The Tribune

• Cruise line 'addresses some concerns' on PI coastline

• 'Unfair' to release updated EIA two days before meet

• Environment advocate: 'Ball now in court' of cruise line

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A senior Atlantis executive yesterday said Royal Caribbean has "addressed some of our concerns" about the impact its project will have on Paradise Island's coastline but the mega resort will "certainly" be submitting more questions.

Vaughn Roberts, Atlantis' senior vice-president of government affairs and special projects, told Tribune Business that the cruise giant's $100m Royal Beach Club development is "clearly taking shape" after taking several of the issues raised by the resort and other observers into account.

Describing last week's second public consultation as "just a step in the process" that Royal Caribbean has to follow to obtain the necessary environmental approvals, he declined to comment when asked by this newspaper if the cruise line had adequately satisfied all Atlantis' concerns with respect to the beach destination it plans to develop on western Paradise Island in the vicinity of Colonial Beach.

Mr Roberts said Royal Caribbean still appeared to be "working through their plans, and working through the details of what they want to do", so elements of the proposed Royal Beach Club remain unclear to both the cruise line and those pressing for answers on key environmental and socio-economic issues raised by the project.

Atlantis has been especially vocal with its concerns to the clear irritation of the Davis administration, which has approved the Royal Beach Club in principle provided it satisfies all environmental concerns. Mr Roberts noted that Royal Caribbean is now "sharing more information" as to its intentions and plan details with the Bahamian public, which will aid better-informed public feedback and questions.

"Clearly they're sharing more information, clearly the project is taking shape having considered some of the concerns we have raised," Mr Roberts told Tribune Business. "Obviously we have continued to follow it very closely. I think their revised plan addresses some of the concerns we had with regard to the coastline; what they intended to do with the coastline.

"To the extent they continue to consult the public, and share more information, that is always helpful.... I think it seems like their is more to share than what we saw them communicate last Thursday. The process of consultation with the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) is the public has 21 days to submit further questions, and I think they will share a lot more good information.

"I imagine Atlantis will submit more questions and others will as well," Mr Roberts added. "They're putting out more detail as to what the project involves, putting it out in the public domain. We continue to follow the process, and I'm certain we're going to submit questions, because we have more of them, in this 21-day period and see what happens from there.

"I think they're [Royal Caribbean] still working through their plan and working through the details of what they want to do, so things are not quite clear to us and not quite clear to them either. It's just a step in the process." Atlantis has hired Eric Carey, the former Bahamas National Trust (BNT) executive director, to assess the cruise line's Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and related documents when they are released for public comment.

The Paradise Island mega resort has previously raised multiple environmental misgivings over Royal Caribbean's project, including the likelihood that solid, and potentially other forms of waste, will have to be removed from the site by boat on a daily basis. The cruise line has addressed these concerns by stating that most waste, both solid and liquid (wastewater), would be treated and recycled on-site.

"Our environmental concerns are around a couple of key things,” Mr Roberts previously told this newspaper. “We think any expansion of the shoreline, the beach, putting any structures or jetties there, has the potential to change the beaches of Paradise Island. To the extent the coastline of Paradise Island is changed, there’s economic implications for Atlantis, Four Seasons (the Ocean Club), and everyone else who benefits from the beautiful natural beaches.”

Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas, yesterday told Tribune Business that "the ball is now in the court" of Royal Caribbean to show it takes its environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities by addressing the "gaps" identified by advocates at last Thursday's consultation and previously.

She said it was "unfortunate" that the public consultation had only focused on environmental issues and failed to touch socio-economic concerns such as the impact the Royal Beach Club will have on Bay Street merchants and other cruise-dependent Bahamian-owned businesses by taking an average 2,750 passengers per day over to Paradise Island.

Royal Caribbean has argued that the increase in cruise passengers to Nassau, with it set to increase its own visitor numbers from 1m per year pre-COVID to 2.5m by 2027, will mean there are more than enough tourists to go around for all. Ms Ingraham, though, said social and economic factors related to the project are "contributors to, as well as dependents of", the environmental factors.

"That is one of the gaps that is clearly absent from the entire discussion related to the public consultation," she added. "It was very unfortunate we didn't get to discuss those things because there were people who had come to discuss those things."

Praising the DEPP for "the flow of the consultation", Ms Ingraham also argued that it was "unfair" for Royal Caribbean to release a supplemental Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) containing coastline, noise and other studies just two days prior to last week's public consultation as it meant attendees had little to no time to study the documents and see if concerns raised from the 2021 meeting were incorporated in the plans.

"I believe all environmental advocates did what they need to do in terms of presenting the gaps in the project. It was a matter of us presenting the gaps, and the DEPP now having the EIA modified to address them in a sustainable way so that everybody is supportive of the amendments," the Waterkeepers Bahamas executive director said.

"One of the things I wasn't satisfied with is that I read their EIA and report from the previous consultation, and two days before this consultation they released a supplemental EIA, which was unfair. We need to track any changes so that we know where our concerns have been addressed."

Ms Ingraham said she personally raised concerns about turtle nesting sites, and how increased use of western Paradise Island by Royal Caribbean's passengers could impact the breakwater protecting Nassau's harbour from storm surges and high wave energy.

"I'm hoping that Bahamians are beginning to understand and appreciate that this is a process," she added of the DEPP consultation. "It's not this 'for and against' a project. It's a process of trying to create a project that has limited impact on the environment.

"I would like for there, after Royal Caribbean would have looked at some of the questions and comments submitted to them, to be another consultation process for them to show where they have adopted those recommendations for filling in the gaps. It really depends on how they look at this second round of suggestions and how they address these to see if they are really serious about ESG and environmental impact. The ball is in their court."