The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL environmentalist said “talk is cheap” as she questioned the promise from officials of a multimillion-dollar Long Island project to act within environmental safety regulations.

Sam Duncombe’s comments came yesterday after Azul Destinations had a groundbreaking ceremony this week for a $250m resort and cruise port for south Long Island, where officials said they would ensure the project is in accordance with environmental safety regulations.

An Azul representative said on Monday the company is “still in the process of doing all the analysis as well as the environmental impact assessment” for the project.

“The reality is talk is cheap and actions are what count,” Ms Duncombe, founder of reEarth, said. “All we hear is hot air coming out of developers’ mouths and the government about how beneficial this project is going to be — I don’t begrudge anybody getting a job.

“But let’s be thoughtful and invite investors that actually really do care about the environment instead of just accepting anybody who comes in,” Ms Duncombe told The Tribune.

Ms Duncombe said if developers of the project were truly concerned about the protection of the environment as they claimed, officials would have sought advice from the local environmental community.

She explained several times companies have failed to run the necessary studies to ensure the country’s environment is protected from major construction.

“The reality is that they go into communities, bamboozle them with jobs and the glitz and glamour of the resort. But at the end of the day, the communities are the ones who are ultimately going to pay the sacrifice in terms of degraded landscape and degraded cultural aspects of their island. And the environmental aspects of the island.”

Ms Duncombe added that the cruise industry has had a massive environmental impact, adding that several cruise lines in the past have even polluted Bahamian waters.

The Tribune previously reported that a US court mandated report in 2019 found Carnival ships dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of treated sewage and more than 8,000 gallons of food waste in Bahamian waters in 2017. In doing so, the court found Carnival violated the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) which specifies how food waste and sewage must be disposed of.

On December 5, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Vaughn Miller said he was in conversation with cruise lines about the issue of pollution in Bahamian waters. If necessary, he said, the government will use the “maximum extent of the law” to deal with the issue.

Ms Duncombe said Azul Destinations is not the only company that has promised in the past to be mindful of the country’s natural resources.

“It’s not only them, everyone that comes in says ‘we’re going to be super responsible about the environment.’ And yet they still proceed knowing full well that their development is going to have a massive impact just from cruise port alone.”

Ms Duncombe said the government’s responsibility is not only to maintain the economy, but also to sustain The Bahamas’ environment for the future.

Ms Duncombe also criticised Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ efforts of protecting the country’s environment.

“What does he think bringing cruise ships that pollute as much as 13 million cars in one day? How is that helping with climate change?”

She continued: “The government, developers and the people of the country don’t know what the impact is (of the project). You’re supposed to do the impact (assessment) first and then the government should decide based on that impact or whether or not they should go forward even to grant them (approval).”