An Australian-American rainforest and environmental scientist has made claims that the A$650 million (MOP4.15 billion/US$515.6) KUR-World resort project currently being developed in the Australian state of Queensland, will have serious negative environmental impacts on the region, newspaper Cairns Post reported.
A professor at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, William F. Laurance believes that the eco-resort project being developed by Reever & Ocean Developments Pty Ltd (R&O) – a company owned by an alleged Macau developer named Ken Lee – will “ravage” the ecosystem of the Kuranda rainforest where it is being developed, the newspaper reported.
“The project is located smack in the middle of some of the most biologically rich and biogeographically important real estate at the heart of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area,” the rainforest researcher stated.
“The project area and its immediate surroundings are chock-a-block with critically endangered species — many of which don’t occur any place else on Earth”.
In response to Mr. Laurance’s comments, KUR-World posted a statement by Neil Boland, the Principal Environmental Scientist at Natural Resource Assessments Pty Ltd, the company coordinating the environmental studies.
In the statement, Mr. Boland said “there are over 30 studies underway in relation to the Kur-World project” with field surveys undertaken by “appropriately qualified and experienced ecologists”. He added that the site areas included in the “Envirolink Corridor (a discontinuous collection of remnant and non-remnant vegetation that links the northern and southern sections of the World Heritage area” would be preserved.
Prof. Laurance said previously the project would increase pressure on “the critical Black Mountain Corridor, a vital avenue for animal movements, migration, and adaptation in response to future climate change”.
Staying in the rainforest
Described in its 2016 master plan as an ‘integrated eco-resort and innovation hub’, KUR-World will occupy a 6.26 square-kilometre site in Tropical Far North Queensland that will be transformed into a project for luxury eco-tourism; education and business; rejuvenation, health and wellbeing; and adventure and recreation.
Developed by R&O, the project is to include a 5-star resort with 200 luxury villas; an 18-hole golf course and clubhouse; a 3-star leisure and business resort with 270 rooms, a retail and dining village hub, a tertiary education campus, a business centre, sports facilities, together with health and wellbeing services which will include a medical retreat with 70 suites.
According to the project’s website, the resort development application was submitted to Queensland authorities in May of last year, with the Australian state authorities issuing a Final Terms of Reference (ToR) after a public consultation period.
R&O is in the process of drafting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will be available for public consultation in late 2017, with Prof. Laurance stating he expects the EIS to be “dissected to shreds” by experts, the newspaper reported.
A previous article by Cairns Post stated that the R&O Chairman announced that Sandalphon Privilege Financial Group – an investment fund registered in Hong Kong in February of this year – would fund the first stage of development of the resort which is expected to cost A$60 million.
The newspaper also indicated that construction on the property was expected to start in July of next year with 1,830 construction jobs expected to be created.
Mysterious company
Although R&O is described in several reports as being Macau based, information on the Hong Kong business directory HKG Business states that a company named Reever And Ocean Pty Ltd was incorporated in Queensland in February of 2014, while a Reever & Ocean Developments Pty Ltd was incorporated in Queensland in May of 2016.
Meanwhile, a company named Reever & Ocean Capital Management Limited was registered in Hong Kong in August of 2014, with its status described as Live.
A Facebook page of Reever & Ocean Capital Management Limited reveals a Hong Kong address, but no phone or e-mail contact, with its last post being from March of 2016.
In some reports, The Cairns Post describes R&O’s Chairman Mr. Lee as a ‘Sydney property investor’ with other reports describing him as a Macau-based developer.
