Publication: Sun on Saturday
Paper Section And Page: 32
Paper Date: Sat, Jan 20, 2001
Byline: by Terry Ally

POLICE have taken charge of investigations into coral reef damage by two visiting yachts.

The two, the Blue Leopard and the Virginian, were reported to have caused anchor damage of coral reefs off the Folkestone Marine Reserve, Folkestone, St. James.

A SATURDAY SUN team took underwater photographs Wednesday, detailing the damage off the Folkestone Marine Reserve, and within hours, officials from the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU), the Fisheries Division and the Coast Guard moved in to investigate the reports. Yesterday, the CZMU and the Fisheries Division handed over to the police the results of their two days of information gathering and evidence. They spent the better part of the morning giving statements to and being interviewed by the police. There was also a flurry of meetings which lasted over six hours involving the CZMU, the Fisheries Division, the Solicitor-General's Office, the police
and the Customs Department.

Officials were tight-lipped on further developments, saying the matter was now at a "delicate stage". But, Sir Charles Williams, co-owner of Port St. Charles Marina, said the matter was handled incorrectly. He felt that a call to Sir Anthony Bamford, who owns the Virginian, would have solved matters.

"I would bet anything in my life that if there are any repairs to be done to the reef that his boat has damaged, he would do it," Sir Charles said on Voice of Barbados' Down To Brass Tacks yesterday.

Sir Charles said there needed to be clear directions to yachtsmen as to where they can berth and he offered to pay for ten new berths along the West Coast.

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