The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Tourism Development Corporation's chair has blasted a dive operator's "self-indulgent diatribe" over efforts to protect The Bahamas from a "vicious onslaught" over recent shark attacks.

Michael Scott told Tribune Business that he took "a very negative view" of suggestions by Stuart Cove, principal of Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas, that he and other industry operators had been "thrown under the bus" by the government's "knee-jerk response" to the fatality off Rose Island and other incidents.

Suggesting that Mr Cove was "assuming the mantle of victim", Mr Scott said the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) had merely been doing its job by acting as "a bridge" between the dive and water sports industry, government regulators and other stakeholders to determine if any safety-related improvements were necessary following recent events.

Besides seeking to "maintain the highest standards" in the sector, he added that the July 4 meeting convened by the TDC was a critical element in efforts "to ward off and neutralise these unfair media attacks" stemming from shark attack that killed 21 year-old California resident, Jordan Lindsey.

Mr Scott said The Bahamas "needs to protect itself from the vicious onslaught" by US social and mainstream media, which he accused of spreading "inaccurate information" and ignoring the far greater number of shark-related incidents that occur annually off their country's east and west coasts.

Mr Cove, in an interview with Tribune Business on Monday, argued that it was unnecessary to summon himself and the Bahamas Dive Association's (BDA) other 34 members to the meeting because they already had standards and procedures in place to respond to shark bites and attacks.

Arguing that his company had overseen "a million encounters" between sharks and visitors over the last 40 years without any problems occurring, Mr Cove said he and other operators were effectively deemed 'guilty by association' even though they had nothing to do with the attack that killed Ms Lindsay and were miles away from that location.

Defending his agency, Mr Scott told Tribune Business: "As chairman of the Tourism Development Corporation I read with absolute dismay and alarm the unfiltered and misguided rant of Stuart Cove in which he unleashed a torrent of grievances and then levelled criticism of the TDC in which, from my perspective, he inveighed against the TDC as throwing his company under the bus.

"I regret very much having to say that is inaccurate and untrue. Mr Cove was not summoned anywhere by anyone. Mr Cove wrote to our executive director, Janet Johnson, asking to be included in a multi-party conclave that was being convened by Janet to investigate the underlying circumstances behind the Jordan Lindsay shark encounter as well as these other recent attacks."

Mr Scott indicated that the Corporation's role had been misunderstood, explaining that its function is to act as a "liaison" with domestic tourism operators - including dive and water sports entities - and form a "bridge" between the private sector, government agencies and regulators, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

"It was against that background that background and spirit that the conclave was convened to take stock of where the industry was, what could be done from a stakeholder perspective to improve delivery of these amenities, explore any room for improvement and see how we could better assist in co-ordinating with government agencies," he added.

"It was an investigatory and exploratory exercise exercise. It was not convened as a summit to point fingers and make accusations, nor was it a witch hunt against him [Mr Cove]. I take a very negative view of his self-indulgent diatribe in which he seems to assume the mantle of victim."

"I think it's very important in the industry for the various stakeholders, including government entities, to come together to not only look at ways and means of self-improvement but also how it can be better regulated and government agencies play a greater, and more proactive, part," Mr Scott continued.

"This is important because The Bahamas has been the object of an onslaught from US media groups and social media. We need to protect ourselves from this vicious onslaught which dishonestly seeks to target is and depict us unfairly as a jurisdiction."

Mr Scott argued that the US coverage of Mr Lindsay's death and other shark-related incidents in The Bahamas ignored the "significant amount of attacks" that took place off that nation's east and west coast, especially "between Daytona Beach and Miami", resulting in an "inaccurate" portrayal of the dangers.

"That was the point behind the July 4 conclave," he added. "It's in our collective interest as a country, agencies and industry participants to not only work together but there's always room for improvement and maintaining the highest standards in the industry, as well as warding off and neutralising these unfair media attacks.

"It's important we don't have misinformation out there that wrongly projects what we were trying to do, how we view our role and the overriding objective for everyone involved in this tourism industry and business."