The Tribune

By Syann Thompson

sthompson@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas should send a strong message to environmental crime offenders that the country’s natural resources and laws will be respected, according to one stakeholder.

While applauding Attorney General Carl Bethel for the government’s position on Carnival Cruise Line’s recent dumping in Bahamian waters, Eric Carey told The Tribune those who break environmental laws and are persistent at it should pay the penalty.

“I commend the AG for his stance and for the government’s stance because we certainly think that this is the time for government to send a message that polluting of our waters will not be tolerated, and we need to re-enforce and re-emphasise that,” said Mr Carey, executive director of Bahamas National Trust.

“The government has brought forward new legislation to deal with this matter and we encourage the Attorney General to send a clear message that the laws and the environment of The Bahamas will be respected.”

Tribune Business reported that a monitor appointed by a South Florida federal court revealed Carnival Cruise Line committed further environmental infractions last year – some of which occurred while vessels were in port in Nassau and Freeport. The monitor’s latest report, filed on New Year’s Eve, detailed incidents including the March 6, 2019 discharge of 34 cubic metres of black water/sewage in Bahamian waters from the MS Maasdam as it sailed from Half Moon Cay, the private island, to Fort Lauderdale.

Also cited was a September 9, 2019 incident involving the Carnival Sunrise when “a considerable amount of rust” was discharged into Nassau harbour after a technician started up an “infrequently used water pump” while the vessel was docked at Prince George Wharf.

The recently passed Environmental Planning and Protection Act entails a series of fines and penalties allowing them to be directly proportional to the environmental infraction. This law allows fines from $500 to $30 million and or imprisonment not exceeding ten years.

Mr Carey explained that large companies who commit major environmental crimes should receive fines that are commensurate with the infraction.

“I would say that (the fines) need to be on the scale of millions rather than thousands or tens of thousands,” he said.

“For any company that is a multi-million-dollar company, then the penalty should fit not only the crime, but how serious it is, but it should also be a significant deterrent.

“Charging a major corporation $500 will not be a deterrent but charging them $10 million might indeed be a deterrent. The fine needs to be fixed at a level that government is confident will act as a deterrent to Carnival. Even if it is not a deterrent, the amount must be significant that if we have to do clean up or mitigation, that the government has the wherewith all to do that, and then of course to fund the necessary monitoring which obviously must take place.”

He added Bahamian officials need to better monitor vessels in this territory as ocean polluting can cause havoc on the marine environment.

“The introduction of any foreign entity, whether its pollutants like sewerage or fossil fuels or oil spills or plastics, upsets the balance of the ocean and it can directly kill marine animals that may ingest this raw sewerage.

“It certainly degrades the quality of water, if it gets into areas that could potentially impact coral reefs then the degraded quality of the water could have a negative impact. Coral reefs are prevalent and healthy in The Bahamas is because we have relatively clean and crystal-clear waters, interfering with that upsetting the balance with things like coral reefs is very negative for our waters. Human health and welfare also a concern, if the dumping is relatively close to an area where humans can then be impacted either—swimming in it or it washing onto beaches—then it’s definitely potentially for human contact with raw sewerage or byproduct or break down of it,” said Mr Carey.

“The protection of our environment is not only important to tourism but also to our very way of life. The environment is what feeds us, and it provides tourism opportunities, it’s what we depend on for our very existence.”