EDITOR, The Tribune.
I hold no personal or professional brief for Mr Peter Nygard. Let us call a spade a spade, however, and bring closure to this ongoing saga of whether or not the accreted land adjoining his Lyford Cay property was natural, as I suspect that it was, or that he and his servants or agents would have deliberately done it.
Without commenting on the validity of the evidence which might be or have been presented to the judicial system, it seems to me that the best way to bring closure to this ongoing saga would be to grant Mr Nygard and his corporate vehicle a thirty years lease to the same, with the appropriate disclaimers and conditions precedent. The same could be renewable for a further period of time in perpetuity.
I would suggest an annual lease of B$50,000 with the proviso that no medical facility could or should be built on that accreted property.
If he wants to expand and reconstruct those portions of his residence which were destroyed by fire, then by all means he should be allowed to do so. Mr Nygard and his corporate entities have been extremely good to this country and to countless individuals. This is the least that we as a grateful people should offer him.
The accreted land would be termed “Crown Land” within the ambits of the law and would still belong to the Bahamian people in perpetuity.
With the expected constructions, hundreds of jobs would be created and with the payment of various fees and taxes, hundreds of thousands of dollars would accrue to the public treasury and by extension the people of this nation.
Once the proposed facilities are completed, scores of permanent well paying jobs would be generated.
It is for this administration to bring closure to this ongoing saga and to “do the right thing”.
It is not as if the accreted land is part and parcel of any current Crown land. There is, in addition, no independent evidence that to lease the same to Mr Nygrad and his corporate vehicles would cause any provable environmental damage to any other land in the area or at all.
It would appear to me that those shell corporate structures and individuals who are currently opposed to the granting of a lease to Mr Nygard, et al, may have a bias agenda towards the same. Indeed, I suspect that many of them may well be paid mercenaries and pseudo-environmentalists. They do not, I submit, have any real love or concerns for the environment much less the people of this wonderful nation.
There are politicians, et al, out there who will opine that to grant Mr Nygard a lease would be tantamount to a payback of some dubious sort. Politics seem to have intruded into every area of national life. The accreted land is of no real use to anyone except Mr Nygard.
In the circumstances and considering the enormous benefits which this man would have bestowed and continues to do, across the board, to this nation and individuals, I am of the strong view that the accreted land which is, in fact, Crown land, should be leased to him forthwith. The valuable time and scarce resources of our judicial system are being misused and possibly abused, in my humble view.
The Prime Minister has responsibility for Crown land and as such, I invite and urge him to immediately cause the appropriate documents to be prepared and executed to bring an end to the Nygard Saga. To God then, in all things, be the glory.
ORTLAND H BODIE Jr
Nassau,
August 28, 2013.
Comments
Muddasick 11 years, 2 months ago
Mr. Bodie i respect your opinion but, Peter Nygard is wrong I know for a fact that he took a pump and removed sand from the sea to create the beach. I was there when he did it. I would testify to it as well if required to. All he does is shell out a few dollars to stay under the radar. He hires foreigners and they work there illegally and exploits them and Because of the location of his property immigration has difficulty catching him although they have tried a few times. He brings in workers from his la and Canadian offices to work without work permits etc.
If you think what I'm saying is untrue reply to this comment and ask me a question related to his operations and I bet you I can answer.
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 2 months ago
Peter Nygard has been running a resort in Lyford Cay without a license. We have not been receiving our 12% room tax from his operation. HE HAS BEEN STEALING FROM US, on a GRAND SCALE! That alone is reason enough not to grant him a lease. And Ortland, we are talking about LYFORD CAY property, even a lease rate of $50,000.00 is RIDICULOUS.
Make Nygard pay what he owes us since the day he opened his illegal resort, then close it down and prosecute him for theft.
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 2 months ago
I want to know why that is being ignored. It has been established that Nygard has NEVER had a license to run a resort.
TRIBUNE. Why are you not concentrating on that aspect? Why are you not exposing Nygard as the thief he is? Why is he STILL being allowed to run a resort with no license and in a residential neighborhood? AND WHY ISN'T THE TRIBUNE SHOWCASING HIS THEFT FOR THE LAST DECADE OR SO?????
This man is not legitimate, he has stolen way more from us then he donated. He is buying our compliance and thru that act making us all look like complete morons!
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 2 months ago
Actually foreigners cannot rent their Bahamian homes legally without approval from MOF. Nygard does not even have that. And that is home rental, he advertises and runs his home as a resort. Actually his resort is considered the most expensive in the world at 35 to 45,000 per night.
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 2 months ago
Oh sicko how I missed ya. Um no one else is running a full on resort in the Bahamas without a license. And we the Bahamas are losing millions every year cause this dude is not paying us our 12%. We could build a boungy load of bathrooms on Saunders beach with that money ya know? You still crack me up sicko....
concernedcitizen 11 years, 2 months ago
Also on the family island i live on the "winter residents" that rent their homes all had to sign up and pay the "bed tax"
concernedcitizen 11 years, 2 months ago
Did you fall off the couch and hit your head so now mummy makes you wear the helmet ,,nothing like a boy, his plastic helmet, and mummys love
pfitz 11 years, 2 months ago
Hell no!! Don;t grant Nygard ANYTHING!!! He needs to put back what he has stolen from from the Bahamas. Nygard is a leach. Don;t grant him a thing!! hlgbahamas@gmail.com
helpagency 11 years, 2 months ago
Mr nygard is a citizen of the Bahamas and entitled to all the rights as such. Why don't we prosecute the Haitians that steal so much more. At least nygard did pay money for his
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 1 month ago
Sorry helpagency Nygard is not a citizen of the Bahamas.
And sicko please inform us all as to who else is running a resort in the Bahamas without a license or work permits for it's foreign staff? Enlighten us son.
$45,000 per night at 12% room tax is $5,400.00 per person per day that we are not being paid. Tell me that aint stealing....
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