[JonTom]

JamaGinger posts an article about the "breakwater failure at Unawatuna Beach in Sri Lanka" and then today the Observer has an article stating the Negril Chamber of Commerce issued a release about the "breakwater failure at Unawatuna Beach in Sri Lanka".

JamaGinger is part of Negril Chamber? Or someone on (or influential with) the Negril Chamber reads this board? Or I'm just too  paranoid to accept coincidences?


"Negril chamber wants alternative to breakwater project"

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Negril-chamber-wants-alternative-to-breakwater-project

[rastagirl777]

lol, but I believe in Kismet....I'm going to guess its an awesome coincidence?

[oldtimer]

Enviromentally the breakwater is a diaster. Real in the poachers and the  fatal  sewage practises and there is 1/2 a chance .

[Passion4Diving]

From my reading of the two articles, I get the impression that the breakwater is perpendicular to the beach as it "stretches nearly a kilometer into the ocean, has disturbed the natural balance of the eco-system and is washing away the sand from one half of the beach, and depositing it on the other half" and this is exactly what happens when a perpendicular breakwater is built.
The one being proposed by the Negril project is (I recall) parallel to the beach and segmented.  That form of design is more conducive to inhibiting sand erosion.  There is a study I found that looked at the results of several segmented breakwater designs installed parallel to the shore: https://icce-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/icce/index.php/icce/article/viewFile/4159/3840
For me, it used some unfamiliar vocabulary so I looked it up: tombolos is another word for a sand dune and salients is another word for a bulge in the sand towards the parallel breakwater.
There is already a breakwater parallel to the Negril shore in front of the John Issa house and it seems to be working just fine.

[daniel]

how do you address rising sea elevation for a long term solution . beach renourishment seems pretty short term to me .. and it cant be all that good for the marine eco -system ?
I am definitely against a breakwater ..   no guess at a solution.. we are screwed again .

[JamaGinger]

lol...JonTom. No, I am just a long-time visitor to Negril who loves it like so many others. I am against the breakwater, so I do share this in common with many of the members of the Negril Chamber of Commerce. I am also a member of a Facebook group called Negril Pulse. They have been speaking out against the breakwater, so I shared their post from over the weekend.

[JonTom]

Articles shows the vote was much closer than the headline might indicate.

Negril Chamber welcomes JHTA Negril chapter vote against breakwater project

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Negril-Chamber-welcomes-JHTA-Negril-chapter-vote-against-breakwater-project

[CardBoardBox]

Dated April 10, from an official government agency, comes this:
http://newsletter.jis.gov.jm/lt.php?id=e0tWAwNLAFUOGlNVBwA

Story Highlights

• The Government of Jamaica is working to address concerns raised by members of the Negril community in order to move ahead with the proposed Negril reef extension/breakwater project.
• The project, which falls under the US$10 million funded Government of Jamaica Adaptation Fund Programme, was proposed to be completed in 2016.
• However, Deputy Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Claire Bernard, told a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on April 2 that the objections raised by sections of the community have basically stalled the project.
  

[JonTom]

From today's Observer:

"Negril breakwater controversy brought to the Public Defender"

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Negril-breakwater-controversy-brought-to-the-Public-Defender

Not sure if this means a lawsuit to come or just asking OPD to look into things. Probably the latter.

[JonTom]

Government, Hoteliers Still Divided Over Negril Breakwaters

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20150616/government-hoteliers-still-divided-over-negril-breakwaters

" led us to the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) to see whether they are interested in mediating the process".
Huh, a Dispute Resolution fund... who knew such things existed.