The construction of a manufacturing and storage facility at Eccles by Lucky Star Trading, which is at the centre of an alleged flipping of state lands, has been exempted from the requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The waiver of the EIA was made on the grounds that the project will not significantly affect the environment and is not located in an environmentally sensitive area. However, the EPA said its decision was in no way an indication that the project was approved.

The EPA said the project was exempted from the EIA given that the manufacturing of windows, doors, floor decking and zinc sheets will be done in an enclosed environment, thereby reducing the emission of pollutants related to air, water and noise. The project, it added, was earmarked for a designated industrial area and will have limited impact on human health and the environment. Furthermore, the environment regulator stated that the project not being located in an area with special environment attributes that require special care of the ecosystem or habitants with species at risk, was grounds for it to be exempted.

The impact of the project in its construction phase is dubbed to be negligible to low and short term.

However, the EPA said that any person who may be affected by the proposed project may lodge an appeal against its decision within 30 days. Appeals can be sent to the Chairman, The Environmental Assessment Board at eab@gmail.com

The project is set to be constructed at Plot A7, Plantation Sage Pond, Eccles-Ramsburg, East Bank Demerara.

The plot of land has been under investigation for its sale to Chinese national Jian Fen Yu for $100, by Eddie Doolal.

Doolal’s company, A-Z Pharmaceutical, and Avalon Jagnandan, of Life 1 Pharms, according to National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) documents, received only $100 when they transferred their leases to Chinese national Jian Fen Yu, possibly as only a procedural legal covering for the transfer. The sale was allegedly masked by a behind-the-scenes payment of $130 million.

Documents show that in May of 2018, Doolal leased 15 acres of land from NICIL; divided into three plots of A7, A8 and A20 at

US$11,700 plus taxes for a 20year period. He kept the land for two years before the documented $100 lease on January 28, 2020.

The new lessee, Jian Fen Yu, lists his address as 43 Wellington Street, the same building that houses Lucky Star Store, which wholesales and retails clothing. That address has been used for a number of other Chinese nationals who have applied for naturalisation here. This newspaper has visited the location more than once but the store remains closed and no one has responded from the two upper flats of the building. Several persons were questioned including Doolal and Attorney-at-Law James Bond, who facilitated the legal aspect of the deal.