Newly-formed Bahamas Mangrove Alliance announces founding at Earth Day community planting event

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Bahamas Mangrove Alliance founding members kick off Earth Day community mangrove planting in East End GBI.  
Pictured from left to right:  Gimel Morely and Dr. Karlisa Callwood of the Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS), Rashema Ingraham of Waterkeepers Bahamas (WKB), Jim McDuffie and Justin Lewis of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT), WKB Youth Cadet Cordae Strachan.

Newly-formed Bahamas Mangrove Alliance announces founding at Earth Day community planting event

Three influential conservation NGOs join forces and announce a multi-year effort to protect wetland habitats and promote mangrove restoration across The Bahamas


Monday, April 24, 2023 – FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – In commemoration of Earth Day 2023, three influential conservation groups announced the founding of the “Bahamas Mangrove Alliance” (BMA), a new multi-sector coalition dedicated to protecting and restoring mangrove habitats across The Bahamas.  

The Bahamas Mangrove Alliance’s three founding members are the international nonprofit Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) and local nonprofits the Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS) and Waterkeepers Bahamas (WKB).  The newly formed and wetlands-focused coalition will focus on mangrove protection, restoration, science, prevention of loss, grassroots advocacy, and raising awareness through education.  These founding groups aim to grow the BMA to include other nonprofits, national park and other fisheries managers, island communities, community leaders, sustainable businesses, and where possible to align and support Government priorities at national and international scale.  They also hope to support public sector and higher education capacity building through the possibility of targeted funding, policy support, and technical assistance such as coordinated scientific research and offering relevant trainings over a several-year period.

On co-founding the BMA, Waterkeepers Executive Director and Freeport native Rashema Ingraham said: “We are very excited to be partnering with regionally recognized organisations like PIMS and BTT to broaden the reach and scope of efforts to ensure that mangrove forests throughout The Bahamas are healthy and continue to benefit the marine and coastal environment, as well as the human populations and our national Blue Economy that depend upon it to survive and thrive.  As the BMA grows, we invite members of the public and other groups to join our cause!”

To celebrate and announce the founding of the BMA this Earth Day, the groups together hosted a community mangrove planting in East End Grand Bahamas this past Saturday.  Day-of planting participants included local bonefish guides, international conservationists, Grand Bahama school groups, University of The Bahamas North, members of the East Grand Bahama community, media, and government officials from Forestry, Tourism, and the Ministry for Grand Bahama.  The East End mangrove restoration planting targeted coastal areas hardest hit by Hurricane Dorian and compliments ongoing efforts in Abaco and elsewhere across the country.  The BMA’s three founding organisations, BTT-WKB-PIMS, emphasized the need to conserve and protect this vital habitat type in islands across The Bahamas.

“Mangroves are so critical to the health of marine ecosystems across The Bahamas,” said BTT President and CEO Jim McDuffie. “They are an essential part of the shallow water environment that makes The Bahamas a premiere and economically valuable destination globally for flats fishing while also serving as nursery and spawning habitats for a majority of the country’s valuable commercial fisheries.” McDuffie continued, “As the alliance begins to welcome more local and international organisations into its membership, our immediate next steps will include close engagement with Government and partnering with other national initiatives focused on healthy mangroves in The Bahamas.”

PIMS Director of Community Conservation and Caribbean marine scientist Dr. Karlisa Callwood stated, “Joined with many other groups and alongside Government, our initial focus for mangrove restoration has been on Abaco and Grand Bahama, the islands hit hardest by Hurricane Dorian.  However, wetlands and mangrove systems throughout the country need protection, as well as careful and ongoing scientific monitoring and restoration exercises such as our Earth Day planting today.  PIMS is very excited to co-found the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance with BTT and Waterkeepers Bahamas as the coalition’s scientific partner.”

Mangrove habitats serve as nurseries and spawning grounds for up to 70% of the country’s ecologically important and commercially valuable marine species.  Post-Dorian observations conducted by BTT and other local science partners, such as PIMS and The Bahamas National Trust, showed that Hurricane Dorian wrought widespread ecosystem destruction across huge areas of both Grand Bahama and Abaco, removing previously intact mangrove forests.

