The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Treasure Cay’s chief councillor says no construction permits for a controversial project will be forthcoming any time soon, as the island’s planning authorities have been “shut down” over an alleged ‘conflict of interest’.

Gary Smith, while declining to go into detail over the alleged ‘conflict’, told Tribune Business he was set to meet with the North Abaco District Council, which will be investigating it, this Thursday.

But, with both the Treasure Cay council’s Town Planning Board and Planning Authority Board not operating, Mr Smith said it was impossible for the Treasure Sands Club to receive any construction permits.

Tim Blakeley, the Treasure Sands Club’s vice-president, said it had submitted had submitted plans for several Hope Town-style buildings for local government approval, but Mr Smith said he had no knowledge of these applications.

“We are pending an investigation into alleged conflicts of interest, and the Board and Planning Authority Board is shut down pending an investigation by the North Abaco District Council,” Mr Smith said.

He reiterated, though, that the Treasure Cay council would “not do anything” when it came to approving permit applications by the Treasure Sands Club until it saw an environmental report from the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology (BEST) Commission.

An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was submitted to BEST on the developers’ behalf by Keith Bishop of Islands by Design, but Mr Smith said the Council was still seeking answers on how the dredging would impact the environment.

“We are not going to make any decision,” Mr Smith told Tribune Business. “I want to see the investors’ original plan, what they wanted to do with the dredging.”

He added that previous studies had shown dredging of the nature already carried out by the Treasure Sands Club threatened to increase the flooding experienced by the island’s residents during past storms.

And, responding to claims by North Abaco MP, Renaldo Curry, that opposition to the project was politically motivated, Mr Smith said: “He is misinformed.

“In 2011, when the former government was in power, local government stopped him [Mr Blakeley] then. We took the initiative to stop him then. It has nothing to do with politics.

“We have no special interest in the Treasure Sands Club project. We don’t want to put the residents of Treasure Cay at risk, and fast track studies before the necessary studies are done. We have no political or philosophical interest in this.”

Mr Blakeley last week told Tribune Business that local sentiment had shifted in favour of the development, something Mr Smith’s comments will call into question.

He said then: “Local government has been very positive as well. They’ve turned around. They’ve been pretty co-operative now. There’s been a shift in the tides a little bit.

“We are apparently on the fast track. It’s supposed to be imminent and everything is very positive,” Mr Blakeley had added of the project’s dredging permit application.

The Government issued a ‘cease and desist’ order to the project last year, requiring it to cease dredging operations until the relevant permit was obtained from the Department of Lands and Surveys.

“We’ve basically had to down tools so it’s been a bit frustrating, but the Government has assured us they’re working as fast as possible,” Mr Blakeley said.

He previously said the project could ultimately involve a $10-$20 million investment, and create 100 “desperately needed” jobs, if the developers were allowed to fulfill their plans.

However, a video by the Save the Bays group, which featured several Treasure Cay residents and local government members, including chief councillor Stephen Pedican, reiterated concerns that they were being bypassed by Nassau when it came to investment project approvals.

And Israel Cooper, a Treasure Cay resident, was recorded as saying: “The community really do have a problem with the way things are going here.”

The video, which Save the Bays is using to push demands for a Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Protection Act, reiterates concerns that statutory processes are being ignored, and that local communities are thus unable to govern themselves or know what is happening in their own backyard.