The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A well-known QC has urged the Government to “take the next big step” by following through on commitments to a transparent planning process, warning that unregulated development threatened to cause “chaos” in the Bahamas.

Fresh from obtaining Supreme Court injunctions, on behalf of the Save the Bays coalition, that require both Peter Nygard and attorney Keod Smith to immediately cease all their construction work at Clifton Bay, Fred Smith called on the authorities to fully implement the processes contained in the Planning and Subdivisions Act.

“The issue of unregulated development is a very troubling one throughout the Bahamas, and the Government went to great lengths over many years to bring into effect the 2010 Planning and Subdivisions Act, which requires openness and transparency in development,” Mr Smith told Tribune Business.

“Unregulated development fosters secret deals. It pits local residents against developers. It creates disharmony, and is generally bad for neighbourhoods. Expressed simply, it’s people taking the law into their own hands.”

Save the Bays, in previous court filings to support its successful application for permission to bring a Judicial Review action over Messrs Nygard and Smith’s construction activities, alleged that neither has obtained the necessary government permits and approvals for their respective projects.

And, apart from ordering a halt to groyne construction and seabed dredging at Nygard Cay, and construction of a new dock and boulder placement at Jaws Beach, Justice Rhonda Bain has also required the Government to divulge all its dealings with Messrs Nygard and Smith.

The Court Order, seen by Tribune Business, requires Prime Minister Perry Christie, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis, Glenys Hanna-Martin and their respective ministries, plus the Town Planning Committee, to make “full and frank disclosure” of all permits, approvals and leases granted to Messrs Nygard and Smith.

The Government must also provide copies of the duo’s applications to it, all relevant documents before it, and the reasons for granting any approvals plus conditions attached to them.

Noting that only the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Transport and Aviation had seen fit to respond to Save the Bays’ request for information on Nygard Cay and Jaws Beach, Mr Smith told Tribune Business: “It is very disappointing for a legitimate non-governmental organisation (NGO) such as ourselves to be stonewalled by our own government on such important issues.

“This is a habit that has been reflected in so many issues that other NGOs, non-profit organisations have faced in the past.

“It is regrettable in the year 2013 that our government should continue to adopt a fortress mentality and operate behind closed doors. This applies to both FNM and PLP administrations.”

Mr Smith contrasted the ‘secretive’ development/planning approval process in the Bahamas to its counterparts in the UK and US. In the latter nations, new projects - and changes to existing ones - saw open hearings at the local council/government, state and federal levels, with affected homeowners and residents involved.

“The Bahamas is no less civilised and is entitled to have that kind of orderly and respectful development,” Mr Smith said.

“This has been the problem, and why Guana Cay and Bimini Bay have caused local residents to be pitted against the authorities and developers when a bit of forethought, openness and transparency in the process, as opposed to secrecy in the Heads of Agreement, would promote economic activity and a better business environment.

“The problem with secret deals and commercial developments foisted on unsuspecting local communities is to create disharmony, which does not promote a good business environment.”

Calling on Bahamians to “respect their own rights”, and foreign developments to “work hand in hand” with that respect, the well-known QC said the Guana Cay and Wilson City power plant cases had “finally impressed upon the Government that local residents and other affected parties have a right to be consulted on developments that affect them.

“Those cases were essentially about the right to be consulted,” he added. “The next big step in our jurisprudential development of environmental issues is for the Government to recognise there should be openness and transparency in the development process.

“This will only inure to better development, and more harmony and better balance between developers, the Government and stakeholders. This is what it is all about at the end of the day - respecting each other’s interests.”

Mr Smith added that a more transparent planning/development process would work “hand in hand” with a Freedom of Information Act, which would allow Bahamians to uncover details on government decisions that affected them.

He called on such legislation to be passed “as urgently as possible”.