The Bahamas Mangrove Alliance for wetlands protection was inspired in part by an ongoing initiative known as the Northern Bahamas Mangrove Restoration Project, a collaboration between BTT, The Bahamas National Trust, bonefishing guides and lodges, Abaco’s Friends of the Environment, local schools, community leaders, and many other local and national stakeholders.  This related restoration project involves the growing of mangroves in nurseries in Grand Bahama and Abaco for the purpose of planting in impacted areas around these islands.  The newly formed BMA hopes to help coordinate this and other mangrove conservation efforts under a single umbrella to advocate for protection of critical areas while kick-starting recovery of mangroves nationwide through both community plantings and mass-scale mangrove propagule distribution in accordance with scientific best practices.

PIMS researcher and Nassauvian Gimel Morley expressed excitement for the BMA and reiterated the importance of mangroves to Bahamian communities.  Amidst planting mangroves herself, Morley commented, “Healthy mangrove forests are critical to the Bahamian way of life and are integral to our cultural identity.  Mangroves are necessary to support our growing Blue Economy, they restock our fisheries and they protect our coastlines, homes, and coral reefs during major weather events which will continue to increase due to climate change.  We must urgently protect and restore these areas across the entire archipelago.  The BMA seeks to work with Government and other national partners to do just that.”

Earth Day is an annual global celebration honoring the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations.  BTT Bahamas Initiative Manager and Grand Bahamian Justin Lewis said, “We thought this was the perfect occasion to hold a mangrove replanting, both to celebrate the impressive work being done in The Bahamas by local and international partners, Since Dorian, and including today’s event, nearly 40,000 mangroves have been planted in Abaco and Grand Bahama.  In addition to ecosystem restoration, mangrove plantings are opportunities for community education about their importance that allow the public and policymakers alike to get hands-on involvement in environmental stewardship.”

Returning to the dock after a long day in the sun, WKB Cadet Cordae Strachan concluded, “Saturday was an amazing experience.  We were able to play a hands-on role in restoring a vital environmental resource while learning a great deal about why mangroves are so important to our environment and our communities.  I can’t wait to be a part of the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance’s work and to involve both my school friends and my family!”

Mangrove conservation in The Bahamas is generously supported by both local and international donors and foundations such as BTT’s individual supporters, the Moore Bahamas Foundation, GBI’s East End Lodge along with other bonefish guides and lodges across the country, the for-cause environmental apparel brand MANG, several major international environmental NGOs, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Bahamian Rotary Clubs, the Bahamas Protected Area Fund (BPAF), and many others.  If you or your organisation wish to get involved, please email bahamas@bonefishtarpontrust.org.

Clean-Up Of Equinor Oil Spill Delayed By Covid-19 Pandemic
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THE oil spill clean-up at the Equinor South Riding Point facility in East Grand Bahama seems to have slowed down over the past several months, with some areas of the forest still covered with oil.

It is believed the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the shutdown of the economy in late March could have been the reason for the suspension of the clean-up operations by Equinor officials.

When contacted this week, an official spokesman for the company said Equinor remains committed to its clean-up operations in East End.

“Equinor has, ever since the oil spill resulting from Hurricane Dorian, shown strong commitment to the cleaning-up operations. The work has been performed in close cooperation with the Bahamian government and related agencies. We do not comment on any litigation involving the company nor do we speculate if litigation will be brought against the company,” the official said.

The Tribune understands environmental activists at Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas were scheduled to visit the site yesterday to see for themselves the condition of the surrounding environment and areas that were affected.

Last September, 55,000 barrels (2.3 million gallons) were spilled at the Equinor terminal during Hurricane Dorian, which tore off the dome caps from two of the four storage tanks containing oil. A large area of the nearby forest, north of the terminal, was significantly affected. A total of 1.8m barrels were being stored at the facility at the time.

Described as a “catastrophic spill” by environmental activists, the company was urged to commence an immediate clean-up of the spill and the surrounding environment. It has been recently reported that close to 60,000 barrels of oil and water have been recovered.

However, Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas have made three visits to the site in June. In a recent video, Fred Smith of Save the Bays is seen in the affected forest area, expressing concern over remnants of oil still left there.

According to Equinor’s website, the monitoring of water wells will continue throughout 2020. Some 27 wells were drilled in the area for testing of groundwater. As of January 2020, the company reported there had been no sign of contamination of groundwater as a result of testing conducted by independent contractors and third-party laboratories.

View story here

 

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

US Congress Members Oppose Oil Drilling in The Bahamas 
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Local environmentalists urge gov’t to heed strong concerns expressed by representatives the country’s most important trading partner and strategic ally 

The local conservation community is urging the government of the Bahamas to pay heed to the strong concerns expressed by 16 members of Congress and reject a proposal for oil drilling just miles off the US coast. 

