Late update on the Dubon project (and a happy update too...keep reading)

This is an excerpt from an email Jim Galasso sent out...mark your calendars. The fight is not over yet (I know for some of us, July is as far away as Christmas, but it will be here soon, so tuck it away)

The Dubon Project - the 135 residences - 2 paradores -of 30 rooms each ( but may be bigger) and a 24 room "cabana" set up that will also be rented -- all on 105 acres -- on the Punta Aloe side of the island- is back up for a public hearing of the PR Planning Board on JULY 7th Culebra

This project had a preliminary one day hearing in April where it was discovered they fgialed to have the required public hearing by the Environmental Quality Board - That hearing was conducted about a month ago so now they have resceduled the Planning Board Hearing --

Just in case you wonder how long this has been going on...no matter what is said, here is something I found online concerning Villa Mi Terruno (what a revolting perversion of a name) from 2003, that's Two Zero Zero THREE. If you are not inclined to click, here's a charming little bit of the description for an ignorant public.

"The overall “green” approach to design and careful attention to the economic and social requirements of the island help make this project a model for truly sustainable development."

2003 architects & Dubon's wet dream of Villa Mi Terruno
(note the ever so clever 'green' color scheme - are these guys hip or what?)

Hello? Isla Culebra to you people with dollars jamming your brains?? Come in please! This is Culebra, the rapee, calling the writer and instigators of this proposal liars and dishonorable men of major proportions.

Can it be slander if it is true? I'd be delighted to discuss that idea with Brothers Dubon et al.

Here is an excerpt of a letter Mary Ann Lucking, of Coralations, wrote (in one of many presentations to the powers that be), that might help clearly and consisely translate what is being done, what is being fought against and what is being fought for. It is quite obvious (don't take it from Mary Ann if you don't want to, go walk the road yourselves...it's right there to be seen and you don't need a PhD to understand the damage).

Another case study on the US Caribbean island of Culebra involves the Villa Mi Terruño
project (compliance order CWA-02-2008-3141) which moved with no planning or public
oversight, created dirt roads that canalized water and runoff, installed storm sewers that
did not curb erosion, all without NPDES permit or planning oversight of any kind. A
sediment control pond system was created that itself caused chronic damage to coastal
waters. In this case experts have told us the geological sensitivity of the area makes a
sustainable project impossible. The resources destroyed are protected, publicly shared
and important both economically and ecologically for the function they provide. While
the project was penalized a mere $32,000, despite protected coastal resources, and now
has an NPDES permit, it is still discharging sediment into coastal waters with every
rainfall. Bacteria, virus and fungus associated with soils can infect coastal organisms in
the tropics. The combination of sediment and rising sea surface temperatures is making
these marine animals less resistant to infection, while proliferating the problem
pathogens. This is also a very serious public health concern. The agency must consider
criteria in these regions where rejection and not fictitious reductions are the goal given
the irreparable harm caused by this impact.

And it's 1, 2, 3 what are we fighting for?

On a happier update note, I was reading a comment from someone on one of the posts that the photos didn't 'work' (hopefully fixed) and I thought, this name really sounds familiar! And so it is...Melissa Evangeline Keyes is a painter whose work I've always enjoyed, as well as a pretty spiffy photographer. Oh yeah and she's a diver, and no doubt more, while living on St. Croix. Check out her blog!