s largest trading nation, upending global supply chains. Chinese officials said yesterday that at least one person has Omicron in Dalian, a city of 7 million. A second person also tested positive for the virus, but the variant is unknown. Both are college students who returned home for the Lunar New Year holiday from Tianjin, where at least 137 other cases were traced as of Wednesday. Dalian joins Tianjin as the second crucial port city
Japan extended measures barring almost all new foreign arrivals until the end of next month and is to reopen mass vaccination centers as it battles an surge of COVID-19 cases, the government said yesterday. “We will keep the current border control policy until the end of February while taking necessary measures from a humanitarian viewpoint and considering the national interest,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. Local media said that there would be some new exemptions for members of Japanese families as well as students studying in Japan, but there were no immediate details from officials. The government is also to reopen
RSS