May 16 - Sunborn Parliament Questions Spark Heated Debate
Questioning the Chief Minister on the Sunborn Floating Hotel project in Parliament this afternoon, Opposition member for the Environment Jaime Netto asked whether the Government had carried out an extensive Environmental Impact Assessment of the area and whether consideration had been taken into the habitat of the endangered Spider crab and the Ribbed Mediterranean Limpet.
The Chief Minister insisted that an EIA was being carried out, and divers were currently surveying the area and moving any spider crabs found, to another maintained area. He added that silt curtains would be implemented in the dredged areas of the marina that contain limpets. Answering a separate question, Mr. Picardo noted that thus far, the Government had spent £137,440 on the project.
Regarding the ESG’s concern over the project, as raised during last month’s meeting of the Development and Planning Commission, Mr. Picardo insisted that he would be meeting with the group to discuss matters.
The questioning sparked a particularly heated debate that was interjected by the Speaker who urged the members to keep questions and answers ‘short sharp and to the point’.
