STINAPA’s concerns about the development near Salina di Vlijt

 

An application for a development around Salina de Vlijt, the wetland just east of the Harbour Village Marina, has been submitted. In reviewing the documentation, STINAPA has questions and concerns about this development plan.

 

The plan consists of a residential development around the Salina di Vlijt, and construction of a dam near the eastern part to create a nature area. In dry periods the Salina causes a lot of dust and smells badly, which led to the plan to inundate the Salina permanently and ‘manage’ the area. The Salina di Vlijt is an important catchment/drainage area and these interventions will alter the hydrology considerably. The current characteristics of the Salina make it an area where many birds forage and nest, amongst them the least tern, a protected species.

Ecologically it is an important area, and not only for birds.

 

These proposed changes of this wetland area may cause undesired effects, may risk flooding of the surrounding residential areas and roads, it may alter the salinity in the western part of the Salina, and it may cause a change of the quality of the surplus water that flows out through the marina which in turn may adversely effect the reef. By changing the natural borders its unique values will be lost and we fear that the area will not be visited anymore by many bird species. The proposed development plan does not provide the data to allay our concerns about the hydrology. An ecological impact assessment (EIA) should be carried out to provide data on the ecology, which can address the questions that we have. The data in the current report is very scarce and sometimes even contradictory. It does not provide insights into the functioning of the area, nor does it provide any data to support the conclusions regarding the nature after the interventions.

 

The public is invited to view the documents concerning these plans at the administration office of the directorate R&O at Kaya Amsterdam.  The period for review and objections runs for 30 days from day of publication: May 31, 2016. Objections can be sent to: The Executive Council of the Public Entity of Bonaire, p.a. Kaya Grandi Kralendijk, Bonaire, CN.