A month after the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) stopped contruction firm Super Industrial Services (SIS) from backfilling the Caroni Swamp, several contractors are working round-the-clock removing tonnes of backfill from the environmentally sensitive area. Over the past week, dozens of truck have been working on the northern boundary of the Caroni River where T&T's national bird, the Scarlet Ibis nests. The illegal backfilled area is located off the Churchhill Roosevelt highway and is not visible from the road.
When the T&T Guardian visited the area over the weekend, more than 12 trucks were lined up waiting to remove backfill material. Two excavators were being used to dig up the sand and load it onto the trucks.
EMA Chairman Dr Allan Bachan said instructions were given for the area to be cleared before the end of this month. He said since the road was built alongside the river, boatmen have allegedly been using it for illegal trade. “We intend to dig up that road because from all reports we are getting, that road is facilitating illegal activity,” he said. He added that squatters have also begun using the swamp for agriculture.
“We are doing an investigation to determine how that backfill ended up in the swamp. We are also taking the issue of illegal squatting very seriously,” Bachan said. Asked when the remedial work will be completed, he said: "They were supposed to complete the project since last Friday. From our visits to the area, it is a lot of backfill to remove so we have not stipulated deadlines. We want the job to be done in a proper manner. “We intend to plant mangroves back on the site.”
Bachan said this matter is still being investigated. SIS was hired to backfill the area and a source said a state agency was involved. Details of the contract have not been made public and SIS director Terrence Lalla has on several occasions declined comment, saying he had no information to give. Bachan said once the material is cleared from the site, it will be utilised in other areas such as the Beetham landfill.
Backfilled started in January
The backfilling of the swamp started in early January. At that time, tour guides were told it was to be used as a stockyard for water pipes. When the Guardian highlighted the issue exclusively in January, SIS took down the fence, leaving hundreds of bags of sand on the site for weeks. Some of the bags ended up in the marshes. When the matter was brought to his attention last month, Minister of the Environment Ganga Singh said he had no information that the site was intended to stock water pipes. He said the EMA investigated and the project was terminated.
The Caroni Swamp, which comprises 8,398 hectares, is protected under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty which T&T signed for the conservation of wetlands.