FFOS loses highway appeal

ENVIRONMENTAL activist group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) has again lost its challenge to the permission given to the State to begin the multi-million dollar Churchill-Roosevelt Highway extension to Manzanilla.

And while the three appellate judges who delivered their ruling yesterday did not agree on the merits of the case – two found there were no merits in the appeal – they all agreed that the reliefs sought by FFOS would be prejudicial to good administration and the third-party rights of the contractor, Kallco. The FFOS asked Justices Gregory Smith, Judith Jones and Andre des Vignes for permission to challenge the process used by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to grant a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) for the project. Jones and des Vignes gave the majority ruling, while Smith dissented on the merits.

The FFOS challenged the process used by the EMA for granting a CEC for the $400 million phase one of the project between Cumuto and Guaico, claiming it was procedurally flawed and failed to consider alternative routes which would have less impact on the environment and communities.

FFOS also argued the work was affecting the Aripo Savannas forest reserve, which the EMA declared an environmentally sensitive area in 2007.

Immediately after the court’s ruling, FFOS’ lead lawyer, Anand Ramlogan,SC, sought a temporary injunction until the FFOS files an application for conditional leave to take the case to the Privy Council.

The judges denied this. Attorneys for the EMA said there was no need to grant an injunction, since there would be no “overnight destruction” of the Aripo Savannas.