Save Guana Cay Reef Association vs Passerine at Abaco, otherwise known as Baker’s Bay, was heard before acting Justice Norris Carroll.
The Supreme Court was crowded as Justice Carroll outlined his decisions on arguments presented in closed sessions on February 3.
Order was granted for the government and Passerine at Abaco to be named as third and fourth respondents in the case, while he denied applications by the Save Guana Cay Reef Association for injunctions against the government and the developers.
The association’s request for the release of documents to their attorney and cross examination of various persons providing affidavits in the case were also rejected by the judge.
During intermittent court breaks, Baker’s Bay employees and other Abaco residents voiced support for the proposed multimillion dollar project.
Baker’s Bay human resources manager, Indira Edwards, described the turnout as a third of the current employee count. She said that, since the arrival of Baker’s Bay, other Abaco businesses had been forced to improve working standards due to numerous compensations offered by Baker’s Bay, including health and dental coverage and end-of-year bonuses.
Boosted by scores of supporters, Steve Adelson, a partner with Discovery Land Company, the project developer, openly embraced and shook hands with the crowd.
“We are encouraged by their presence,” he said. “They left jobs; and families to travel to Grand Bahama- for these few hours in support of something they strongly believe in. It puts to rest the., arguments of the naysayers: In court today, supporters outnumbered opposers 12 to one.”
Adelson further noted that the supporters represented a mere fraction of the Guana Cay and Abaco communities, who are wholeheartedly behind them.
“And the satisfying working conditions that these present employees enjoy will be multiplied hundreds of times over as even more Bahamians are employed as the project progresses,” he stated.
As the crowd of supporters boarded a wide-body tour bus at the end of the day, chants of “Baker’s Bay, all the way” wafted through the air.
The trial continues today.
Source: The Tribune