Bahamian environmentalists have been sounding the alarm for years over the Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) plan to drill exploratory wells in the pristine waters to the south and west of Andros Island, and are extremely grateful to the US legislators who have echoed their concerns. 

“We are heartened and encouraged by the strong stance taken by congressmen against oil drilling in the Bahamas, said Waterkeeper Bahamas executive director Rashema Ingraham. “The United States is by far the most important trading partner and strategic ally for the Bahamas, and it would be highly irresponsible for our government to ignore their valid concerns. 

“This BPC proposal is not only a critical threat to our precious marine environment, it is also a potential foreign relations catastrophe for this country. Oil drilling would endanger the entire east coast of the United States, a nation still feeling the effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster a decade ago. 

“Our tourism industry is currently being held hostage by the global Covid-19 pandemic and thousands of Bahamians are out of work. We must do all we can to preserve our good relationship with the United States as the Bahamas seeks to recover from the grave economic fallout. Now is not the time to anger our closest friends.” 

Florida representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, wrote a bipartisan letter to Secretary Michael Pompeo and the Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, requesting that the State Department ask the Bahamian government to discontinue efforts to approve offshore drilling in Bahamian waters near the U.S. Atlantic Coast. They were joined by 14 other representatives up and down the US Atlantic coast. 

“The United States cannot afford another Deepwater Horizon disaster,” the letter said. “This bipartisan group of Members respects the sovereignty of The Bahamas, but a spill in Bahamian waters could bring ruin to both of our countries’ shorelines. Ten years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, we call on Secretary Pompeo to urge the Bahamian government to reconsider its efforts to green-light dirty offshore oil drilling in a region so full of magnificent ecosystems and so dependent on international tourism.” 

Save The Bays chairman Joseph Darville said: “Congress has thankfully acknowledged what we have been saying from the beginning. The environmental risks of this ill-conceived plan are astronomical and the fallout from an accident would be absolutely devastating – not just for the Bahamas, but also for our valued strategic partner to the north. 

“The dangers far outweigh any conceivable potential benefit. Congress members are absolutely justified in heeding the lessons of history. Even under the best possible conditions oil drilling is extremely hazardous; whereas in the Bahamas, we do not have an adequate regulatory regime to govern this industry, nor the resources to mitigate a massive spill. The United States came to our aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian 

at considerable cost to the Federal government and risk to US Coast Guard personnel. It is our turn to be good neighbours and reciprocate that generosity of spirit.” 

Casuarina McKinney-Lambert: ”No progress has been made to reduce the dangers of off-shore oil drilling since the Deepwater Horizon disaster took place 10 years ago that spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil. As a result of that oil spill, the US seafood industry lost nearly $1 billion, and the recreation industry lost more than $500 million. The US is still feeling the repercussions a decade later. 

“As a country dependent on tourism and fisheries, the Bahamas cannot the afford the risk to our country that oil drilling in our waters would pose. Having gone through Hurricane Dorian and now experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, we can’t afford the risk of another massive setback.” 

Save The Bays legal director Fred Smith, QC, noted that successive Bahamas governments have failed to effectively oversee the implementation of environmental protection laws. 

“For instance, the Planning and Subdivision Act and the Conservation and Protection of the Physical Landscape Act are routinely ignored by legislators in giving the green light to industrial projects. Why would anyone assume that in regard to oil exploration, they will suddenly become responsible stewards of the environment? 

“Having laws and enforcing those laws are two completely different matters and the Bahamas has shown itself to be in capable of systematically ensuring that some of the very good laws passed by Parliament are administered. We still don’t have a Freedom of Information Act so we don’t know what permits have or have not been issued, under what circumstances, and there was no consultation. These are fundamental underpinnings for transparency demanded by civil society for decades now.” 

Waterkeeper Bahamas’ Rashema Ingraham added that the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology (BEST) commission which advises the government, had raised concerns in the past and asked BPC to give more information regarding its environmental protection protocols, but it is unclear if this was ever complied with. 

The environmental community called on the government of the Bahamas to respond to the Congress members’ letter promptly and to immediately revoke the exploratory license granted to BPC. 

