Judge to rule on Manzanilla highway on Feb 6

Justice Kevin Ramcharan will give his ruling on February 6 on whether the group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) will be allowed to pursue its challenge of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA)'s decision to issue a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) for the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway extension to Manzanilla.

Ramcharan set a date for his judgement at the end of a hearing on Wednesday night.

He also further varied the temporary injunction he previously granted which halted work on the project. It has been widened again to allow the contractor, KallCo, to continue to build a site office which is said to fall outside the area covered by his previous injunction. KallCo was also allowed to continue with the construction of its access road, to survey the construction site and to remove already-felled trees.

The FFOS group claims the construction has threatened the Aripo Savannas – an EMA-designated environmentally sensitive area (ESA).

FFOS has also challenged the EMA grant of a 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.”

Attorneys for Ministry of Works and Transport and the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) have argued that every week the project is delayed costs taxpayers $10 million.

The EMA’s attorneys have argued that FFOS’ application for judicial review should be denied since there is no evidence to support its claims. They also said FFOS chose not to participate in public consultations and provided no justification for the delay in bringing the challenge to the CEC approval.