The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Royal Caribbean is aiming “in the next couple of weeks” to answer the 120 questions sparked by its Paradise Island project’s initial environmental consultation, with a senior executive yesterday saying: “I wish we’d replied sooner.”

Jay Schneider, the cruise giant’s chief product and innovation officer, told Tribune Business that itself and the Davis administration had agreed it “didn’t make sense” to reply to all the queries stemming from the initial Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) hearing until the two sides had reached a revised agreement on the $110m Royal Beach Club.

That initial DEPP consultation took place on September 8, 2021, just eight days before that year’s general election which resulted in the Government changing hands. Mr Schneider said Royal Caribbean and the Government then had to “get comfortable” with each other all over again, as well as agree on the revised public-private partnership model that will give The Bahamas a collective 49 percent equity stake in the project as well as more local entrepreneurial participation.

While the 120 questions are not all exclusively focused on environmental issues, the Royal Caribbean executive told this newspaper that, in hindsight, it would have been better for the cruise giant to respond earlier given that silence only “breeds more questions” while creating an information void and vacuum that is vulnerable to speculation.

Mr Schneider also disclosed that Royal Caribbean is hoping a “supplemental” public consultation on its Paradise Island project can take place during the “first couple of weeks in June” although the date has to be set by the DEPP. This will enable any follow-up questions to its initial answers to be addressed, and help to set the ‘terms of reference’ for what is to be dealt with in the Royal Beach Club’s Environmental Management Plan (EMP).

Describing the EMP as “a living document”, which will be updated as needed, Mr Schneider said that Royal Caribbean will “not be starting from scratch” on its creation as it has already compiled much of the data and information required. He added that, four to six weeks after the 21-day post-consultation period is completed, the cruise giant hopes to have the EMP ready to submit to the DEPP for its scrutiny.

The Royal Caribbean product chief said that, rather go back to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), any fresh questions and concerns raised from both its initial answers and the supplemental consultation will be addressed in the forthcoming EMP.

Recalling the initial 2021 DEPP public consultation, Mr Schneider told Tribune Business that - during the post-meeting 21-day period that attendees have to submit questions and concerns - the Government changed. “We met with the new government to discuss what our proposal will be, and we went through the journey,” he added.

“During that time period it didn’t make sense for us to respond to all those questions. The Government agreed with that. We wanted to make sure we didn’t answer until we had an agreement. We agreed not to respond until we reached a new proposal. That took time. We had to get comfortable with the PPP. They had to get comfortable with it. It was a novel idea.”

That PPP, or public-private partnership (PPP) model, which has been hailed as a first-of-its-kind for the tourism industry, will see the Government exchange the four Crown Land acres that Royal Caribbean requires for an equity stake in the Royal Beach Club project. Bahamian investors will also be able to buy into the development via an investment fund and, together with the Government, the two will collectively own a 49 percent stake in the venture.

There will also be greater participation by Bahamian entrepreneurs and increased job opportunities. “Now that we have that agreement I’m hoping that in the next couple of weeks we’ll respond to each of the initial questions related to the first hearing as part of a 50-page extensive report.... You’ll see additional details on certain questions related to solid waste and waste water,” Mr Schneider added.

However, he voiced regret that Royal Caribbean had not answered sooner the 2021 consultation questions supplied by Atlantis, multiple environmental activists and others. “The only thing... that I wish we would have done differently, and I’m accountable for this, is we waited more than a year not answering questions,” the Royal Caribbean product chief said. “That breeds greater questions.

“It was the right thing to do because we were meeting the new government, working with the new government in building the partnership and got to a way better spot. The Bahamian participation is wonderful, the economic model for the Bahamas government is excellent and the right outcome, but I wish we would have answered the questions sooner.”

Mr Schneider said Royal Caribbean is planning to fully answer the questions, which cover a mix of environmental, economic, project-related and offbeat issues, in time for the “supplemental” public consultation with the DEPP that it hopes will be held “in the first couple of weeks in June”.

“That’s our goal. We cannot make that determination,” Mr Schneider said. “They [the DEPP] have to pick a date. We’ve given them a bunch of options and they have to let us know what the answer is.” Following that meeting, attendees and others will have another 21-day period in which to submit their questions and concerns to both Royal Caribbean and the regulator.

“After that, based on the totality of data submitted, we will have to submit and agree the terms of reference for the EMP and then submit the draft EMP. It’s not as if we’re starting from scratch.” Royal Caribbean is hoping to complete these aspects within four to six weeks of the 21-day consultation period’s close.

Addressing concerns that Royal Caribbean was seeking to circumvent the environmental approvals process, despite multiple assurances by both itself and the Government to the contrary, Mr Schneider pledged: “We are absolutely committed to following the environmental process. We decided not to do ‘shovels in the ground’ until after the environmental approvals.

“We’re not there. There’s environmental hurdles and we need permits to begin construction. There’s a lot of steps to get past before we get to shovels in the ground. Shovels won’t be in the ground until we have satisfied ourselves that we have completed all these steps.”