Testing Shows Bahamas Oil Spill Contaminated Wetlands More Than One Mile Away

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More Than 1.8 Million Gallons Spilled; Cleanup Effort Appears to be Inadequate

The Bahamas oil spill during Hurricane Dorian contaminated water in critical wetland habitat, including an area more than one mile away from the spill, according to sampling done by Waterkeepers Bahamas, Save the Bays, and Waterkeeper Alliance. 

The groups took water samples at five locations near the Equinor/STATOIL spill, sending 54 individual water samples to Environmental Chemists, a certified water testing lab in Wilmington, N.C.

The water sample analysis shows distinct petroleum constituents, including alkanes, terpenes, and organic acid. 

“These results are well beyond what would be naturally occurring,” said Christian Breen, field investigator for Waterkeeper Alliance. “The sample profile is distinct and consistent with the makeup of heavy-grade fuel oil, which is not supposed to be there.”

The affected wetlands provide a vital ocean buffer for Grand Bahama, as well as habitat for migratory birds, such as the West Indian woodpecker and red-legged thrush. The wetland also provides a critical cleansing mechanism for the island’s scarce groundwater.

Equinor, formerly known in the Bahamas as STATOIL, held 70 million gallons of oil at its storage site on Grand Bahama. Hurricane Dorian, which hit the Bahamas starting Sept. 1, blew off the tops of five oil storage tanks at the site. Save the Bays and Waterkeeper Alliance determined during a post-storm site visit that the spill thoroughly polluted the ground of at least a four-square-mile area that includes wetlands, pine forests, and mangroves. 

“We witnessed dozens of workers cleaning up the massive amount of oil at the spill site,” said Joseph Darville, Grand Bahama Coastal Waterkeeper and Chairman of Save The Bays. “There were trucks vacuuming the oil and pumping it into tank trucks. We witnessed workers knee-deep in oil. Not only are these conditions unsafe for workers, but the haphazard and superficial cleanup we witnessed will not be adequate to protect the sensitive pine forest and wetlands threatened by this spill.”

Equinor has recovered 1.8 million gallons of oil from the site, company spokesman Erik Haaland told Waterkeeper Alliance on Tuesday. 

“Freshwater is a scarcity in the Bahamas,” said Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Save the Bays and Bimini Coastal Waterkeeper. “The islands in the north are covered in pine forests, which capture rainwater in underground lenses. The pine forest near the site was completely affected by this spill. When you look at the connectivity of these ecosystems, it’s scary. My short-term concern is for the wildlife in the area, including blue crabs, fish, and native boa constrictor snakes. My long-term concern is about the safety of that freshwater supply.”

Pete Nichols, organizing director at Waterkeeper Alliance, said, “Equinor is a Norweigan company; this spill should be cleaned up to at least Norweigan standards. We call on Equinor CEO Eldar Sætre to ensure that the site is left as clean as it would be had this spill taken place behind his home in Norway.”

The environmental groups call for a comprehensive impact study to quantify the impact of the spill, to properly identify all impacted areas, and to guide remediation efforts.

Equinor agreed on Tuesday to planned monthly visits to the site from Save the Bays. The company also gave Save The Bays and Waterkeeper Bahamas a tour of the facility and impacted area earlier this month. 

A map and photos of the oil spill site, as well as Save the Bays and Waterkeeper at work in the Bahamas, can be found here.

Environmentalists Criticize Minister

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By Paige McCartney, The Tribune

Environmentalists took Minister of the Environment and Housing Romauld Ferreira to task yesterday for what they perceived as him making light of the oil spill in eastern Grand Bahama.

Save the Bays Chairman Joe Darville said he was shocked and astounded, while reEarth President Sam Duncombe said she was astonished, by the government’s response to the oil spill that emanated from the Equinor terminal at South Riding Point.

“I wasn’t just shocked, I was astounded by his response. Mr. Ferreira is a friend of ours, he’s worked diligently with us in our environmental cases against people who offend our environment and I could not believe it,” Darville told Guardian Business.

“I’m sure he was trying to be funny, but that came across as being crass stupidity and for that to come out of the mouth of someone over a very serious problem in that area and even though at the present time they may be addressing it expeditiously, it took them more than ten days after the storm to really dedicate any sort of cleanup of that environment.”

Darville was responding to Ferreira’s comment that three birds and one goat were impacted by the oil spill.

“To treat that in a callous way is not the way to address a catastrophic situation like that,” Darville said.

“My heart just bled for that whole environment out there and of course we stopped in High Rock, we were tracking where the oil could have come and it came 1.62 miles, we measured from Equinor into High Rock and it pooled in an area there where the seawall had fallen in and also the road.”

