Seacliff Village ...An eco-getaway in the making
BY PATRICK FOSTER Environment Watch writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
AS you travel along the Long Bay main road between Portland and St Thomas, it is difficult to miss it — an imposing log home under construction on a grassy stretch between the roadway and the sea. Pretty soon, if developer Errol Hanna has his way, the entire quarter mile seafront strip will have 28 more such structures, each with a windmill turbine to provide electricity for the people living inside them. Hanna has taken the road less travelled in developing the seven-acre property, which is swept by constant winds on the seafront about two miles from Long Bay, Portland. He is using logs instead of the usual concrete and steel, to construct vacation homes that will comprise a US$8-million eco-friendly upscale resort he calls Seacliff Village, and plans to make the project a local model for sustainable development. “The entire property will be eco-friendly, in keeping with the Green Globe certification of the parish,” Hanna told Environment Watch in a recent interview. “I thought that the use of natural materials fit perfectly in the flora. Portland is considered unspoilt and we prefer to keep it that way.” An enthusiastic Hanna explained that he has owned the seaside property for more than 15 years and always nurtured the dream of one day developing it into a topclass nature resort. “I just love nature,” he said, adding that every detail of the development has been addressed to make his proposed resort as environment-friendly as possible. “Even the stain used on the logs is a natural material,” boasted Hanna. Sewage, according to site plans, will be processed in a biodigester located at one end of the property while the run-off will be harnessed and reused for watering lawns and verges. But it is in the finer points of the project about which Hanna is perhaps most passionate. The wind turbines, he explained, will be augmented by photovoltaic solar panels serving each cabin in case the wind speeds drop. According to Hanna, who has been in the local construction business for more than 25 years, the public electricity supply will serve only as backup. “The wind turbines supply one kilowatt to two kilowatts for each house, enough to power a 3,500 square-foot house with all the typical appliances,” he said. “If someone needs an air conditioner, a twokilowatt turbine can power that.” Sitting on a 70-foot cliff overlooking the Caribbean sea, the property is ideally placed to capitalise on the buffeting winds to power its turbines. But constant battering by the wind could conceiveably take a toll on the woooden structures. Hanna, however, brushes that concern aside. “The houses can withstand up to 200 miles per hour sustained winds,” he noted, adding confidently that experts building log homes in the United States have done extensive research on their construction, maintenance and durability. “We go beyond their specifications and also use steel bars to anchor the house to a concrete foundation.” Maintenance of the homes is also given special attention and the logs are imported from the US because they meet required standards and are able to withstand vagaries of the weather and attacks from insects, Hanna told Environment Watch. “We have also treated the wood with a natural chemical that protects it against decay and takes care of all wooddigesting insects,” Hanna shared, noting that subsequent treatment of the log cabin is not needed until another five years or more. Hanna’s model unit, which has a few more weeks before it is completed, offers approximately 3,500 square feet of living space — more than 15 times the size of a Portmore quad. “This is the smaller unit,” he disclosed. “Others are planned at 4,200 square feet; those will cost about US$650,000 each.” He explained that after the model unit is completed, the other houses would be constructed as interest dictates. Each house is complete with upscale finishes and will include a refrigerator, stove, microwave and washer/dryer, Hanna said.
Errol Hanna (right) discusses building plans with site foreman Ivor Robertson as work continues on the 3,500-square foot log home in the background. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)
