A former chairman of the Bahamas Environment Science & Technology (BEST) Commission, has accused the current chairman, Progressive Liberal Party MP Koed Smith, of ignoring the people’s ‘right to know’ in environmental matters.
“It is ludicrous for Mr Smith to claim that his government is committed to consulting with the public on the environment,” said former North Andros MP Earl Deveaux, who was ambassador for the environment under the Ingraham administration. “The expressed concern of the PLP over the environment was a convenient election ploy exploited by a party which never expected to govern”
Mr Deveaux was referring to recent remarks by Mr Smith that the government would not release “private” environmental impact assessments (EIA’s) on controversial projects like the liquified natural gas pipelines.
The Tribune reported Mr Smith as saying EIA’s could not be made public until a system was implemented to do so.
He said the necessary legislation for that would be introduced before the end of the government’s fiscal year in June.
It is widely known that a draft law to establish the BEST Commission as a separate ministry or statutory planning authority has been on the books for years. The Commission was created in 1994 “to coordinate national planning in support of environmental sustainability.” It is made up of representatives from government agencies and the Bahamas National Trust.
“What a peculiar position for the ambassador and the PLP government to adopt following their incessant rhetoric on consultation and the public’s right to know about matters affecting their lives,” Mr Deveaux said in a statement provided to the Guardian recently.
He pointed out that openness with information on large development projects had been the Commission’s standard policy. The former Free National Movement government released EIA’s on the phased development of Atlantis on Paradise Island, on the ship care facility at Freeport Harbour, on the proposed development of Clifton Cay and on many other projects, he said.
The documents were available for review at the Commission, and notice of their availability was made in the press. He added that the former government also held frequent town meetings on controversial matters.
“Now Mr Smith tells us that BEST needs a special law to permit it to make (EIA’s) available. Nonsense. The only thing that is needed is the real commitment of the government to be honest and accountable,” he said.
Mr Deveaux recalled that prior to the election of the first Free National Movement government in 1992 “little serious concern was paid to the impact of development upon the environment.”
Environmentalists agree that the creation of the BEST Commission almost 10 years ago was a major step towards the adoption of sustainable development policies for the Bahamas that try to avoid or mitigate damage to the environment. The Commission made environmental impact assessments mandatory for all major development projects.
οΎ
For example, the original EIA for the Emerald Bay resort, and subsequent studies, led to remedial action to mitigate environmental damage on Exuma as a result of that project. A review of the EIA for the Clifton project led to modifications in the development plans to protect
environmental and historical resources.
It was the proposal for a residential and resort development on some 600 acres of vacant land at Clifton on the southwest coast of New Providence that created one of the major boondoggles that led to the defeat of the Free National Movement in last year’s general election.
Ambassador Smith was one of those who led the charge on Clifton Cay, effectively killing the project.
Environmentalists and political activists joined forces to accuse the Ingraham administration of selling the country’s birthright to foreigners and of destroying one of the last open spaces for Nassau’s 200,000 inhabitants.
According to Mr Deveaux, the election campaign attacks “ensured that many Bahamians never got a full appreciation of what was being proposed by the developers, and required by the government, to protect the environment and safeguard historic sites.”
He asked how Mr Smith, as ambassador for the environment, could say that as there was no policy to release EIA’s, the BEST Commission will not make these “private” documents public, and that development projects will therefore go ahead without public consultation.
In a speech marking Earth Day on April 22, Mr Smith said government and non-governmental officials needed to become “standing activists” for the environment, rather than paying “lip service to the promise of change with no intention to implement the required commitment.”
By Larry Smith, The Nassau Guardian