Duncombe added during a separate interview, “For the government to downplay this issue and make it sound like, ‘Oh it’s okay’, no there’s nothing okay about it. There’s absolutely nothing okay about it. This kind of catastrophic situation underscores the cries from environmentalists in the country that have been saying for decades we need to move away from fossil fuels, we need to look at renewable energy.”

When Category 5 storm Hurricane Dorian ripped through Grand Bahama earlier this month, the lids from a few of the holding containers which stored approximately 1.9 million barrels of crude oil blew off.

The government has said it is satisfied with the efforts made by Norwegian-based Equinor to remediate the spill, despite the company taking longer than a week to start the cleanup process.

Ferreira said so far about 6,000 barrels of oil – which equates to about 252,000 U.S. gallons – have been cleaned from the surrounding area.

Darville said the damage has already been done.

“The very first chance I had I actually went out there and had some reporters who were here from Norway, because the company comes from Norway, and they were absolutely astounded at the amount of oil that was there and so visible along the public roads, emanating out of the property at Equinor,” he said.

“From their views it’s going toward the north toward the mangroves at North Riding Point. But we could see by eye from the road 450 liters where the oil had saturated that whole area and at that point in time, our native Caribbean pine that stands about 35 feet tall, as tall as the Equinor office building, they were saturated with oil.”

Duncombe added that she doesn’t believe a spill of that magnitude could ever fully be cleaned.

“When you have that kind of oil spilling out onto the land environment, it’s going to seep down and affect the ground water. It’s going to affect all of the soil and for the communities that live around that area, you’re talking about exposure from smelling these chemicals all day which can cause nausea, headaches and longer term impacts because you’re constantly inhaling these toxic chemicals,” she said.

“The response from the government to the oil spill has been just astonishing really, because it’s almost as if they’re mollycoddling them. This is a huge environmental impact to Grand Bahama, it’s a huge impact to the water table, it’s a huge impact to the marine environment, animals in the marine environment that are coming into contact with that oil.”

Oil spill adds to list of Dorian-induced woes in Bahamas

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by Leila MacOr, Phys.org

The air smells like fuel, the ground is covered in a black paste-like substance and the residents of Grand Bahama are afraid.

After sowing mass destruction across the island, Hurricane Dorian delivered one final blow: an oil spill at the Norwegian Equinor facility.

Dozens of residents of the small town of High Rock have set up tents among the rubble that was once their homes, where they divvy up meager handouts that come their way.

They survive amid the disaster, but now, adding insult to injury, they fear that the air that they breathe and the water that they drink is not safe.

Residents say the they were given are not useful against the toxicity.

The oil is “deadly, deadly,” said Marco Roberts, 38, holding a mask and lamenting the poisoned state of his island.

“The oil is actually leaking in the water, and now you can’t bathe in the water, or you can’t drink the water. The only water we can bathe in is what you all give us,” he told AFP.

Six kilometers (four miles) away the ground is saturated with a black, thick paste.

“They need to evacuate the whole East End or come do something,” Roberts said.

At ground zero, several huge oil storage tanks are colored black by overflown oil, which has spread over a still yet to be defined section of land near the coast.

Several huge oil storage tanks are colored black by overflowing oil, which has spread over a still yet-to-be-defined section of
Several huge oil storage tanks are colored black by overflowing oil, which has spread over a still yet-to-be-defined section of land near the coast

It remains unknown if oil from the Equinor facility reached the ocean.

Equinor said in a statement “there is currently no observed leakage of oil to the sea from the South Riding Point terminal.”

However, it said “surveillance has identified potential product in 70-80 kilometers north east of the terminal within Long Point Bight close to Little Abaco Island.”

“There are also indications that the product may have impacted a section of the coastline,” it said.

The spill occurred at Equinor’s South Riding Point terminal, which has a storage capacity of 6.75 million barrels of crude and condensate.

According to Equinor, the tanks were storing 1.8 million barrels when the hurricane hit.

Normally, hurricanes blow through the Bahamas in a matter of hours.

But Dorian stalled for three days over the northern edge of the archipelago, causing widespread damage on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco.

