The Nassau Guardian report of December 9 quoted remarks made by Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Leslie Miller concerning the Houston based Tractebel Company is proof positive of the confusion which surrounds the Government’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects.
The Article reads:
Miller: Trade and Industry has no EIA proposals from Tractebel -says Smith is a “publicity freak” (where there are quotation marks Minister Leslie Miller is being quoted).
The “boldness” of a Houston based company was questioned Monday, after reports that it was set to start preliminary drilling as early as this week off the Florida Coast, in anticipation of its proposed $650-million Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline project.
“That is the boldness and audacity of Tractebel. I have no Environmental Impact Assessment proposal from Tractebel to my office as yet, and it looks like they have already gotten approval from the government of The Bahamas, but I am not aware of it,” Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller said Monday.
“I was shocked when I read the statement and to my knowledge, we have gotten no proposal from these Tractebel people as far as I am aware,” he said, adding that it is his “guess” Tractebel will begin its pipeline work in Florida, but stop when it hits Bahamian waters, as they “certainly have no government approval to build a pipeline in Bahamian waters nor approval to construct any facilities in Freeport, Grand Bahama.
“In fact, to my knowledge, I don’t think they have been given approval yet even for the purchase of the 200 acres of land that I see them talking about,” he said. “Maybe things happen and I don’t know about it.”
Mr Miller said he only wants to officially “caution” Tractebel in its proposed movement to construct a pipeline. He said the company must appreciate The Bahamas is a sovereign state and the Grand Bahama Port Authority does not have a right to give Tractebel a green light to construct a terminal in Grand Bahama without the full concurrence of the government.
“Under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, they do not have that right, so I caution the company to be very careful in their pronouncements and movements of this LNG terminal that they are proposing. I urge them to be very careful, because the government has made no decision relative to AES, El Paso or Tractebel.”
Tractebel is proposing to construct an LNG terminal and a 96-mile-long pipeline from Grand Bahama to Port Everglades for the transfer of natural gas. A 200-acre site has been identified in Grand Bahama for the project, which is expected to provide construction jobs for Bahamians. Tractebel is the last of three companies to submit an EIA study to the BEST Commission. The government has not approved any of the three companies vying to construct a pipeline.
Tractebel presented its EIA to the Bahamas Government and the BEST Commission last Wednesday. The EIA was also presented to Port Authority chairman Edward St George and if granted approval, the company hopes to start construction of the plant in the second quarter of 2004. Mr Smith advised the government at a November 13 press conference, to move “very slowly” before it grants any approval to construct a pipeline in The Bahamas. He said there is no existing gazetted environmental policy or legislative regime that adequately addresses environment protection and conservation, let alone, how The Bahamas will govern LNG re-gasification plants.
Mr Miller said Monday that Mr Smith speaks only for himself. “He does not speak for any government entity in this country, including the BEST Commission because his views are not the same views of the Commission, he is speaking for Keod Smith and the environmentalists.”
“He has a right to say what he pleases, but he does not speak for the government of the Bahamas and the BEST Commission is not a statutory body. It is an advisory body. The Minister of Health is responsible for the BEST Commission and not Keod Smith, with the greatest respect.”
Mr Miller said he was “grossly disappointed” by Mr Smith’s refusal to attend any of the BEST Commission’s recent town meetings, and that shows Mr Smith is a “publicity freak.”
“If he had this concern as he expressed at this press conference about the environment, he should have been present. It only shows that all these guys are playing games and looking for cheap publicity on the backs of certain ministers in this country and it is really time that the Prime Minister puts a stop to it.”
What is incredible about these reported remarks of Minister Leslie Miller is (i) The confusion it shows surrounding these projects (ii) the alleged presumptuousness of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (iii) the openly displayed hostility Minister Miller has shown for his political colleague and chairman of the BEST Commission, Keod Smith and (iv) the lack of communication between Government Ministers. The Bahamian people, the PLP would have us believe, elected a PLP Government whose mandate was to lead the Bahamian people and to protect their interests in particular those delicate environmental concerns which affects us all. Irrespective of where these concerns arise for example Grand Bahama or Grand Cay it is/was expected that the PLP would actively seek to ensure the well being of our natural resources.
If Minister Miller’s remarks are correct then it appears by implication that a liquefied natural gas pipeline project is proceeding in Grand Bahama (a) without first providing an Environmental Impact Assessment (b) in the absence of submitting their (ie Tractebel) construction/investment proposal (c) having failed, to have obtained an approval to build an LNG pipeline in Bahamian waters and finally (d) where they (Tractebel) have no permission to construct any facilities in Freeport, Grand Bahama.
Minister Miller then cautions AES, El Paso and Tractebel to be circumspect in their public pronouncements about construction because the Government is still to decide on the projects. Minister Miller then implies that the Grand Bahama Port Authority may be responsible for Tractebel’s public statements.
The Bahamian people hired the PLP not to engender confusion in government and to lose control over the country. It hired the PLP to provide order and good government.
There is no order and good government when Minister Miller has to caution Tractebel, remind the Port Authority of its limited powers and cuss out his political colleague, the chairman of the only environmental regulatory agency in the country, Mr Keod Smith all in the same breath.
In fact the Government created the BEST Commission and its chairman, was duty bound to do as he did, which was to advise the Government on the environmental impact of the three liquefied natural gas projects. It is/was most inappropriate for a Government Minister to dismiss Mr Smith’s comments as those of a “publicity freak”. Has Mr Smith or his important role as chairman of the BEST Commission been marginalised because of these comments?
Is he expected to toe the party line or speak to his environmental concerns surrounding the three LNG projects?
Can the people of this country rely on the government to fairly vet both sides of the arguments while Ministers are verbally attacking and abusing the chairman of the BEST Commission? The Bahamian people have a right to know what foolishness dis is?
COALITION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM (CDR)
