Brimstone Hill sounds Alarm for Belle Tete

ZIZ News — The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society is sounding an alarm for what it says is a dangerous situation developing at Belle Tete in Sandy Point.

General Manager of the Brimstone Hill Park, Cameron Gill said while conducting research, he noticed that illegal sand mining was taking place at the beach in Belle Tete.

Gill said as recent as July of last year, he visited the area with Dr. Jimmy Mans, an Archaeologist at Leiden University in Holland. He said Dr. Mans warned that sand mining is putting the area in danger from storm surges during a hurricane.

“We observed several large craters — fresh craters and I was advised by the consultant that if sand mining continues it will threaten La Valle and even wider areas,” he noted.

Gill told ZIZ News that the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society along with its sister agency the St. Christopher National Trust are working to get the area declared a historical site and be legally protected for its cultural significance.

“One of these sites is the beach at Belle Tete, which is important as both a cultural and heritage site. It is the site in Sandy Point that the fort was built to defend, got its name from. It’s a natural heritage site. It is also the nesting habitat for all of the turtle species that nest on the island,” he said.

The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society is in the midst of finalising a Historic Heritage Trail; a soft launch of which will take place on Monday 17th February at the Verchilds High School.