Commissioner of State of Lands takes back clearance for Maracas Bay stage

Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat said the letter of non-objection given to the promoters of the Karukera One Love (KOL) event has been rescinded.

Rambharat is also expecting a report from the Commissioner of State of Lands on the matter. He was supposed to have received the report at 12 pm on Monday.

In a phone interview with Newsday, Rambharat said he received a copy of the letter from the Commissioner of State Lands issued to the event’s promoters and it indicated that the previous letter of non-objection had been rescinded.

He said the commissioner rescinded the letter of non-objection on the basis of the failure to provide a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) as was required and on instructions received from the minister.

“I could also say that, subsequent to that, I also checked with the EMA who confirmed that a CEC was required. Udecott was advised on January 31 that a CEC was required and up to now an application has not been received for the CEC,” he said.

He added apart from his own assessment of the safety issues, Fire Chief Marlon Smith said he had given no approval and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) said they received no request for the CEC.

Asked if his request for the rescinding of the non-objection letter was overreaching his ministerial power, Rambharat said no, as he had no doubt he was within his authority to do so.

“This is a matter of public safety. It is an issue of policy and compliance. As a minister I made my own assessment on the matter of public safety once I saw in the newspaper that the Chief Fire Officer said he had not given approval.

“The approval from fire is a prerequisite for any public event in the country and, in particular, this one. The second is that as a matter of policy, I am responsible for policy in the ministry. Granting a permission like that requires adherence to a number of strict guidelines and requires expert input. I saw no evidence of that.

“And thirdly as a matter of public safety, if I feel as a minister in any area of the ministry the safety of the public is compromised, I believe I have the authority to act.”