Dredging in the NEMMA is to accommodate LNG and cement ships, and approved by DoE, PM says

The Antigua Port Authority is being accused of commencing a
massive dredging exercise that will remove seagrass beds and
endanger the fragile habitat of the North East Marine Management
Area (NEMMA) in order to make way for a huge natural gas ship that
would fuel a new fossil-fuel plant.

In Parliament on Tuesday, November 21, Barbuda MP Trevor
Walker asked
Prime Minister Gaston Browne to confirm this report.
 
In response, Browne said he is aware that dredging will be taking
place at Crabbs, which, for decades, has been designated an
industrial area and accommodates several cargo vessels.

What is being done now, he said, is to make the existing channel
deeper to accommodate larger ships.
 
According to Browne, this avenue has been in use for years and has
become clogged with silt; therefore, the dredging taking place is to
provide accommodation for larger cement and LNG ships.
 
He claims the Department of the Environment (DoE) and
the Development Control Authority (DCA) are the agencies that have
approved the project, and that there is no risk of environmental
degradation.
 
Although approval might have been given by the DoE, MP Walker
said, he remains curious to find out why this “illegal dredging” has
not been approved by the Fisheries Division.