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Nassau Tribune and Miami Herald

Boycott threat over Bimini construction

By A. Felicity Ingraham

Tribune Staff Reporter

March 10, 2005

    Hundreds of leisure tourists are threatening to boycott trips to the Bahamas if the government allows a tourism developer to continue construction in Bimini.

At the London International Dive Show, the major trade show in the United Kingdom for diving tourism, 500 persons signed a petition expressing concern at the destruction of the Bimini lagoon mangrove ecosystem.

            Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch, Trustee for Shark Trust, UK sent a letter to Prime Minister Perry Christie entitled:  "Destruction of North Sound Bimini, Bahamas, for Tourist Complex".

            "The Bahamas has long been a popular destination for United Kingdom Scuba Divers:  The Bahamas Tourist Board always exhibits at these shows successfully," said Mr. Stafford-Deitsch. "It is with disappointment that the staff of Shark Trust learnt that dredging is continuing at Bimini for Mr. Gerardo Capo's intended tourist complex.

            In the short term, the landscape will be ruined and the inter-tidal and inshore habitats will be destroyed."

            Mr. Stafford-Deitsch said the development goes against a scientific assessment of the development's environmental suitability, and as he understands, is against the wishes of the people of Bimini.

    Contract

            On June 9, 2004, the government signed an amended heads of agreement for a five star resort devlopment, RAV development, which is owned by Florida developer Gerardo Capo signed the contract which included new provisions to enhance the employment prospects of locals and protect the environment.  Among the provisions added to the contract is the reduction of hotel and residential units by more than 50 per cent.

            The new heads of agreement also states further emphasis on the conservation and protection of the environment.

            At that time Prime Minister Perry Christie said:  "Technically competent advisors on both sides have helped government and developer to undertake to gain a greater appreciation for the sensitivity and uniquenes of environmental habitat of North Bimini."

            He said RAV developers have created a mechanism by which the developer will provide the government on a regular basis with environmental impact studies and environmental management plans specifically designed to govern future development activities.

            Mangrove ecosystems are one of the most productive of tropical marine ecosystems said Mr. Stafford-Deitsch in his recent letter to the Prime Minister.

Habitat

            Studies have shown that they can provide as much as 3600 grams per square metre per year of dry organic matter, nearly as much as tropical coral reefs.  This becomes the basis of a rich food web that is also a feeding ground for animals from far beyond the mangrove habitat itself.  The majority of reef fish and creatures of the sea grass beds and sand flats require mangroves for part of their life cycle.

            "The destruction of Bimini mangrove lagoons will degrade the environment far beyond the mangroves themselves," said Mr. Stafford-Deitsch.

            "Vital tourist industries such as sport fishing and scuba diving will be negatively effected.  The ability of the local people to fish for their own sustenance will decrease or collapse.

            Furthermore, with the mangroves gone, coastal erosion will dramatically increase and the protective role of mangrove forests as buffers against violent weather and hurricanes will be lost.

            Shark Trust warned persons looking to purchase new homes in Bimini that investing there will be a "doomed venture", because "it (the development) would have already destroyed the prime reasons anyone would want to visit Bimini in the first place - natural beauty and relatively healthy ecosystems.

            The group also pointed to a lack of adequate plans to deal with the increase in human waste resulting from population growth.

            In asking the Prime Minister to have his government reconsider the heads of agreement, Mr. Stafford-Deitsch said:  "With the failed resort in place and the mangroves gone, I fear there will be no chance of recovery."