The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) has lifted a cease-and-desist order issued last July to an industrial company, allowing it to resume land development at a site off Queen’s Highway, where mangroves are under threat.

DRAVO Bahamas, which is conducting large-scale clearing and development work for the Freeport Harbour Company, was ordered to halt operations last summer after it was discovered that the company did not have the required Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC).

Environmental activist Capt Daniel Murray, who initially brought attention to the issue, criticised the bulldozing of mature red mangroves off Queen’s Highway and urged the government to intervene. Shortly thereafter, DEPP officials issued a cease-and-desist order.

In February, when work resumed at the site, Capt Murray questioned whether the company had violated the order.

On Thursday, Dr Rihanna Neely, director at DEPP, confirmed that DRAVO had received environmental clearance to resume operations.

“We did meet with them and devised a plan to mitigate and replant much more mangroves down from there and in the same areas,” she said.

“So, they are in compliance with what they are supposed to be in compliance with, and we continue to do our due diligence as well.”

A major cruise port development is underway along West Queen’s Highway, where bulldozers and heavy equipment are actively working.

According to Dr Neely, developers have been given directives by the Forestry Unit regarding removing and replanting mangroves.

“What I recall is that they should be removing mangroves but also replanting them in the fashion dictated by the Department of Forestry Unit, which was three to one in the surrounding areas,” she explained.

Dr Neely said the company has been given a timeframe for copletion but could not specify the exact deadline.

“This was from last year, so I will have to checkm,” she said. “But there is usually a time limit — they are usually time-bound to complete their mitigation activities, but I can’t say right now what it was.”

When asked about the environmental impact assessment (EIA), she said the conditions outlined in the document must be adhered to.

“Whenever there is any environmental document submitted to the department, once the CEC is issued, you are to abide by the conditions set in the CEC and EIA or whatever environmental document it is.”

Dr Neely explained that the cease-and-desist order was initially issued last July because the company did not have a CEC.

During that time, local environmentalists opposed the bulldozing of the mangroves, arguing that the area was one of the last remaining habitats of healthy red mangroves following Hurricane Dorian.

Grand Bahama lost 70 percent of its mangroves in September 2019 as a result of the storm. Environmental groups have since launched mangrove restoration projects on the island and would visit the area to collect propagules for their mangrove nurseries.

However, Dr Neely noted that the site off Queen’s Highway had already suffered significant degradation.

“There was really only one patch of mangroves left, and this is what I understand is being removed and will be replanted to restore the area to its previous condition,” she said. “So, I have heard what was said, but the area had not functioned like that in a very long time.”

Dr Neely expressed hope that the replanting effort would restore the ecological function of the area.

“We know mangroves are important and what they are being used for is important, but if you have a patch of mangroves in an area that is really cut off from anything else, then there is little that those mangroves are doing environmentally,” she said. “

Once they start to replant, you will start to see much more function return to the area.”

Capt Murray strongly disagrees with Dr Neely’s assessment.

“Imagine if we took away our seniors — life just does not work like that,” he said.

“Those trees were aged and already producing propagules. By the time the new plants reach the age to produce propagules, it will be two decades from now.

“So, what they got rid of was like the goose that was laying the eggs. The trees were already flourishing and reproducing, and they were the last of what was left reproducing on the north shore.”

Mr Murray said the situation is unfortunate, particularly given its impact on the flora and fauna in the area.

“There are birds, animals, and nature there. Birds that migrate from the north used that area as their migratory stop,” he added.

“I disagree with her simplification of the area. I think it was a mass destruction, and that was the last little piece left. Now they say, ‘Oh, it’s just a little piece.’ It’s easy to say that after you’ve destroyed everything else that was there.”

Mr Murray urged authorities to ensure compliance with the EIA, which mandates buffer zones and nature reserves.

“So, if they are to abide by the EIA, they should do what it says, and someone should be policing them to ensure that happens,” he said.