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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dear coral-listers,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Last September I sent a SOS on the net about the
corals in Blue Bay marine park (Mauritius) being smothered by silt and
I received quite a lot of answers from coral listers for which I am very
thankful. The ecologist association ECO-SUD to which I belong was never
asked to help save the corals though and the authorities just
waited and left Nature manage on its own. Eventually the strong
current of the bay washed part of the silt away while another part
settled on the sea bottom. How much damage has been done to the
corals remains to be checked now...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>As I explained at the time, developers bent on building a
five-star hotel on an islet right in the middle of the marine park had started
preliminary works on the mainland and in the sea to build a docking area from
where barges would be loaded with machines and building material to be
taken to the islet. Excavation works on the land and dredging of the sea bottom
caused silt to spread in the lagoon and then to deposit itself on the live
coral patches of the bay. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The members of ECO-SUD attempted everything in their
power to stop the works and in the end the government issued a stop order
because the promoters had no permit to do these works. The promoters were also
compelled to apply for an EIA permit by submitting an EIA report to the Ministry
of Environment. But no legal action was taken against them despite the fact that
they had broken the law.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The EIA report for that hotel project is presently
open for public inspection at the Ministry of Environment, and written comments
from the public will be accepted at the ministry until 22nd December. So
all those who, like ECO-SUD, have been against the hotel project right from
the start are carefully studying the report in order to comment on it. Up to now
we have found several items needing to be criticized. We hope that the EIA
committee will see through the promoters'</FONT><FONT face=Arial> false
promises and careless assertions. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Doris Sénèque </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>