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BIMINI BAY DESTROYED BY THE CAPO GROUPShark Trust Director Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch's letter to Bahamian officials: URGENT -- TAKE ACTION NOW! RE: THE ONGOING DESTRUCTION OF BIMINI BY THE CAPO GROUP WITH THE FULL COLLUSION OF THE PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PARTY. Dear Senator Turnquest, I am contacting you from the UK (I am also emailing you and your FNM colleagues) to express the growing outrage of an enormous number of overseas people at the scandalous developments at Bimini being perpetrated by the Capo Group with the full collusion of the current Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
Over the last few months numerous people and several NGOs have attempted to establish a dialogue with the Prime Minister, Mr Christie, concerning the devastation that the Capo Group is inflicting on the islands, ecosystems and therefore, the people of Bimini. All such attempts have been ignored… Our own NGO, the Shark Trust, has publicised the ongoing Bimini scandal and you can see more on our website: www.sharktrust.org. Indeed, at one weekend show for tourism earlier this year in London I gathered 500 signatures of those concerned about the plight of Bimini and sent this petition to the Prime Minister. It was ignored. Our website has well over a million hits a month and with the Bimini situation reaching an ever wider audience internationally, the credibility of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas as a nation of ecologically sound and responsible tourism policy is being seriously eroded by the present government’s disinterest in safeguarding its islands and the well-being of its people.
To add insult to injury, members of the present government are offering the most outrageous lies that this development will have no adverse environmental consequences even as the environment is being destroyed. For example The Hon. Bradley Roberts stated on the occasion of the announcement that Hilton would operate the hotel and casino (12th July 2005):
The so-called Environmental Impact Assessments performed on behalf of the Capo Group are nothing more than a sham. The region in question has been closely studied by marine scientists for numerous years and not one of them thinks the region will survive. Meanwhile, it has been pointed out that the artificial raising of the land level in North Bimini and channel dredging back to Alice Town for the Bimini Bay complex makes the major populated area of Bimini extremely vulnerable to flooding/destruction in the case of a hurricane: storm surge trapped in the North Sound might flow back along the channel and destroy Alice Town. (Reference below.) This potential disaster has been ignored.
The ethical standing of the PLP when dealing with Mr Capo is a matter of complete bewilderment to outside observers: Mr Wilchcombe’s distributing of turkeys paid for by Mr Capo and his joint signing of a Christmas card in 2003; the current cabinet using Mr Capo’s private plane for transport and Mr Wilchcombe’s subsequent threatening of Mr Kenneth Russell MP when the latter raised the issue in Parliament... These dubious issues (and more) are readily apparent via the internet. As someone fortunate enough to have visited not only Bimini but other islands of the Bahamas as well (Andros, Grand Bahamas, New Providence, Long Island and Walker’s Cay) I have for long championed the wonders of your country to my friends. Indeed,I have personally led numerous groups of tourists on scuba diving trips to the Bahamas because of the wonderful conditions of your coral reefs. The continuing scandal of the Bimini Bay development casts a very dark cloud on the future of tourism in your country as the saga attracts ever greater media interest. I would therefore most sincerely urge you to do everything in your party’s power to challenge the PLP’s actions on this matter for the sake of the people and environment of Bimini and for the well-being of the Bahamas as a whole. Please feel free to discuss/circulate this letter in any way you see fit. Thank you for your attention. Yours Sincerely, Reference:
Bimini Bay Resort and Casino, Bimini Bay Resort, and Bimini Bay as referenced on this
web site are not to be confused with Bimini Bay Resort Homes of Orlando, Florida, Bimini
Bay Clothing and Sportswear, or any other reference to Bimini not affiliated with the Capo
Group and Hilton Hotels. |
I have myself visited Bimini on several occasions to study the inshore
ecosystems there and have also written a book on mangrove ecosystems
in which the once pristine and absolutely vital habitats of the North
Sound of Bimini featured prominently.
I am aware that the PLP won the last election on the promise of ever more stringent
environmental issues and that Mr Obadiah Wilchcombe MP, when in opposition, was highly
critical of the damage being inflicted on Bimini by the Capo Group. Yet it is common
knowledge that, once elected, the PLP rescinded the protection measures to North and
East Bimini that the FNM had instigated and has given Mr Capo carte blanche to bulldoze
the mangroves, build a golf course on the northern tip of the island (whose associated
fertilizer and pesticide pollution will damage or destroy the local inshore ecosystems),
dredge and destroy the lagoon – a world-famous nursery for lemon sharks - and to
bulldoze, dredge and smash his way as far down East Bimini as he sees fit.
Already, the bonefishermen and conch farmers of Bimini are complaining about the
adverse effects to their livelihoods and this is at an early stage of the development.