Oz dredge angers UNESCO
11:08am Wednesday 27th June 2012 in In Port
AS Falmouth awaits the green light from the Marine Management Organisation for the scientific trial dredging to go ahead down in Australia a huge dredging project at Gladstone, Queensland has attracted criticism from the UN body UNESCO.
Port management is undertaking a major expansion programme at Gladstone to build deep-water berths to accommodate large gas tankers and bulk carriers to meet a soaring demand from Asia for coal and gas.
UNESCO claims that the Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef is threatened by large-scale industrial development. In a newly published report it says that further developments should be halted until a “strategic assessment” of the reef’s health is carried out. The federal government gave a low-key response to UNESCO’s claims.
Queensland’s state premier Campbell Newman said: “We will protect the environment, but we will not see the economic future of Queensland shut down.
We are in the coal business. If you want decent hospitals, schools and police on the beat, we all need to understand that.” He said he had no intention of implementing the major recommendation of halting further developments.