Environmental activist Joseph Darville said he has fought for years against the oil terminal, located along a coast that is depe
Environmental activist Joseph Darville said he has fought for years against the oil terminal, located along a coast that is dependent on tourism and fishing and whose water table is only a meter (yard) deep

Sign not to be ‘foolish’

“Before the hurricane hit, nine of our 10 tanks at the terminal had aluminium domed roofs,” said Equinor spokesman Erik Haaland. “Five of these roofs are now gone.”

Equinor said it had an “advanced onshore response team” working on site as well as more than 200 personnel focused on response around the world.

Two vessels, one of which arrived Tuesday and one slated to arrive Thursday, were to help in the effort, carrying 42 personnel and onshore oil recovery equipment.

Environmental activist Joseph Darville said he has fought for years with the NGO Waterkeepers Bahamas against the terminal, located along a coast that is dependent on tourism and fishing and whose is only a meter (yard) deep.

Darville came to the site to examine whether the spill contaminated the beach.

The ocean was calm and intensely turquoise, but the vegetation has been destroyed and strewn branches from the hurricane create a sad landscape.

He was glad to see small, recently born fish in the and thought it was a good sign for now.

Norway's Equinor said that before Hurricane Dorian hit, nine out of 10 tanks at a Bahamas terminal had domed roofs, while afterw
Norway’s Equinor said that before Hurricane Dorian hit, nine out of 10 tanks at a Bahamas terminal had domed roofs, while afterward, five more of the roofs were gone

“This is where most of all of our seafood comes from, from this area, from these magnificent coral reefs,” he said, including deep sea fish, like red snapper, grouper and lobster.

The area’s bonefish, he said, is a $7 billion industry.

Pointing to the beach, he said: “This is where they go along the shore… and spawn by the millions about three miles offshore.”

“So this is a sign to us not to be so foolish in the future,” he said.

A Yuletide Cry For Mother Earth

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A recent trip to Bimini, Cat Cay & Ocean Cay, by a team from Save The Bays, has us asking more questions of this Government than we can find answers to. Day and night, the all too familiar sound of pilings being continuously driven into the ocean bed can be heard echoing across Bimini as an extension to the cruise ship pier takes place. Back in 2014 Save The Bays fought the destroying “developing” resort over its proposed pier, knowing that the island was too small to bring a 1600 person ship to such a small island as environmentalist knew too well. The case got all the way to the Privy Council; but this was thwarted at the eleventh hour when the resort mysteriously managed to produce the relevant missing approvals overnight along with government signatures.

Our fears were confirmed, the cruise ship stopped coming after a year, yet 12 dive reefs were suffocated in the process, coastal erosion soared, beaches on the west side of Bimini disappeared overnight,  fish stocks dwindled, the infrastructure on the island proved it could not cope with overflowing trash, a lack of water and electricity on an already overextended island and resort.

So why is the pier being extended yet again? Were the public or environment agencies made aware of this and whatever happened to the Mitigation Measures dating back to phase 1 of developments, never to be heard of again? Bimini has no new clinic, no new school, no sea defenses, no improved infrastructure. It  did just get a fire truck, but that was courtesy of some American home owners who raised funds after the mail boat caught fire and not from the resort as promised.

So what exactly did Bimini get in exchange for the loss of 650+ Acres of mangrove forests and how has that end of the island managed to “grow” to three times the size of what was actually purchased by Gerado Capo as Bimini Bay Resort back in 1998 under the Quiet Titles Act through Ingraham’s Government. Which brings up the question, “How” was Bimini’s biggest piece of real estate 650 acres plus, sold legally under that act to a foreign investor? The Sound as it’s known to the local Biminites, was once not so long ago, the home to the rare small  sawtooth shark, millions of shrimp, turtles as well as the marine hatchery for multitudes of other species. Now you are lucky if you see anything except silted up muddy water from all the development, dredging and run offs, with not a single boom in sight to protect our waters.

My heart bleeds for what successive Governments have sold off, favoring the mighty dollar over Mother Earth’s diverse marine eco habitats. Which brings me to another question, just how much land has the resort created? And if the ocean bed cannot be sold, only leased from the Government, then surely the land created on and from the sea bed, should only be up for lease and not for sale for millions of dollars that are going into foreign ownership hands resulting from real estate companies selling million dollar homes? How are Bimini and Our Bahamaland benefitting?

The beach road that once was the gateway to East Wells, where generations after generations have gone for crab, or to see a rare Bimini Boa, or to fish in peace and quiet, has been systematically deliberately destroyed by OPAC, Capo’s construction company, in order to create “private beach fronts” to its multi-million dollar beach homes starting at $3 million, with a private road and security check point behind the homes, making it inaccessible to all but home owners.

