The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

“Delirious” environmentalists were celebrating yesterday after the Government’s bid to reinstate its Blackbeard’s Cay appeal was rejected, despite warnings this would threaten an $8 million project and job losses “felt throughout the tourist industry in Nassau”.

Desmond Bannister, the new attorney for Blue Illusions Ltd, the Blackbeard’s Cay developer, told Tribune Business he would now advise his client on the available “options” following the Court of Appeal’s decision.

Pointing out that Blue Illusions, which is headed by St Maarten businessman Samir Andrawos, was not a party to the action, Mr Bannister said he had yet to speak to the Attorney General’s Office to find out how the Government will respond to yesterday’s verdict.

“I am going to look at all the implications, and give my client what I believe is appropriate advice for him,” Mr Bannister told Tribune Business. “I believe there are some options I can advise my client on. I am going to advise my client on the options I believe are in his best interests.”

This newspaper revealed last week how the Court of Appeal had dismissed the Government’s Blackbeard’s Cay appeal because it failed to file the documentary record within the stipulated 45-day deadline.

The Attorney General’s Office admitted it had bungled the appeal, conceding it was its own “inadvertence” or inattention that caused it to meet the deadline - an admission the Court of Appeal had little sympathy with.

And nor did Mr Bannister, who told Tribune Business: “This appeal is something where somebody dropped the ball, but if there are merits to it, and the Government believes there are, it may pursue other options.”

That is likely a reference to the possibility of the Government appealing to the London-based Privy Council in a last-ditch bid to have its appeal reinstated, but it is by no means certain whether it will take this route or if it would succeed.

Mr Bannister, though, said the initial Blackbeard’s Cay verdict by Justice Stephen Isaacs contained “wide-ranging Orders” that had implications for how the Prime Ministers and other ministers/officials executed their duties in future.

And, in a December 16, 2014, affidavit obtained by Tribune Business, Mr Bannister laid out the potential negative consequences for Mr Andrawos/Blue Illusions and their investment, plus their employees, as a result of yesterday’s ruling.

“To date, Blue Illusions has invested in excess of $8 million in an environmentally-friendly tourist attraction in the Bahamas,” Mr Bannister alleged.

The former minister of education, who has seemingly replaced Charles Mackay as Blue Illusions’ attorney, added that the developer had “sought throughout to comply with the laws of the Bahamas”.

“On a daily basis, the attraction funded by the company [Blue Illusions] attracts some 400 to 600 tourists, who are transported by boat from the cruise ships in Nassau Harbour,” Mr Bannister added,

While Blue Illusions directly employed six-eight Bahamians “at any given time” to operate its dolphin attraction, having paid for their training in Honduras for six months, the attorney indicated that potential job losses were far greater when sub-contractors and indirect employment was accounted for.

“Tour, taxi and boat operators, and other tourist industry personnel depend on the attraction for their livelihood,” Mr Bannister alleged.

“Accordingly, the loss of employment locally would be felt throughout the tourist industry in Nassau if the company is forced to cease its operations.”

It is unclear whether a complete closure of Blackbeard’s Cay will happen, but Sam Duncombe, principal of environmental activist group reEarth, which brought the initial Judicial Review action and was yesterday celebrating another court win, said she “absolutely” planned to enforce Justice Isaacs’ Orders.

That verdict, if not overturned, effectively spells the end of Blackbeard’s Cay, in its current form, as it quashed the dolphin import licences and required the mammals to be moved to a different location.

Justice Isaacs had also granted the request by the reEarth environmental activist group to quash the preliminary Site Approval Plan for Blackbeard’s Cay, and ordered that the Government halt its land development.

The Government was ordered to mandate that Blue Illusions and Mr Andrawos, return the site - located on Balmoral Island off New Providence’s north coast, opposite Sandals Royal Bahamian - to its previous state.

A final batch of Orders prevented the grant of Site Plan Approvals to Blackbeard’s Cay without public consultation over the project, and quashes the Government’s decision to permit the dolphin facility’s construction on Crown Land.

However, Mrs Duncombe said yesterday: “I don’t know what we can do to enforce the judgment. I understand from Fred Smith [reEarth’s attorney] that we need to go back to Justice Isaacs and present a plan to him in terms of what should happen to the dolphins.”

Still, Mrs Duncombe described herself as “deliriously happy” following the Court of Appeal verdict, which she said stemmed from the Attorney General’s Office’s inability to explain its “inadvertence”.

reEarth, in its submissions to the Court of Appeal, said the Government’s failings were “inordinate, inexcusable and prejudicial”, especially given how it had conducted the entire case and failed to respond to “numerous promptings”.

“The strong message to the Government, its agencies and ministries is follow the law like the rest of us, and do the right thing,” Ms Duncombe said. “The right thing is to follow the law.

“It’s not just for John Q Public, but also the Government that should enforce the rules and abide by them, which they have not done in this circumstance at all.”

She added that reEarth’s objective now was to stop the breeding of dolphins in captivity in the Bahamas; prevent their import and export from this nation; and stop the development of further facilities such as Blackbeard’s Cay, converting them into “sanctuaries”.

“As a tourist destination, we need to pay attention to what the world is saying,” Ms Duncombe said. “The public is saying: ‘Enough already’.”

As for Blue Illusions, she told Tribune Business: “They had ample opportunity to respond to what we were saying to them in terms of lack of permitting. They did not listen to us.

“They said: ‘We’ve done it, you’ll have to do what you can’. The judge has decided for us that laws and rules have to be obeyed.”

Ms Duncombe added: “In my mind, this sends a message to developers coming into the country that they need to follow the laws, but the civil servants also have to follow the rules and regulations set out in the laws of our country. They need to do their jobs.

“Just because the approval is given on high by the Prime Minister’s Office does not mean you don’t have to do your job. You have to dot the ‘i’s’ and cross the ‘t’s’.

“This is no way to run a country. The Government gets to do what it wants, and the rest of us poor schmucks have to follow the law. That’s over, that’s finished.

“We will still march on, and have a lot of work to do. We’ve been invigorated by the decision of the Court of Appeal, and thrilled by the recognition of what we’re fighting for. We’ll press on.”