The developers of Baker’s Bay undoubtedly expected the normal challenges and problems of creating an upscale community – engineering, technical and environmental challenges navigating the red tape that is government bureaucracy – but not the Save Guana Cay Reef Association (SGGRA).
The SGCRA has launched and waged an effective challenge to the development to the point of stalling the project by tying up the developers in the courts. Baker’s Bay has gamely attempted to counter SGCRA’s campaign. And it is a campaign which has been fought mostly in the media. Both sides have been presenting the facts as they understand them to be.
In the latest round of exchanges Baker’s Bay has accused the SGCR of “unwarranted harassment” and returned to an earlier theme, namely, that by its actions, the SGCR is delaying the employment of Bahamians and meaningful development in The Bahamas by rehashing alleged violations of voluntary undertakings by the developers of the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club.
In a press release Baker’s Bay “categorically” denied “all of the alleged violations” adding that it was “disappointed in the actions of SGCR Association”.
The developers who have a built a track record of 11 similar communities established throughout the United States and Hawaii, note that it is a “misrepresentation of the truth and a travesty” for the SGCRA to “say and or portray” that developers of “the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club” as anti-environment.
“The Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club shares the concerns of all Bahamians for the environment and protection of the corals and reefs that are key components of the natural resources of The Bahamas,” the developers stated.
According to the developers the SGCRA’s opposition to the development has “very little to do with the environment”. And the evidence for this, according to the developers, is that the SGCRA is silent about environmental problems facing Great Guana Cay where the Baker’s Bay development is planned to take place.
The developers pointed out that Guana Cay is plagued by its inability to manage its waste, on which it accuses the SGCRA of being silent. According to the press release, the SGCRA has yet to address “the many environmental problems currently facing their community that are in no way related to BBC and now pose the GREATEST risk to the reefs in and around Great Guana Cay.
According to the release the “vexing dump problems on the island and the wide use of cess pits” are contributing “to pollutants and sewerage runoff into the sea” causing “harm to the nearby reefs and marine ecosystems”. The developers assert that as part of its development on Great Guana Cay, all residents on that island will be able “through linkages with state-of-the-art waste treatment facilities”, be able to mitigate the current degradation of their environment caused by current inadequate waste management practices on Great Guana Cay.
Based on its track record and its success with environmentally sensitive communities which can be seen at its website www.discoverylandco.com, the developers have, as a result of their experience, built up a reputation for their approach to preserving the unique qualities of each environment in which they establish their communities.
Although it is unlikely that “Baker’s Bay will be the most environmentally sensitive development in the world,” it will certainly be among the most “environmentally sensitive developments” in The Bahamas.
To their credit the developers have preserved Bahamian plants particularly those indigenous to Great Guana Cay. They have hired Bahamians including a former Bahamas National Trust officer to document and identify all the indigenous plants which will become an integral part of the landscape of the community. Causarina trees which are not indigenous to The Bahamas have all been removed and turned into mulch for the pathways and landscaping purposes.
At the signing of the Ritz Carlton development project on Rose Island, Denis Boulet the project manager stated that the Ritz Carlton stood to save “millions of dollars” in using indigenous plants for landscaping. “You have so many wonderful plants and trees it does not make sense to destroy them and then go and import millions of dollars worth of plants to replace what is there.”
Similarly at Winding Bay Peter de Savary has committed himself to using and preserving the natural environment. The fact is the current approach to creating communities is to retain as much of the environmentally unique qualities that ensure that the community retains its own peculiar qualities.
As the release stated “clearly it would not be in the project’s best interest to harm the environment and we are taking very careful, proven, and appropriate steps to safeguard the environment in and around Baker’s Bay”.
The developers maintain that as a result of their efforts “thousands of Bahamians …know the truth about Baker’s Bay”. At the time of the injunction brought against the development by SGCRA, the developers unilaterally decided to halt all development activity on the project until the matter was decided in the court.
As a result Bahamians who were working on the development have had to be laid off. In the meantime the developers claim that all attempts to get the members and their supporters to visit the project and see for themselves what is being done have been unsuccessful.
The release ends with a reiteration of the character of the relationship that has been cultivated between the developers, “Guana Cay residents, government officials and residents of Abaco.”
C. E. HUGGINS, Nassau Guardian Business Editor
