The Tribune

BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE WARRING parties in the $200m Rosewood Exuma conflict yesterday resumed battle over what sparked the developer’s “undertaking” to halt all Sampson Cay work until August 26 and the fall-out for their legal fight and the project’s future.

Miami-based Yntegra Group, the resort project’s lead developer, argued that the “undertaking” is designed to “break the cycle” of what it branded as delaying tactics by its main opponent, the neighbouring Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club.

It signalled that its move is designed to give Turtlegrass “nowhere to hide”, and eliminate the latter’s ability to stall and drag out court hearings on its substantive Judicial Review challenges to Rosewood Exuma’s environmental permits and approvals.

To achieve this goal, Yntegra said in a statement that its work halt is directly tied to Turtlegrass and its attorneys identifying any “procedural issues” that may delay the substantive hearings by this Monday, August 17. The two sides would then meet to resolve these issues before the August 26, 2026, case management hearing before Justice Leif Farquharson.

However, Turtlegrass last night countered that, rather than being part of a strategy to force it to ‘put up or shut up’, the Yntegra undertaking was only offered at “the 11th hour” due to the “pressure” it created through yesterday’s bid to obtain a Supreme Court injunction forcing the Rosewood Exuma developer to halt all work on Sampson Cay.

The neighbouring resort project, whose principal is Bob Coughlin, argued that the undertaking came “just hours before the Supreme Court was to hear” its emergency injunction application. And it hailed the outcome as “another win” for environmental protection.

Robert Adams KC, the Delaney Partners attorney and lead counsel for Yntegra, in an August 11, 2026, letter to Justice Farquharson said the developer was willing to pause all development and construction activity on Sampson Cay between August 15-25 apart from receiving equipment which is already en route and being transported to the Exuma cay.

In return, Yntegra wanted Turtlegrass to agree that its challenge to Rosewood Exuma’s preliminary site plan approval be completed before end-September 2026, plus “consolidate” its-now two Judicial Review challenges into one provided the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) and all the other government agencies named as defendants also agree.

“We write to advise that, in an effort to progress all of the applicant’s pending claims to a hearing on the merits as soon as possible, Sampson Cay Bahamas is prepared to carry out no further activity on Sampson Cay, save for the acceptance of delivery of equipment which has already been arranged and scheduled to arrive at the Cay between 15-25 August, 2026, weather permitting,” Mr Adams said of Yntegra’s wholly-owned project vehicle.

However, Mr Adams made this “subject to” Turtlegrass agreeing that its Subdivision and Development Appeal Board challenge to the project’s planning permits “be heard and completed prior to the end of September 2026”. He added that this was reasonable, given that Turtlegrass’ lead attorney, Peter Village KC, had signalled he would be available after September 8.

The other condition set by Mr Adams was that Turtlegrass combine its two Judicial Review actions into one, provided the Government also agrees, with the substantive hearings on both also occurring before end-September 2026. The first Judicial Review is challenging the project’s environmental approvals, with the second attacking DEPP’s decision to extend one certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) after it had expired.

Turtlegrass last night seized on the undertaking as “a significant win” given that Yntegra has “agreed to halt all construction, clearing, excavation and related works until the next court date”.

“The commitment is a direct result of Turtlegrass’ application for an emergency injunction following weeks of accelerating works on East Sampson Cay that we repeatedly informed the court, since July 30, were being carried out without the required approvals. Yntegra was pressing forward, and Turtlegrass moved to stop the works before further damage became irreversible,” Turtlegrass and its assistant, Bob Coughlin, asserted.

“Yntegra initially opposed the application, filing papers contesting Turtlegrass's case. Turtlegrass replied with evidence of what it says was unlawful work: Bulldozing and clearing of vegetation, the pushing of top soil and sand into the sea, the erection of a dock, the delivery of pre-fabricated buildings, large-scale excavation to a depth of several feet, and the digging of more than two dozen foundation footer holes - all in an area of high ecological sensitivity that includes seagrass beds, coral habitat and hypersaline wetlands.

“It was only on the eve of today's scheduled hearing, after Turtlegrass had opposed Yntegra's papers, and with the court about to hear whether the works were lawful, that Yntegra came forward with an undertaking to stop.”

Yntegra’s view of events, not surprisingly, was sharply different. “Yntegra has taken a major step forward to bring the real issues to trial and force Turtlegrass to stop its procedural delays,” the Rosewood Exuma developer said.

“Yntegra has offered a temporary undertaking to pause further activity on Sampson Cay until August 26, 2026, clearing the way for the Turtlegrass Judicial Review proceedings to move swiftly toward a hearing on their merits.

“This is a deliberate, good-faith effort by Yntegra to break the cycle of procedural disputes, prevent further unnecessary delays and move the proceedings forward. During this period, no further activity will take place on Sampson Cay, except acceptance of equipment already scheduled for delivery between August 15 and 25, weather permitting,” it added.

“In return, Turtlegrass must identify by August 17 any outstanding procedural issues it says prevent the cases from proceeding. The parties can then seek to resolve those issues before the August 26 case management conference, where the court can determine anything remaining and set a date for the consolidated substantive hearing.

“Yntegra is ready for the merits to be heard. There should be no further procedural delay. Yntegra remains committed to the responsible development of Sampson Cay and to delivering jobs, economic opportunities and lasting benefits for the Exumas and The Bahamas. The time for procedural disputes should end. The time for a hearing on the merits has come.”

Turtlegrass, according to court documents seen by Tribune Business, was set to push for a Supreme Court injunction that would have prohibited Yntegra, its contractors and their workers “from undertaking any works of development, including building operations, engineering or other operations in, on, over or under Sampson Cay and the foreshore, waters and seabed around Sampson Cay to a distance of 200 feett from the mean high water mark”.

“In short, the application is made because Sampson Cay Bahamas and/or Yntegra are undertaking works on Sampson Cay without lawful authority,” Turtlegrass and its attorneys, Callenders & Co, alleged.

“They do not have the requisite approvals. The works and any further works, conducted on an island of high ecological value, are or have the potential to be irreversible and will or have the potential to cause permanent harm to the marine and terrestrial environment on and around Sampson Cay.”