The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Editor

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president has branded recent oil pollution impacting the island as “unfortunate” and says “combined efforts” from all stakeholders are needed to protect both the environment and economy.

James Carey told Tribune Business: “It’s an unfortunate thing. Anything like that is environmentally concerning but, you know, we do have the oil bunkering terminal and, you know, that type of thing has happened before. It can happen when we’re dealing with oil.

“Fortunately, they reacted very quickly, and hopefully the whole problem is essentially mitigated. I know the environmental people from Nassau were in town to check those out, but I’ve not seen a report on what their disposition is about what transpired.”

Following a spill of an estimated five to ten barrels of oil at the Buckeye Bahamas (former BORCO) oil storage terminal, which went into the sea, pollution from another, different source - widely suspected to be a ship - contaminated multiple Grand Bahama beaches just days later.

Mr Carey, meanwhile, said tourism and the oil industry can co-exist on Grand Bahama, but there is a need for more frequent inspections to ensure firms are following safety procedures and mitigating potential accident risks. He added that a joint effort between the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), the Government, local businesses and residents is needed to ensure the environment is protected and the tourism industry revitalised.

“There is certainly room for tourism and industry I believe,” Mr Carey said. “However, authorities need to have more prominence and effective policing, and to ensure that certain things don’t happen. And, equally with hotels, there should be more frequent inspections in other types of businesses, but particularly with industry.

“I think the authorities need a stronger presence and a more frequent inspection, and it’s not just the environmental concerns - it is also the safety concerns of the individuals who are employed in the industry and depending on the type of industry, that community as a whole.

“Because there are a number of industries that affect other businesses and, in some cases, residential areas. So I certainly will invite a more prominent presence in terms of the authorities and checking industry to ensure they’re in compliance with legal requirements,” Mr Carey continued.

“We need the combined efforts of all of the players - the Grand Bahama Port Authority, the Government, businesses and the community as a whole to pay attention to environmental concerns, and also make the efforts in terms of tourism in particular.”

James Rolle, Dolly Madison’s general manager, said oil spills have an environmental cost that goes beyond the initial clean-up. He said legislative changes should be made to ensure the Government does not have to be burdened with those long-term costs.

“I think there has to be consideration at the legislative level in order to, number one, protect from the effects of these spills on the island,” Mr Rolle said. “Someone has to bear the costs of any environmental detriment that happens as a result of these spills.

“And so, I think legislation is a way to protect and secure the responsibility, especially financially, because government can’t bear the price of rectifying these accidents. It has to be borne by the entities or the companies that are actually involved in these accidents.”

Mr Rolle said companies must be prepared to deal with accidents efficiently and quickly, as the ability to contain oil pollution will directly affect the tourism product on Grand Bahama. He added that businesses on the island are experiencing a “stable” summer but that is “contingent” on the wider economy.

He added: “The thing is, when we talk about the strength of legislation, it speaks to legislation that regulates how these companies who are involved in this type of production or business, how they are prepared and how they’ve structured themselves in order to be able to deal with these things - and act on these things - right away in the most efficient manner. I think that’s one way of reducing the risk of such an accident.

“From the tourism side, we have to look at the effectiveness of our ability to contain these accidents to the point where it does not really affect the tourism product. And for us, the tourism product in this particular case is going to be those persons who are beaching and water sports and that kind of stuff.

“You know, everything is contingent or hinges on what’s happening around us, the economy and all of that. But, for the most part, business is stable. And we don’t anticipate things getting any worse.”