The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Government needs to establish the proper regulatory framework for “environmentally responsible development”, a prominent Bahamian attorney warning this nation would “pay the price” if such protection was not enforced.

Romauld Ferreira, partner at Ferreira & Company, which specialises in consultancy and environmental issues, told a meeting of the Rotary Club of East Nassau that the “legislative vacuum” against which coastal developments are being carried out cannot continue.

“We need sustainable development in this country. This legislative vacuum can go on no longer. We need the proper framework for environmentally responsible development,” said Mr Ferreira, one of the leaders in the “Save the Bays’ coalition.

He added that careful consideration should be given to a development’s impact on the environment. “In terms of enforcement, we cannot enforce something if the legislation is not there. This is half of the problem. We are going to do all sorts of things without the proper regulatory framework, and we are going to pay the price because it’s all Bays that are really at stake,” said Mr Ferreira.

He added: “The Department of Environmental Services Act is woefully inadequate. There is no regulatory component. What you have is a framework that establishes the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS), but you have no regulatory framework by which to address, for instance, discharges, whether it be discharges of sand in the air or sea, and that is what really makes it inadequate.

“The regulatory framework is needed, and that will introduce this whole concept of environmental laws - certainly on the litigation side - because you have something to litigate and enforce. What you have to enforce now is at the discretion of the Minister and that should certainly never be.”

Save the Bays is pursuing a Judicial Review of construction activity at Nygard Cay, the Lyford Cay home of Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

“The problem isn’t just about the activities, but it’s also the fact that the activities are unregulated, which is the bigger problem. They need to be brought into the ambit of the law. Our Judicial Review should be launched in a matter of days. We are just putting the the finishing touches on all the necessary documents,” said Mr Ferriera.