Page sponsored by Texaco Caribbean Limited
Publication: Daily Nation
Paper Page: 27A
Paper Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2002
Byline: Compiled by Terry Ally
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Page sponsored by Texaco Caribbean Limited |
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IT'S TOUGH living on the coast. The salt spray creates the need for a constant clean-up job, leaving a healthy maintenance bill in its wake each month. Throw in beach erosion, flooding threats from climate-change-induced sea level rise, storm surge or a combination of storm surge and inland flooding, and over $1 billion in coastal property is at risk.
A major research effort is on to find out just how much coastal residents know about potential threats facing them, to what extent are they prepared to go to deal with those perceived threats, what has been their experience so far with coastal damage and just how much has it cost them. By July, residents in five coastal areas will get the chance to tell their story and influence Government's management of the coastline.
"One of the reasons for doing this study is that there is a need, as part of an on-going process in the Coastal Zone Management Unit, to look at public education as it relates to the management of the coastal zone and the island's Coastal Zone Management Plan," said Leo Brewster, deputy director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit.
He is presently at the University of Cardiff, Wales, doing doctoral research and the perception of coastal residents is one of the areas on which he is focusing.
"One of the things that has not been done within recent times is to determine the level of awareness of property owners to some of the issues
facing the coastline. Yes, there is some understanding of beach erosion but other possible effects of storm surge, flooding from the sea or in
combination with inland flooding has not been looked at in any great detail and one aspect of surveying coastal residents is to determine the level of awareness and perception of risk they face."
The results will reveal where the coastal issue "hotspots" are from a public education perspective and will guide the Coastal Zone Management Unit in understanding whether there is a need for increased awareness or for better management and control of the shoreline through the Coastal Zone Management Plan in association with the Town Planning Department. The survey will take the form of a postal questionnaire which can be returned to the Coastal Zone Management Unit. The five areas under study are:
What's in it for these residents?
It will allow for property owners to make a contribution to the management of the coastline by openly participating in a process where they can voice their opinion on the issues affecting the coastline. All participants will receive a summary of the results collected, so that they can see where the trends occur in the results. It is intended that this too would help them to understand some of the issues that Government is facing in managing the coastline
and allows them opportunity for increasing their own awareness of the issues that they face on the coastline. If there is any difficulty in completing the questionnaire, the Coastal Unit can be contacted and assistance will be provided in completing the questionnaire, said Brewster.
IT'S LIKE a lethal ambush, tackling the enemy in the same fashion that it lay traps for humans. It is the mosquito dunks which look like a miniature doughnut made of sand but deadly to mosquito larvae.
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"This deals with the mosquito long before it start to bite you," said Stephen Corbin, of Rogers and Jordan, distributors of Mosquito Dunks which contains the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (BTI) which loves to feast on mosquito larvae.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito can lay its eggs in dry or wet containers. Those eggs will stay there for up to five years waiting for water. Once submerged in water they hatch within 48 hours. This is one of the drawbacks of fogging and insecticide spray they kill only the flying insect. However, the dunks, or granules, are placed in the dry container and wait, just like the eggs, for water to arrive. In water they activate and kill the larvae. One dunk is good for 100 square feet of water and lasts for 30 days in water.
"At its present cost it is five times cheaper than household insecticide. The BTI also comes in liquid form and can be used in fogging," said Corbin.
Scientific tests results show that BTI kills 85 to 90 per cent of the larvae. Corbin said many large private sector companies presently used the dunks in water storage tanks, grease traps, septic tanks, and storm water drains.
"It is friendly and not harmful to fish or other aquatic life. It was used in the Graeme Hall Swamp against the Anopheles mosquito and the mosquito
population has fallen significantly. There was no adverse reaction to the fish or the birds which eat the fish," he added.