#SpeakingOut – Who will pay for our reef?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.

by Sean St.Clair Fields

It’s been a while since my last contribution and although I chose to reserve comment on several other issues, I cannot in good conscience remain silent in this instance.

I will confess that I nearly choked while sipping my coffee and reading an article about the damage that has been done to our coral reefs as a result of the anchoring of the several cruise ships off our south and west coasts.

Professor Emeritus Ramon Mahon of the Centre for Resource Management & Environmental Studies (CERMES) explained the findings of a report that was conducted by the University of the West Indies, in an article entitled
“Massive Mistake” that appeared in the May 7 edition of the Barbados Today E- paper.

In that report, Professor Mahon revealed that between March and September 2020, they were a total of (132) anchor drops by cruise ships, resulting in damage to millions of square meters of our live coral reef and hence if the average area of destruction by one anchor drop on the sea floor is estimated to be around the size of a playing field, one could only imagine the damage inflicted on our reefs if (50) anchors were dropped in different locations.

The article also mentioned that they are very few shallow sandy areas off Barbados that are large enough to accommodate the anchoring of so many cruise ships at a time, without damaging the reefs.

Now while my support remains steadfast for Barbados’s facilitation of the cruise ships docking with us last year to assist stranded passengers been repatriated to their home countries, I can’t help but wonder if someone erred in carelessness if they were made aware of the potential destruction that could occur if too many cruise ships were permitted to anchor once the passengers had disembarked.

I am confident given the well established professionalism of the team at the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) that they would have informed the relevant authorities of the inherent risk and damage to our reefs under such circumstances.

The fact that according to Professor Mahon, the damage that has been inflicted on our reefs is likely to take over (100) years to repair, I contend that the cruise ships cannot be blamed as they would have followed the instructions provided to them by our authorities.

I would however like to take this opportunity to invite the cruise ship companies to partner with us in facilitating the necessary repairs and rehabilitation of those reefs that were damaged.

Additionally, I believe that this matter requires an urgent investigation and if it has been determined that the authorities were duly informed of the potential damage that could be inflicted on our reefs, but those charged with the responsibility to protect our environment, chose to ignore any advise that was provided, then the person(s) responsible MUST be held to account and the appropriate sanctions or punishment imposed on them for their obvious oversight.

Too often we hear of instances where the advice of our technical people is ignored and sometimes overlooked because of other economic variables and mitigating circumstances, which over time, have proven to ultimately lead to the detriment of our country and to all of us who call Barbados home.

I think it is established that most of us understand how vital our marine and coastal ecosystems are to our quality of life.

It cannot therefore be a continuum, if we claim to want to protect our environment, for situations like these to continue, or even worse, that those found responsible are only given the proverbial slap on the wrist.