A US$55 million deal struck by the Sierra Leonean government with China to build an industrial fishing harbor on 100 hectares of beach and protected rainforest has been criticized as “a catastrophic human and ecological disaster” by conservationists, landowners and rights groups.
The gold and black sands of Black Johnson beach fringe the African nation’s Western Area Peninsula national park, home to endangered species including the duiker antelope and pangolins.
The waters are rich in sardine, barracuda and grouper, caught by local fishers who produce 70 percent of the fish for the domestic market.
After reports of a Chinese-backed fish meal plant began circulating on social media, a statement that appeared to be from the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources confirmed the deal, but denied the planned construction was a “fish mill.”
The facility would be a harbor for tuna and “other bigger fishing” vessels exporting to international markets, the statement said.
The facility would include a “waste-management component” to “recycle marine and other wastes into useful products,” it said.
The Sierra Leonean government said the beach, one of many along the nation’s 400km coastline, was the “most suitable place” for construction, adding that the Ministry of Finance had set aside a compensation package of 13.76 billion leone (U$1.34 million) for affected landowners, but the statement left more questions than answers, those objecting to the plan said.
Two legal campaign groups, the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) and Namati Sierra Leone, have written to the Sierra Leonean government, under the Right to Access Information Act, demanding to see the environmental and social-impact assessment studies, and the report showing that the beach was, as claimed, the most suitable place for construction “in terms of bathymetry, social safeguards (minimum resettlement costs) and environmental issues.”
They are also seeking a copy of the grant agreement between China and Sierra Leone.
“The press release was very vague. It left us wondering how did we arrive here and how come we are only hearing about this now. We have a right to know more,” ILRAJ lawyer Basita Michael said.
OPEN LETTER
James Tonner, who owns land at Black Johnson with his mother, Jane Aspden Gbandewa, has written an open letter to Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio urging him to intervene and stop the construction, which Tonner said would be “disastrous for the country and the planet.”
It would destroy pristine rainforest, plunder fish stocks, and pollute fish breeding grounds and several ecosystems, Tonner said.
The beach is on Whale Bay, so named because whales and dolphins are seen there.
Tonner, who lives in London, has set up a crowdfunding page to fund a judicial review into the deal.
The Sierra Leonean government could be acting unconstitutionally if it acquired the land compulsorily, he said, because the constitution requires any such move to be in the public interest.
The compensation stated by the government was also unfair, he said, claiming that the rate was about 30 times lower than the market value of the land.
“Under the constitution, the government can sequester land if it is in the public interest,” Tonner said. “Even if this [is] just a deep-water harbor, it is not in the public interest because it’s not a suitable site. There are fish breeding sites in the lagoon. It will wipe out the local fish people live on.”
‘EVERYTHING SPOILED’
“If they do this here, the water will be dirty, there will be a lot of oil and noise, the trawlers will be all around. Our own fishermen won’t have a place to fish. Everything will be spoiled. Tourism will be finished,” said Tito Gbandewa, Tonner’s stepfather, who is a former fisher who runs an ecotourism business on the beach and owns about 1.2 hectares.
Conservation Society of Sierra Leone president emeritus Sama Banya said that the proposed development would have a “disastrous” impact on tourism and “the very fish industry that it’s supposed to support.”
Sierra Leonean Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Emma Kowa Jalloh said that the plan was for a harbor and not a fish meal factory.
“I can categorically tell you there is no fish mill [sic] going in at Black Johnson. What we are doing is a fish harbor that will be built by the Chinese government. A fish mill is something where you go and catch all the baby fish and grind it into food to give to piggeries, and fish in aquaculture — and that is so not true,” Jalloh said.
It would be built with a Chinese government “grant” and equity from Sierra Leone in the form of land, she said.
Half of the land needed was government-owned, including the seafront, up to 200m from the sea, while the rest has been acquired through compulsory acquisition, she said.
‘BE PATIENT’
“People are making this fuss about it,” she said. “I would just appeal to people: ‘Be patient, we want to be developed, we want to grow, we want to be classified as an upcoming country. There must be development and somebody has to sacrifice.’”
“I’m not saying everything is going to be 100 percent perfect, but we will make sure that it is near perfect,” she added.
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