Photo source: ©© Bob Jagendorf
Excerpts;
Stretching some 67 km (41.6 miles) north to south across Jamaica, the $600m four-lane highway, Nicknamed the “Beijing highway, is the single biggest investment by the Chinese in the Caribbean. The road project is also the prelude of the building of a $1.5bn deep water container port on islands in Jamaica using dredging and land reclamation to accommodate mega ships coming through the expanded Panama Canal.
The islands – Goat Island and Little Goat Island – are internationally protected ecological sites, home to threatened species of birds, fish and reptiles…
Diana McCaulay of the Jamaica Environment Trust said the plan would involve the destruction of Goat Island, including wetlands, coral reefs and the largest remaining area of intact dry limestone forest in Jamaica…
Read Full Article, Guardian UK
What Happens to a Coral Reef When an Island is Built on Top? the Washington Post (07-11-2015)
Seven such coral reefs are being turned into islands, with harbors and landing strips by the Chinese military, and it is destroying a rich ecological network. “It’s the worst thing that has happened to coral reefs in our lifetime…”
China’s island Factory, BBC News(09-09-2014)
Great Wall Of Sand: Chinese Mischief at Mischief Reef, The New York times (04-12-2015)
Cops Believe Illegal Sand-Mining Operation Had Huge Reach, Jamaica Observer (11-11-2013)
A police operation recently uncovered a multimillion-dollar illegal sand mining site in St Catherine, southern Jamaica…
“African Ports Scramble for Land to Expand as Demand Rises, JOC (07-28-2015)
“Chinese Firm Signs $478.9 Million Kenya Lamu Port Deal,” WSJ, (08-04-2014)
Deep-Sea Ports Construction Cause Coastal Erosion, Thailand, Bangkok Post (01-12-2012)
Destructive coastal erosion along southern shorelines battered by recent storms could be the result of deep-sea port construction, villagers say, leaving them in fear of more beaches disappearing…
Doubts Deepen Over Chinese-Backed Nicaragua Canal As Work Starts, Reuters
