fp Turks and Caicos

Almost everywhere the oceans meet the shore, sand is shifting, building up or being swept away.

Some of it is natural, some man made. Either way, man continues to try to keep sand where he wants it.

In the Turks and Caicos Islands, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world — the beach along Grace Bay — is a good example. Resorts and private landowners for years have been mining sand from the ocean floor to replace that which nature has taken away.

The government has required environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and monitoring of that activity, some of which has occurred in the Princess Alexandra National Park. Some of it has occurred illegally onshore, where people have excavated where it is forbidden.

In 2005 the government sought to identify all areas in the country where sand could be mined to meet the country’s future needs for construction and beach renourishment.

Hired to perform the study was Florida coastal engineer Karyn Erickson of Coastal Design & Engineering Ltd. and TCI marine ecologist Marsha Pardee, who had worked together in the TCI for nearly 20 years on both government and private projects across the archipelago.

Together they located potential areas for sand mining, identifying the types and quantities of sand as well as marine life that might be affected. They also surveyed local demand for sand to determine the market in the TCI for sand that is mined.

Their study, published in 2007, did not perform EIAs of each of the numerous areas around the country because government regulations require EIAs for all dredging. Those regulations require each EIA to address all environmental and socioeconomic related issues concerning the area under consideration prior to final approval or refusal by government.

Most of the sand available for mining was identified off Grand Turk, North Caicos and Middle Caicos, with little available off Providenciales and South Caicos.

In September, the interim government banned all onshore mining and put in place a new offshore sand mining policy on Dec. 1.

“Developing offshore mining ensures adequate supplies of this important product, especially for the construction sector, and gives government a useful source of income at a time when we must balance the budget in a manner that is responsible and sustainable,” Arthur Been, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Communication, said at the time.

“This new approach to sand mining will eliminate the eyesore of gaping holes caused by onshore mining while preserving the environment,” Been said.

The government then sought tenders for mining 321,000 cubic yards of sand from six different areas — more than one-third of 900,000 cubic yards identified in the study. The sites and cubic yards available are:

• Grand Turk: Boaby Rock, 20,000; North Creek Beach, 34,000; and North Creek Channel, 33,000
• North Caicos: Over Wash Salina, 25,000; and North Mouth Bottle Creek, 69,000
• Middle Caicos: Juniper Hole, 122,000

The deadline for tenders is Jan. 31. The government expects to award contracts by March 1, and work could begin as soon as April 1.

Contracts will be awarded by a special tender board appointed by the permanent secretary of Finance acting on the advice of the permanent secretary of Trade. It will include representatives from the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources; the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Communication; the Ministry of Finance; the Department of Planning; the Department of Public Works; and the Attorney General’s Office.