|
Going Back to Basics: Highway 2000 Starts a Mangrove Farm
 KINGSTON,
August 10—In a bid to ensure the restoration and
preservation of a natural habitat Bouygues Travaux Publics
Jamaican Branch, contractors of Highway 2000, have started a
mangrove farm in the vicinity of the Causeway Bridge. The
mangroves grown will replace those lost in clearing of the
site for the construction of the highway.
“Mangrove areas play a significant role protecting the
shoreline. Mangroves also help prevent erosion by
stabilizing sediment with their roots while maintaining
water quality and clarity, and filtering pollutants,” said
Trevor Jackson, General Manager, TransJamaican Highway
Limited. Mr. Jackson explained that the decision to
establish the mangrove farm was arrived at after extensive
consultations with the National Environment and Planning
Agency (NEPA), which granted the permission to clear the
site for the highway.
Approximately 15 cm of the ripe seedlings of mangroves
are directly planted by hand into the soil which is prepared
and levelled throughout the platform of a minimum four
inches above high tide water level. This process serves to
accelerate growth of the mangroves. Highway 2000 has
contracted an environmental consultant to conduct
environmental audits of the project. Among other things, the
consultant seeks to ensure that the mangroves are properly
formed, and assesses their growth and development.
“Several mangroves areas in the vicinity of the
construction of Highway 2000 have been cited for
restoration. These include the bay side along the Causeway
(between Fort Augusta Drive and Causeway Bridge), as well as
the area between the Waterford canal and the Skeet Club. The
planting process is expected to be completed before the end
of the year. However, the monitoring process continues
throughout the construction period leading to when the
highway is open to traffic,” explained Omar Spence, Bouygues
Travuax Publics’ Quality, Safety and Environmental Manager.
 The
mangrove farm is closely monitored by NEPA to ensure
compliance with the directives in the environmental permit
issued to Highway 2000. “It is early days yet, but NEPA is
happy that the Highway 2000 project team has taken the step
to first experiment and see what is the best method of
replanting the mangroves and they have seemingly found a
niche,” said Wilson Kelly, NEPA’s Manager for Integrated
Watershed and Coastal Zone Management.
One of the specific conditions of the environmental
permit stipulates that the contractors mitigate the total
area of mangroves expected to be lost due to roadway
construction by replanting an equivalent area of red
mangroves. Highway 2000 will replant an estimated 5 metre by
4 kilometres stretch of mangroves.
“The construction of roads is an integral component in
the infrastructural development of a country, however this
must be done in an environmentally sound context,” said Mr.
Jackson
Work on the Portmore phase of Highway 2000 is on
schedule. The three interchanges are steadily taking shape
and the main traffic diversion at Marcus Garvey Drive was
opened to traffic in July to allow the construction of the
Marcus Garvey Drive interchange. A 4-km stretch of the Dyke
Road from Passage Fort Drive to the Portmore Interchange has
been rehabilitated and is now open to the public. The box
culvert structure at Fort Augusta is complete and
construction of the ramps will start in October. The box
culvert structure at Dawkins Drive Interchange is also in
progress and is expected to be complete later this month as
construction of the ramps are scheduled to start in
November. Construction on the toll building started in June.
The Portmore Phase of Highway 2000 will complete by end of
June 2006.
-end- |