Let’s not forget that in last years Hurricane Irma when dozens of the resorts floating docks from the Bahamas biggest mega marina bust open spewing tons of polystyrene particles into the ocean making it look like Bimini had had major snowfall. The resort made a show of clearing it up on the morning PM Minnis was arriving to assess the damage as Bimini’s protest groups videos of the spill went viral through various international environment agencies. A year on, the same type of  floating  docks are back  in place  as if waiting for it to happen all over again, while to this day, polystyrene is still washing up on our shores, some chunks several feet long, being ingested by fish and birds. Oh Bimini, how we miss the days when this special little Island in the stream could be described so aptly by Dr Martin Luther King as the “Promised Land”. If he were to see his Promised Land now, he would shed tears of blood!

Along the islands created upon the extensive seabed the little mangrove propagules by the hundreds, if not thousands, are popping their two leaf heads above the shallow water, as if to say, please, please spare us so we can do the task entrusted to us by the Creator.

Who in God’s name and on behalf of the people of the Bahamas are monitoring what is continuing to happen in North Bimini Bay; who is monitoring what is happening on South Cat Cay and Ocean Cay, where the identical savage and wanton destruction of the sea beds are taking place.( I will write on this in the next release).

Who, pray tell me , is it the BEST COMMISSION on behalf of the Prime Minister? Is it the Ministry of the Environment? Is it the elected representative for these areas of the Bahamas?  We never see any of these entities in these areas to witness the ungodly devastation of our precious environment, seabed, mangroves, coral reefs and all marine life dependent upon these ecosystems.  Our Prime Minister just returned recently from the United Nation, touting the need for support for our nation to protect, and mitigate against the ravages of Climate Change and Sea Level Rise.  Yet, however, we continue to allow foreign entities to come in and extensively demolish those systems which form the very first defense against natural forces.

I earnestly pray at this Yuletide Season that we awaken to our God-entrusted stewardship and protect what has been so graciously and unconditionally gifted to us.  Blessings to all!

Joseph Darville

Chairman, Save The Bays

28,000+ Signatures Cry Out for Preservation of Lighthouse Point

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I am a man and I cry. There, I have said it.

I cry for the inhumanity of human against human. I cry for all the parts and parcels of The Bahamas that Bahamians do not have access to.

Please, please do not make Lighthouse Point one of them.

Every time I learn of a little piece of this beautiful archipelago that is being developed without kind and gentle care for its future, I am torn between wanting to scream and shedding another tear.  Like others who support Save The Bays, I am not anti-development. But development must be done by with care by those who care. It must be sensitive to the environment and sustainable for the future. Its footprint must be acceptable.

At this moment in time, there is no area under more of a threat than Lighthouse Point and Lighthouse Beach in South Eleuthera. Disney Cruise Lines wants to buy either the 700-acre parcel or some substantial portion thereof to create a private destination for its passengers. I cannot blame Disney. Lighthouse Point is one of the most breathtaking places on the face of God’s green earth and that is only one reason why it must be preserved for Bahamians. It is also one of the highest elevations and with climate change and the accompanying sea level rise, researchers far wiser than I predict that many of our islands may be underwater in less than a century, making it even more critical to preserve key high elevation places for future generations.

Fifty, 80 or 100 years from now, our great grandchildren and theirs may be searching for high land or living on the sea. And where will Disney be then? Will it have abandoned its pretty little piece of paradise like Gold Rock did when it finished the Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, and left structures to rust, like a diseased ghost town in Grand Bahama?

If you do not care about one senior citizen activist like me who wants to save Lighthouse Point, there are 28,382 other reasons, every one of them a person who cared enough to sign the petition as of 5 pm on September 17, 2018. It is the largest petition in Bahamas history so far as I can tell. Before this, Save The Bays had amassed the most signatures with more than 7,000 for a broad spectrum of environmental measures. Bahamians are not great petition signers. We would rather go on radio and talk or complain to anyone in general. But the children from a school in South Eleuthera who are leading part of Save Lighthouse Point drive and the crush of people signing every few seconds is jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring. Consider it relative to other drives. An oil pollution petition attracted 1,400 signatures, an anti-Oban Energies petition got 550 signatures. Save Lighthouse Point is at 28,000 and climbing.

