Minister Miller has repeatedly pointed to the benefits that such a project would bring to The Bahamas, even though Keod Smith, chairman of the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology Commission (BEST), has recommended that the government hold off on granting approval for any of the plans.
Minister Miller told the Bahama Journal Tuesday that the AES Corporation is “extremely close” to winning approval.
But he said he did not want to comment on any remarks made by Mr. Smith because the BEST Commission does not fall under his Ministry.
Mr. Smith said that the government should not grant any approval until the necessary environmental policy is in place.
In the past, Minister Miller has dismissed Mr. Smith’s remarks regarding LNG proposals, claiming that there is evidence that the LNG plan would not adversely impact the environment.
AES, which proposes to lay a pipeline between Ocean Cay, near Bimini and South Florida, also plans to build a liquefied natural gas storage and re-gasification facility that would receive LNG from foreign suppliers.
The government is likely to face a firestorm from local environmental groups pushing for more dialogue regarding these projects.
Mr. Smith, well known for his commitment to environmental protection, was on the front lines in 1999 fighting the development of the Clifton property into a gated community.
Project Director for AES Aaron Samson has dismissed Mr. Smith’s recommendation saying that his company deals with the Minister, who has already expressed confidence in the project.
Mr. Smith saw it as a sign of disrespect and lashed out at Mr. Samson in the House of Assembly last Thursday.
“[Undesirable foreign investors] are those people who I would never support being here,” said Mr. Smith, referring directly to Mr. Samson.
“Luckily for [Mr. Samson] it is not up to me to determine what happens with his proposal,” he said, “If it [were] because of his transgression, I would tell him to turn away and go and come back no more.”
He added, “We cannot allow for this kind of thing to happen in this country…It happened back in 1999 when [the Clifton investor] spoke ill of the prime minister that we have today. He spoke ill of me and my colleagues, saying that we were a tyrannical minority. He is gone…I told him he had to leave and he did and it wasn’t because he wanted to leave, he left because he had no other choice because even the government of that day could not protect him.
“If the people of AES thought that Keod Smith was going to simply stand by and let those missiles be shot at him, so they say, it ain’t so.”
The AES Corporation already owns Ocean Cay and, according to Minister Miller, it has been a “good corporate citizen.”
In addition to the AES proposal, the government is looking at two other plans, one from the Belgian energy company, Tractebel; and another from the U.S-based firm, El Paso.
The Bahama Journal
