The developers of the $500 million Baker’s Bay development on Guana Cay in the Abacos plan to ask the Privy Council to set aside an injunction it granted last week, ordering that work stop on the project.
Michael Barnett, attorney for Discovery Land Company, made that confirmation to The Bahama Journal, but he could not say exactly when the application would be filed.
In filing their recent petition before the Privy Council in London, members of the Save Guana Cay Reef Association accused the government of “entering into secret agreements granting omnibus approvals to developments without regard to the many laws which ought to govern the process.”
They also contended that the outcome of this matter ultimately affects how dozens of foreign developments in The Bahamas where the Government of The Bahamas has entered into what have come to be known as heads of agreements will be conducted.
In addition, they claimed that if the Bakerﾒs Bay development at Guana Cay were allowed to proceed there would be “substantial irreparable damage to [residentsﾒ] rights and the environment.”
“If the judicial review proceedings were to succeed, and the development and or the process declared unlawful then this damage could not be reversed,” they said in their petition. “In short, the proceedings would have been rendered pointless.”
The Privy Council agreed and granted a stay of a Court of Appeal ruling, which had cleared the Discovery Land Company of an undertaking it made in November 2005 to stop work on the project until the Supreme Court rules on the substantial issues.
The high court also granted an injunction saying, “The developers and their employees and agents shall not cut, tear down or remove any vegetation or trees; the developers, and their employees and agents shall not disturb or remove any mangrove or wetlands; the developers and their employees and agents shall not excavate or dredge the land or seabed.
“The developers and their employees and agents shall not erect any further buildings or structures on the land; the developers, and their employees and agents shall not construct or pave any further roads.”
The Privy Council said that Discovery Land Company was at liberty to make application to the court on 48 hoursﾒ notice.
Members of the Save Guana Cay Reef Association said their fight concerns the attempt by local communities to save their pristine marine and land environments from massive destruction, and they vowed to continue to pursue every conceivable legal avenue.
“It concerns the attempt by such communities to preserve their culture, heritage and traditional way of life in the face of foreign land speculation which involves the creation of exclusive mega yacht, residential and golfing hotels and communities from which the locals are effectively excluded,” their petition said.
“It concerns respect for local rights; wholesale disregard by central government of local rights as set out in the Local Government Act; failure on the part of the government, respondents and developers to respect the rule of law and due process; failure to respect legitimate expectations to consultation before the grant of licenses and or permits for development activities.”
In their petition, Association members also charged that there was “illegal collusion between central government and developers to permit massive and environmentally destructive developments without regard for the grant of lawfully required permits under various laws.”
The Association said the delay to the development pending the delivery of the Supreme Court judgment is likely to be no more than a few months at most.
“If the development goes ahead in the meantime, the damage to the Crown and Treasury Lands, which the developers do not even yet have title to, would take generations to repair, if indeed the wetlands and the forest could ever recover,” the petition said.
“The developers asked the judge to deliver his ruling as soon as possible and the judge indicated that he would seek to do so.”
The Association claimed that the entire matter in the Supreme Court was argued and dealt with by the judge on the basis that the undertaking was in place and would be until he delivered his ruling.
Its members contended that it would be “quite extraordinary” if officers of the Crown were to continue to permit the development whilst its lawfulness was in question before the courts, and when there is absolutely no evidence of any permits having been issued by any statutory or ministerial authority whatsoever.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
