Barbados in environmental hot water

Barbados in environmental hot water

The Sanctuary is within the last 240-acre green space on the island's South Coast between the Airport and the capital of Bridgetown, and is also part of the Ramsar wetland recognised by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, November 2, 2009 - A Canadian investor who said he pumped US$35 million into creating an eco-tourist facility in Barbados, is blaming the government for the closure of the 35-acre property and he's taking the matter to a higher authority.

Peter Allard, developer of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, has filed a complaint alleging that the government violated its international obligations by refusing to enforce its environmental laws, and as a result allowed increased pollution and land development to damage the Sanctuary.

Notice of the dispute has been filed under the Agreement For The Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between Canada and Barbados.

"The dispute arises out of actions and omissions of Barbados that have caused or permitted environmental damage to the Sanctuary, thereby destroying the value of Mr Allard's investments in Barbados," explained the investor's legal counsel in the complaint.

It added that Allard had developed the Sanctuary into an eco-tourism facility that attracted tens of thousands of visitors from the time of its opening in April 2004 until its closing in March 2009, due to Barbados' consistent refusal to enforce its domestic environmental laws and to abide by its international obligations under the Convention on Wetlands and Convention on Biological Diversity.

It said that this led to a radical escalation of polluted runoff into the Graeme Hall wetland that serves as a Caribbean flyway stop for migratory birds between North and South America.