{"id":10586,"date":"2018-02-22T01:36:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T05:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=10586"},"modified":"2018-02-22T01:38:35","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T05:38:35","slug":"arresting-the-decline-into-hdc-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=10586","title":{"rendered":"Arresting the Decline Into HDC Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Stephen Kangal<br \/>\nFebruary 21, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?tag=stephen-kangal\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/skangal2.jpg\" alt=\"Stephen Kangal\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" border=\"0\"><\/a>Today Friday 16 February 2018 I made my third visit for this week to the fabulous and awesome natural ambience of St Augustine Nurseries located West of Southern Main and Farm Roads in Curepe.<\/p>\n<p>I have agonized at the potential and real destruction and bull-dozing of the beautiful natural and plant assets domiciled here for over one hundred years in this part of our landed patrimony that was in fact a workshop of nature generating flowers and food to all who visited.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218a.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Welcome to St. Augustine Nurseries\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Welcome to St. Augustine Nurseries<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p>The area of the St Augustine Nurseries has now dwindled to 60 acres after the losses to the NHA Development ( 1960&#8217;s) and HDC (East Grove\/Ramgoolie Development 2015) housing settlements.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218b.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"East Grove Housing on Ramgoolie Development in Curepe\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">East Grove Housing on Ramgoolie Development in Curepe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218c.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"East Grove behind NHA Housing Village\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">East Grove behind NHA Housing Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218d.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"307\" alt=\"HDC Site Location\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">HDC Site Location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The HDC plans to appropriate a 20 further acres of what is left to erect their 600 high- rise apartment buildings on this eastern part of the seedlings facility. It will produce a range of adverse consequences, inter alia, for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>traffic movement including the round de road route,<\/li>\n<li>the integrity of the Nurseries,<\/li>\n<li>the water-table and aquifers,<\/li>\n<li>employment of the workers,<\/li>\n<li>water production by WASA and<\/li>\n<li>the safety of crops planted by the Nurseries and<\/li>\n<li>the continued supply of planting materials to meet  the public demand that is on the rise.<\/li>\n<li>Loss of Vital Green Spaces<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218e.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"289\" alt=\"HDC Site Location\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">HDC Site Location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They that is the HDC held two very secretive consultations at the Pentecostal Church in Curepe on New Year&#8217;s Eve and Carnival Friday last with paltry attendance. A lot of misinformation was communicated to the few who attended. These cannot be classified as consultations because the Nurseries is a national institution serving the public and they must all have the opportunity to comment on this action that will be detrimental to its continued fulfilment of its national mandate and mission. <\/p>\n<p>Here are planted in this 20-acre part all the trees and shrubs that the workers use to cut small wooden pieces to propagate their planting materials for sale to the public. This 20 acre component is integral to the 60 acre St Augustine Nurseries. Without it and its fruit trees and shrubs the nursery will not be able to function and achieve its core purpose that is:<\/p>\n<p><u><STRONG>&#8216;To produce high quality planting material to the farming community and general public thereby contributing to food security<br \/>\nand<br \/>\nTo expand and conserve germplasm collections of key strategic crops of agricultural importance in live genebanks and\/or cold storage so as to ensure sustainability of the Agricultural Sector for the benefit of both the present and future generations.&#8217;<\/STRONG><\/u><\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218f.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Eastern part of the site\" class=\"size-medium\" \/>\n<p>It took many decades to plant and manicure these trees to provide the cuttings for plants. All will be lost were the HDC madness to materialize into fruition and transform this Eastern part of the site into a housing settlement that can negatively impact on what is left. Some of the accumulated agricultural wealth (germplasm and trees) of the Nation will be replaced by houses that can be built elsewhere in less environmentally sensitive domains leaving this sanctuary untouched to thrive in its awe-inspiring and breath-taking virgin state of nature.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218g.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Valsayn Water Works\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Valsayn Water Works<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are also several wells drilled by WASA as above producing millions of gallons of potable water in this 20 acre part of the Nursery. They will be lost and contaminated by new housing. The contradiction is that Bangladesh on the other side of the River is seen as an environmental and human threat to the same water table but they want to build houses on another part of this same prolific water table for which Valsayn St Joseph is well-known historically. Can we accept this deception as a Nation shorn out of its ethnic moorings?<\/p>\n<p>The very integrity of the St Augustine Nurseries is now being threatened by this barbaric invasion of this herbarium host to precious plants and germplasm.  I get the distinct impression that staff at the station do not support this decline into madness.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218h.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Ministry of Food Production\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ministry of Food Production<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218i.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"This sanctuary with its luxuriant foliage\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This sanctuary with its luxuriant foliage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The natural beauty of this sanctuary with its luxuriant foliage supported by ultra- fertile soil base of a sandy loam and river gravel at the lower depths that act as a natural filtration system is to be vandalized for achieving party political and partisan electoral objectives. We may have to eat ballot boxers to survive in the future because someone wants to use this St Augustine Nurseries of a paradise to create an additional vote bank in the St Joseph Constituency. Houses are bad but the vote bank factor is an obscene and vulgar response to this natural wonderland than can be transformed into a tourist-attracting Nature Trail in the middle of a township of Curepe.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218j.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Nature Trail in the middle of a township of Curepe\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nature Trail in the middle of a township of Curepe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I have attached above some photographs of this 20 acre part of the Nurseries showing the density of plants including the famous julie mango grove from which planting materials are propagated to fill a great demand for this fruit.<br \/>\nThe citrus trees are badly affected by a virus and will have to be renewed.<\/p>\n<p>I returned out of this plant sanctuary with a very heavy heart thinking that in 21st Century T&amp;T, First world aspirant with a 67% tertiary enrolment and a ballooning middle class that we can support this callousness as an industrializing society with a strong environmental lobby and an Environmental Management Agency that is a toothless bull-dog.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blogimg\/kangal210218k.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"A Grove of Julie Mangoes\" class=\"size-medium\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Grove of Julie Mangoes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Stephen Kangal February 21, 2018 Today Friday 16 February 2018 I made my third visit for this week to the fabulous and awesome natural ambience of St Augustine Nurseries located West of Southern Main and Farm Roads in Curepe. I have agonized at the potential and real destruction and bull-dozing of the beautiful natural &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=10586\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Arresting the Decline Into HDC Madness<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,30,7,142],"tags":[1328,173,49],"class_list":["post-10586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-pnm","category-politics","category-unc","tag-hdc-houses","tag-stephen-kangal","tag-tt-govt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10586"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10589,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586\/revisions\/10589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}