PM defends water zone policies, regulatory oversight

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has acknowledged that the Ministry of the Environment was wrong to grant permission for the Suarez Brothers Circus to operate at the National Botanical Gardens, saying approval should not have been given without consultation with the Barbados Water Authority (BWA).

However, she defended the country’s regulatory system, saying the BWA’s subsequent intervention showed that the checks and balances designed to protect Barbados’ water supply worked.

“I am not going to fool you and tell you that the botanical garden wasn’t wrong when they gave permission, because they were wrong,” Mottley said during a site update at the Alleynedale Pumping Station on Tuesday. 

“They should have known that they should not have given permission for anything to operate on the site there without talking to the water authority.”

The Prime Minister said the government wanted to establish where mistakes were made, but argued that the incident should also be viewed in the context of the wider regulatory system.

“We want to find out where the mistake was made and what is. I cannot tell you where the mistakes were made just so without telling you that the system worked,” she said.

“We have checks and balances in our regulatory system in this country, and when one or two of them do not function, the others must still be able to function, and this is exactly what happened here.”

Mottley disclosed that four days before the circus opened, organisers were informed by email that they had not been granted permission by the BWA.

“But mercifully, the Barbados Water Authority did its job,” she said. 

“What is even more to the point, and has not come out yet, is that on the Wednesday before the Saturday, Suarez Circus received an email indicating that they were not granted permission. The ‘not granted permission’ was actually in capital letters.”

She said the communication followed an earlier indication, approximately two hours before, that the circus could operate at the location.

“Initially, two hours earlier, they had been told that they could go there,” Mottley said. 

“When the water authority realised what had happened, four days before Suarez Circus opened, they told them they could not and would not get water. And this was without the water authority knowing that they were intending to have people sleep on site. When that was found, that just compounded the situation.”

Mottley questioned why the circus subsequently opened at the location.

“Why they would have opened on a Saturday when the Barbados Water Authority made it absolutely clear four days before that they could not get water is beyond my comprehension or understanding.”

The Prime Minister also responded to comparisons between the Botanical Gardens issue and other developments, including the Geriatric Hospital and projects at Vineyard, St Philip.

She rejected suggestions that the Geriatric Hospital was situated in the most restrictive water protection zone.

“You want to ask me like others about the geriatric hospital. Let me answer both, because sometimes in this country we allow others to set information without it being facts,” Mottley said.

“The reality is that the geriatric hospital from day one was, is, and has not moved, it is always in Zone C, not Zone A.”

Technical officials present at the briefing also indicated that the hospital site remained in Zone C under both the previous and current zoning arrangements.

Mottley said most of St Philip falls within Zone D and rejected claims concerning the Vineyard area.

“For those who want to create mischief, I can only say that they may feel that they have reasons to want to create mischief,” she said. 

“I do not know what they are, but I will stick to the facts. The government is not bad, and the government would never have chosen a Zone A area to build a hospital.”

Mottley also sought to explain the different categories within the country’s water protection zoning system.

She said Zone A is an exclusion zone, while Zone B is a pathogen exclusion zone and contributing recharge area. Zone C is a chemical exclusion zone, Zone E covers non-contributing recharge areas and Zone F relates to desalination areas.

“There are different types of activities that can go into Zone B and Zone C so long as they meet the criteria,” she said. “Zone A is an exclusion zone. If you help me explain this to the country so that everybody knows what we are talking about, we will not get into this confusion or these wild allegations and accusations.”

Mottley said the restrictions applying to the Botanical Gardens site were among the reasons the government had chosen to use the area as a botanical garden.

“Am I clear that there could have been no circus activity or any type of that activity at the Belle? That is why this government chose to make that the National Botanical Gardens, because we know that we cannot put certain things there,” she said.

“That is why for the last 18 months we have been keeping it clean and flat so that it does not become a public nuisance.”

Responding further to claims concerning Vineyard, Mottley dismissed them as political posturing.

“I am not sure where that rumour came from, but I suppose there are certain times of the year that we see politics, one before annual conferences and one before an election,” she said. 

“I am not going to get into the silly season or the miniature silly seasons that take place on an annual basis.”

(RR)