Lobbyist group seeks to stop work on Manzanilla highway extension

A still image of the Aripo Savannas courtesy Fishermen and Friends of the Sea.
A still image of the Aripo Savannas courtesy Fishermen and Friends of the Sea.

Environmental lobbyist group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) is seeking to stop work which has started on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway extension to Manzanilla.

The group says the preparatory works near the Aripo Savannas. part of Phase 1 of the project. began on January 8, and already heavy machinery has begun bulldozing the southern boundary of the Aripo Savannas and the standing forests, including the Moriche palms, which are within the designated Long Stretch Forest Reserve.

FFOS secretary Gary Aboud said the work threatens the protected Aripo Savannas which are an environmentally sensitive area (ESA).

Hearing of the injunction application takes place today at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain before Justice David Harris.

The group has also challenged the decision by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to issue a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) to the Ministry of Works for a 5,000-metre highway from the Cumuto Main Road to Guaico Trace in Sangre Grande.

In its lawsuit, FFOS contends the CEC is “unreasonable, illegal, procedurally improper, irrational, null and void and of no effect.”

This is being heard before another judge.

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