The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

ENVIRONMENT and Natural Resources Minister Vaughn Miller said yesterday that while he supports the Disney Lighthouse Point project, he is still “very concerned” about its potential environmental impact on Eleuthera.

Mr Miller, who spoke on the sidelines of an environmental conclave at the Margaritaville Resort, expressed his thoughts on the ongoing development after concerns over its environmental impact were raised. He said he has heard the concerns of several environmental groups on the matter, including ReEarth, which late last year sent a formal letter to him urging him to stop the project. He also said how such things are common in projects of this nature, but that he too has a vested interest in the situation.

“Groupings have always been against it, and I think that you will always have that with a lot of major projects, I think you’ll always have that,” Mr Miller said. “In terms of when you have companies coming in, particularly like Disney Cruise Lines, when they are coming in with a big investment and certainly it’s controversial in the sense that, I’m from Eleuthera let me state that, so it’s personal to me and I have my concerns about it.”

Mr Miller said he is consulting closely with Disney on the development and said that they have so far complied with all environmental restrictions imposed on them during construction.

“I was reassured that they have been complying with everything that was demanded from them to this point, so I’m satisfied in that regard,” he said.

Despite these assurances from Disney Cruise Lines, Mr Miller said he is still monitoring the situation cautiously due to its potential impact, not only on Eleuthera, but The Bahamas as a whole.

“Am I concerned? Very concerned. I’m from Eleuthera, it’s personal to me, but not just Eleuthera, but for the entire Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

He also said he is striving to be transparent in his new role.

“We are the stewards, the preamble of our constitution referred to us as the inheritors and the successors (of the environment). And presently I’m in this position and, as I said earlier, I’m going to do everything transparent. I’m being held accountable and I’m happy for that and I want to leave a lasting legacy so that persons, like yourself of your generation and even other generations coming, that they will be proud of whatever is said or whatever is done, and they would also want to follow that legacy.”