The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Environmental activists have given the Government and Resorts World Bimini an ultimatum to stop work on their planned cruise ship island/jetty by week’s end, or otherwise face Judicial Review proceedings in the Supreme Court.

Letter sent to Prime Minister Perry Christie, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis and a variety of government officials by the attorney acting for the Bimini Blue Coalition call on the Government to issue a ‘contravention letter’ to the developers, and “immediately require them to cease and desist” construction.

Paving the way for the long-heralded legal action, Romauld Ferreira expressed concern that allowing Resorts World to create a 4.5 acre artificial island on seabed off Bimini was “not in the public interest” when it came to the use of Crown Land.

Basing this on the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) findings, Mr Ferreira also questioned whether the developers were in compliance with the Planning and Subdivisions Act, and called on the Government to put an immediate stop to construction works if they were not.

The developers’ own EIA, as previously reported by Tribune Business, revealed that the cruise ship terminal/dock, which are forecast as producing an 11-fold increase in Bimini’s annual visitor numbers to 570,000, were “incompatible with the existing and future land uses of the remainder of North Bimini”.

And, in the same breath, the EIA notes that the estimated 570,000 annual visitors that will be attracted to Bimini are “greater than appropriate” for the island’s size, ecology and socio-economy.

Mr Ferreira, in his letter to the Prime Minister, indicated that the Coalition had been moved to act by a November 5 Town Meeting, at which Resorts World Bimini said construction of the man-made island would begin last Monday, with dredging starting next month.

Noting that this work would take place on seabed that was “unquestionably Crown Land”, Mr Ferreira told Mr Christie that Crown Land was held for the benefit of Bahamians, and any decision involving it thus had to be in the public interest.

“Given the nature of the proposed development and the serious adverse environmental, ecological, socio-cultural effects thereof, as documented in the developer’s EIA, the grant of a lease or licence of the seabed to the developer cannot be described as in the interest of the Bahamas,” Mr Ferreira said.

The attorney’s letters, which also went to Town Planning Committee chairman Wilshire Bethel; Michael Major, director of physical planning; and Craig Delancey, building control officer, seek to find out what building permits and other approvals have been granted to the developer.

Mr Ferreira, in his letter to Mr Bethel, asked whether the 1,000 foot long pier, coupled with the dredging of 220,000 cubic yards of fill, had received Site Plan Approval from the Town Planning Committee.

Asking for a response with “extreme urgency”, Mr Ferreira said there would be “strong grounds for an appeal reversing, or order quashing, any such decision” if Site Plan Approval had been granted.

Noting that Bimini residents had not been notified of any Site Plan Application, as required under the Planning and Subdivisions Act, Mr Ferreira said: “Our clients are extremely concerned, and we trust that you agree that it is imperative to put a stop to these works and threatened works pending proper consultation and pending the developers (and the Town Planning Committee) following the Site Plan approval procedure set out in the Act.”

As for the developers, Mr Ferreira said a public hearing on any Site Plan application was supposed to be held within 21 days of its submission to the Government.

In his letters to Resorts World Bimini and its partner, Gerardo Capo’s RAV Bahamas, Mr Ferreira said: “Our clients are not aware of any meeting having been held, and are therefor unable to see how the requisite approvals could have been properly granted.

“The correct procedures cannot have been followed, and the Town Planning Committee cannot have taken into consideration all the relevant facts and matters.

“Please note that neither the National Economic Council, the Bahamas Investment Authority nor the Prime Minister are able to override the provisions of the Planning and Subdivisions Act.”

Mr Ferreira said the EIA’s reference to the Town Planning Act indicates its authors were unaware of its repeal, and replacement, by the Planning and Subdivisions Act.

“This leads us to believe that it is unlikely that you have obtained Site Plan Approval and are in continuing breach of the Act,” Mr Ferreira wrote.

He warned that any approvals obtained from the Town Planning Committee would be subject to “appeal and/or Judicial Review” on the basis that the decision to grant them were “procedurally unfair due to the absence of due consultation, and irrational because no rational decision maker could have granted such approval given the contents of the EIA”.

Mr Ferreira and the Coalition urged Resorts World Bimini to give an undertaking that it would halt construction by 4pm this Thursday, otherwise it would seek a court injunction to force this.