28,000+ signatures – Mr. Prime Minister and those who we elected to represent us, hear the voices of those who penned that petition and do the right thing. Not because one old man does not want to shed another tear for another piece of The Bahamas that will be lost. There are plenty of places to create a cruise ship play area, including right across the harbour from where the ships dock in Nassau or in Grand Bahama. But not at Lighthouse Point. Please, Mr. Prime Minister, save Lighthouse Point for Bahamians and anyone who wants to visit and leave that craggy, rocky, green hills and white sand beaches canvas of Nature just as they found it, taking only memories of the beauty with them.

Joseph Darville, Chairman – Save The Bays

Environmentalists Say No To Oban Plan For Oil Refinery

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By FARRAH JOHNSON, The Tribune

A HOST of environmental groups have formed an alliance to appeal to the government to reject moves for offshore drilling and to abandon the planned Oban oil refinery in Grand Bahama.

Non-profit organisation Save the Bays (STB), along with the newly formed Environmental Alliance (EA) are pleading with the government to consider the impact oil drilling would have on the marine ecosystem.

Environmental Alliance makes representation for environmental advocacy groups including Bahamas 350 Climate Action, Bahamas Plastics Movement, reEarth, Raising Awareness Bahamas Landfill (RABL), Rise Bahamas, and the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF).

Save the Bays chairman Joseph Darville said the government runs the risk of becoming “an enemy of the environment”, if they carry on with their current habits regarding fossil fuels.

He questioned whether the FNM administration has lived up to its pre-election promises in a press statement, in which he criticized several upcoming projects he predicts will prolong the country’s dependence on petroleum products.

“The Oban oil refinery in Grand Bahama, an LNG plant at Clifton – instead of moving us away from dangerous, polluting petroleum products, this government seems to be entrenching The Bahamas in a long-term reliance on the curse of fossil fuels. This is the opposite of what Dr Minnis and his colleagues said on the campaign trail,” he said.

“I sincerely hope that this new proposal for offshore drilling in our precious waters is outright rejected. If not, this FNM government, despite all of its promises, could end up going down in history as yet another administration that turned out to be an enemy of the environment,” Mr Darville continued.

While the STB chairman commended the FNM for announcing a ban on single-use plastics, Mr Darville said there is still grave concern for the government’s inability to present a “credible plan for transitioning to renewables”.

“Environmentalists understand and accept the need for new projects,” he said, “in particular those that will create employment opportunities, but development must be pursued both responsibly and progressively, with an eye to creating the kind of society future generations of Bahamians would be proud to live in.”

Mr Darville insisted the government should decline the Oban deal, due to the major risk it poses on the marine ecosystem of East Grand Bahama.

He added the government should not grant any licences for offshore oil drilling, because it could be the “death knell” for the marine environment.

The chairman also called for the reversal of the Clifton LNG power plant deal asserting the area needs “remediation” rather than “further development”.

The Environmental Alliance echoed these sentiments in their open letter to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis. The group called on the FNM administration to address pressing environmental, social, and transparency issues that have produced environmental concerns.

Explaining their mission is to ensure the government “rejects and discontinues” projects that have the potential to harm the Bahamian ecosystem, the group described themselves as advocates of “comprehensive environmental protection legislation.”

In this light, EA are calling on the government to address: “Air emissions, the handling and process of wastewater, the handling of hazardous materials and waste, the contamination of groundwater and the water lens, the impact to seabed, corals, mangroves and fisheries, noise from operating machinery, the potential impacts to biodiversity and ecosystem services, and the impacts on The Bahamas’ ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

The letter is also appealing for the government to speak to “working conditions of employees at plant, the access to management jobs of the Bahamian work force, a long term economic viability of the project, minimal penalties for environmental damage, and the expense and delay of recourse to civil proceedings for redress.”

In terms of transparency, the EA is requesting that the FNM address: “The failure to hold prior consultation with stakeholders, failure to follow the process set out in our laws, failure to commission an EIA prior to signing of the agreement, provision to allow project to proceed notwithstanding EIA, policy implications, as The Bahamas has several national policies and international agreements it has signed on to, and finally, the impacts to existing multilateral environmental agreements.”

EA questioned how the proposed Oban project will fall in line with environmental safety, and insisted that the government reveal the “social benefits for those immediately impacted, the economic viability, the full operational compliance with Bahamian legislation, government adherence to any ensuing court orders, as well as the alignment with the National Development Plan which seeks to take our nation to an environmentally and economically sustainable future”.