Concerned Residents Of East St. George
P.O Box 1704
Kingstown
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Honourable Camillo Gonsalves
Parliamentary Representative
East St. George
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
An open letter of grave concern and collective appeal requesting your administration to immediately cease sand mining activities at Brighton Beach
Dear Sir,
Warm greetings from the people of East St. George.
We humbly submit this letter of grave concern and collective appeal in response to the relentless attack of black sand mining operations at Brighton Beach. The catastrophic and extreme danger posed by sand mining at Brighton Beach should not be ignored and, in fact, should be addressed correctly and decisively to further avoid economic loss, stop epidemic of health related diseases, negative impact on climate change, storms and sea level raise and mass destruction of the environment.
In particular, we strongly urge your honourable office to order the immediate halt and urgent cancellation of all black sand mining operations at Brighton to save the people and the environment and keep them from harm’s way.
The non-stop sand mining at Brighton Beach, as sanctioned by your administration, is scoring day-to-day giant kill on the nearby protected bird sanctuary of Milligan Cay and the natural environment, and if not stopped, the situation will become totally uncontrollable, and the damage more far-reaching than ever. The sand dunes that once protected the area from erosion have been totally wiped out and leave the residents of the costal area of Brighton Beach vulnerable to tidal surge and tsunami.
For many years, we the residents of your constituency have called the attention of your administration to stop this plunder and destruction. However, our call for help is constantly being ignored and our collective appeal continues to fall on deaf ears.
Honourable Sir, the effects of black sand mining operations at Brighton are life threatening and extremely annihilating. The residents have been complaining about huge reduction in fish catch, fat pork, sea grapes, turtle nesting, crabs and other marine life. Additionally, the severe sea blast caused by the removal of the sand dunes that once served as a protective barrier for the homes in the immediate vicinity have created a burden of constant repairs to the homeowners.
We, the residents of Brighton, Enhams, Mc Carty, Revere, Prospect, Junction, Belvedere and the surrounding villages once bask in the sun and enjoyed sea bathing at this sprawling, dramatic black sand beach. Today, this has been made impossible by the day-to-day destruction caused by sand mining. We are collectively appealing to you as our representative to do everything in your power to rescue the people of your constituency from further destruction by implementing the necessary measures to stop sand mining at Brighton Beach.
Jerol Huggins Jackson & Andrew Simmons
On behalf of the people of East St. George
The views expressed herein are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinions or editorial position of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected]
The opinions presented in this content belong to the author and may not necessarily reflect the perspectives or editorial stance of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].