LETTER of THE DAY Leave Belmont property alone!

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I read with disgust that the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was in the process of accepting bids for the development of the Belmont property located alongside the world-famous Dunn's River Falls and Park and also bounded by the almost world-famous Mystic Mountain.

Might I point out that the sale would be a grave error geologically and any such planned development would have a severe effect on the climate, the geological constructs of the wetland, the rainforest, and also the beaches on to which those rivers flow, including the Rio Chico property.

I implore the UDC to reconsider this option and invite both the National Environment and Planning Agency and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management to get involved in the process. They very well may have already, but to allow this sale to go through with the plans as stated in the article would have tumultuous repercussions for the whole of the Ocho Rios area, and maybe beyond.

It would also affect the seismic demographics of the area. There is the likelihood of flood damage to the falls and the beaches, and more intense earthquakes, as the development could result in the shifting of the plates under the town.

Think again

Man also looks at the aesthetics. What would the area look like with apartments on one side of the falls? Would this deplete the revenues of the property? Dunn's River would lose its appeal as a tourist attraction. I invite our 'thinkers' (there appear to be none) to think again.

Mr Climate Change Minister, please look at the logistics, the geological and thermal implications and all other factors associated with this proposal and STOP it now before it is too late. When will we stop selling our hillsides? When we have no more and can see Alligator Pond from Discovery Bay?

I would like my great grand-children to see the Jamaica I know and their grandchildren too.

RACHAEL ISABEL MCGRATH EVANS

rachaelmcgrathevans@yahoo.com

Christiana, Manchester