I am shocked at the news that the PLP Government, without a word to the Bahamian people, has approved any development for Rose Island, much less a development of 230 acres incorporating a hotel, 400 houses, condominiums, townhouses and a marina!
Daily we have examples of the PLP breaking promises it made to the Bahamian people in its campaign to win the 2002 election. This is among the most blatant of those broken promises.
How many crocodile tears were shed in 2002 by Keod Smith, C.B. Moss, Mr. Christie and others over what they claimed was the FNM’s total disregard for the Bahamian people and our environment. What ranting and ravings we were subjected to, that the FNM was selling out the country to foreign development and not safeguarding the environment of our country.
But fast-forward to 2006. Proudly, Mr. Christie has announced the disproportionate development of the last viable off-shore picnic grounds and snorkeling waters for sail boats, small day-boaters, youth groups, church groups and all Bahamians.
This area, Mr. Christie well knows, was identified to be set aside as a recreational park for Bahamians following a request to the Bahamas National Trust in 1988 by Mr. Christie himself, the then-Minister of Agriculture, for a list of areas the Bahamas Government ought to consider adding to the National Park system!
In 2002 Mr. Christie proclaimed that the Bahamian people needed a government that would be real guardians and protectors of the environment, and pledged to lead a government that would be exactly that.
Four years later: The Nassau Guardian, Thursday, February 16, 2006 – “PM welcomes the Ritz”.
The Prime Minister also called on Bahamians to appreciate their role in being the “guardians and protectors” of investments, such as the RitzCarlton…” Guardians and protectors of investments? Say what?
Does anyone know what is being asked of us to be “guardians and protectors of investments”? Are we asked now to abandon the preservation of beaches and shallow water areas used daily by other leisure activities, and to protect those who wish to create an “enclave” – to enclose and fence off such areas for their own economic advancement?
By comparison, the FNM Government refused to allow the proposed sale for development of Finlay Cay (an active breeding cay for white crowned pigeons, an important resource particularly to the residents of Current Island, Spanish Wells, North and Central Eleuthera), Big Green Cay off Andros (another important breeding site of the same resource for Andros residents) and Little Inagua – which was proposed for the development of an international luxury spa, but determined by the FNM Government to be more important to the Bahamian people for its abundance of indigenous and exotic flora and bird life.
It would be interesting if the Bahamas Environment Science & Technology (BEST) Commission, which is supposed to be committed to ensuring sustainable development, would share with the Bahamian people how they have been able to determine that all the electricity and fresh water required, together with cable and TV, can and will be safely supplied in abundance to a hotel, 400 homes, condominiums, townhouses and a marina for luxury boats, where none of these utilities exists now. How indeed will the necessary excavation and construction take place without damaging and polluting the precious marine environment in this area? Further, what provisions will be made for disposal of the daily sewage emanating from all this development?
As Bahamians, we have a right to this information, especially as there are other Bahamian islands, crying for the opportunity, which could support this development with existing infrastructure, put in place by the FNM Government.
Why was the esteemed Ritz hotel chain not encouraged and urged, to look to a Family Island? There seems to be more to this shocking announcement than has surfaced so far.
Some Nassau residents may feel that 230 acres of Rose Island is a small bite of a big island. So was the first hotel built on Hog Island. Now, no one in a boat can land at the renamed Paradise Island beaches because ropes for protection from skiers run the length of the shore. Never mind that the beach is “ours”, up to high water mark. Just try and land there.
Bahamians need to wake up! A peace-loving people need not be a “complacent” people. The peace-loving is a great attribute. The complacency is a serious fault. This is OUR country. We need to become much better at protecting what is OURS. Please let your voices be heard on this and the many other wrongs being perpetrated against us all by this Government. We Bahamians need to make any government we elect to represent us, accountable to us, for their actions and lack of actions to safeguard and protect our people and our land. The time must be NOW.
By: LYNN P HOLOWESKO
Published in The Tribune – Nassau, Bahamas
