Barefoot Andamans response to Survival International campaign

Barefoot group against bullying NGO Can NGOs freely accuse any business of wrong doing, without substantiated research and evidence? \| Aren't NGOs accountable for their words and actions? Doesn't responsibility apply to NGOs as well, or is this confined only to private business and governments? The Blue Yonder & TravelToCare.com stand by Barefoot Group Survival International should apologise!
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2. RESPONSE TO PRESS RELEASE OF SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL DATED 15 JUNE 2009 REGARDING PROXIMITY OF A BAREFOOT RESORT PROPERTY TO THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE

Section 1:

Factual inaccuracies in survival international’s press release

Section 2:

Barefoot’s position on subjective aspects of the press release

Section 3:

Substantiation of barefoot’s claims to ‘sustainable and socially responsible tourism development’

Section 4:

Chronological sequence of events

Section 5:

Summary of barefoot’s disagreement with the andaman administration: ground realities of our fight against a bullying system

People:

1) Over 85% of our staff are from the local community. Our nature guides are local boys from the Bengali or Karen community. At Colinpur, 100% of the staff are local to the village with the exception of the working director who is from Port Blair, 35kms away

2) It should be noted that we are a concerted employer of disadvantaged peoples: 65% of our total workforce is from Scheduled Caste /Scheduled Tribe categories and 20% are from Other Backward Classes as described by the Government of India

3) All fresh food products – groceries, vegetables, meats and seafood, and essentials are sourced from local shops and markets

Environment:

4) We use water from a captive in-house source. All our water is drawn from a perennial mountain spring. This feeds into a pond and is then piped for guest and kitchen facilities. So we do not draw from the village piped water supply. We also harvest rainwater – we have two large ponds.

5) We have a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant to provide safe drinking water to guests (and minimise plastic use through mineral water bottles) and to ensure kitchen preparations are done in safe water. Reject from the RO plant is used for gardening and has been tested as 100% safe for the purpose

6) Flush cisterns have been modified to require less water per flush (lowering of float stop position through introduction of a permanently placed foreign object)

7) All kitchen and shower-waste water goes into septic tanks which then leach into the ground through a natural purification process after passing through ‘fat traps’ etc. Thus the ground water gets recharged.

8) We change towels and sheets based on guest request. Guests are advised to place sheets/towels in laundry basket if they want them washed.

9) Most of our food – vegetarian and meats are sourced locally and come from fertiliser and pesticide free sources. We also grow some of our own food in our own farm. Chickens used are free-range, pigs are our own. We do offer organic food to our guests.

10)We compost organic and garden waste. Our food waste is fed into an in-house piggery. We use organic compost in our plant nursery and around trees. We also use elephant dung as an organic fertiliser. The dung comes from our own resident elephant.

11)We have purchased a plastic recycling machine through a director of Barefoot and the same has arrived at Havelock. We are in the process of forming a partnership with the government to devise a comprehensive waste management plan for Havelock Island, and have received panchayat permission for installation of the recycling unit in Havelock – the plant will take charge of all plastic waste on the island, not just from our resort.

Community Initiatives

12)Environmental Education Center

In January 2006, The Barefoot Group commenced work on building an Environmental Education Center on Havelock Island (now completed). The Environmental Education Center provides education to the Havelock Islanders on the ecology and importance of the marine environment and seeks their cooperation in upholding all environmental laws applicable to the area. At the EEC, we target schoolchildren, fishermen, and tourism sector workers as well as visiting tourists.

Community Events

Barefoot sponsors the Annual Village Games on Havelock Island.

Barefoot also sponsors two festivals and a part of the annual carnival each year on Havelock Island.

Tree planting

Barefoot has planted more than 1000 endemic trees on land owned by it in the Andamans. Of these, at least 400 have survived and are flourishing

The tree planting programme is ongoing