Cayman Islands officials and dive business operators were looking at Bimini in The Bahamas ...as an example of what not to do in pitting protection of fragile marine life ...and coral reefs against mass development

Tough Lessons: Cayman Islands Looking at Bimini for What Not to Do

A leading dive hotelier in Cayman told a local TV station there Wednesday that Cayman officials and dive business operators were looking at Bimini in The Bahamas as an example of what not to do in pitting protection of fragile marine life and coral reefs against mass development.

Keith Sahm, General Manager of the world-famous Sunset House, and a lifelong diver and master instructor, said dredging in Bimini to make way for a cruise port are taking a toll on that island’s marine resources.

“Hopefully, we can learn from others’ mistakes and we won’t have that happening here in Cayman,” he said.

Mr. Sahm’s comments came in response to the signing of a $2.5 million contract for an environmental impact analysis related to a proposed cruise berthing in Cayman where along with marine resources, the study will examine traffic flow and other issues. The dredging required, Mr. Sahm said, would kick up enough sand and silt to suffocate corals, effectively wiping out Cayman’s main attraction and triggering a ripple effect that would impact the entire economy. “Once people start coming down here not to dive because everything’s washed out, dead, the taxi service, the hotels, everything will take a huge drastic hit,” he said. The widely circulated TV interview that has been circulated over the internet and among dive enthusiasts included mention of the mammoth suction cutter dredge, the 450-foot Niccolo Machiavelli, that is plowing through waters off North Bimini now even as the legal battle continues about whether or not proper permits were granted prior to work starting.

The reference to “learning from others’ mistakes” was the latest in an onslaught of criticism of the project that some maintain is simply too large for the island. Malaysian-based Genting Corp.’s Resorts World Bimini wants the cruise port in aid in driving business to its resort and casino. The company has revealed it wants to attract as many as 500,000 guests a year, disgorging cruise passengers onto an island that now has a population of about 1,700.

Warnings about the impact of dredging to accommodate cruise ships came originally in the company’s own commissioned Environmental Impact Assessment and lately, from all over the globe.

Last week, internationally respected marine artist and scientist Dr. Guy Harvey urged caution before Bimini’s reefs that some have called among the most magnificent in the world were destroyed.

“The islands of Bimini are an environmental gem and every step should be taken to conserve these resources,” Dr. Harvey said.

World record holder and TV celebrity Neal Watson expressed deep concern last week, calling the activity “a pending catastrophic event.”

“Having started the first recreational dive operation in Bimini in 1975 and still involved in promoting diving in Bimini, I am devastated by the pending catastrophic event about to occur in this diver’s paradise,” said Watson.

“This fragile ecosystem has already suffered a degree of degradation over the past 40 years, which has occurred throughout not only the Caribbean but also the entire world. However, this dredging project will cause more irreversible damage to the reefs in the next 30 days than would normally occur over the next 30 years.

“This is not just an environmental issue but an economic issue. In addition to the three top of class dive operations located in Bimini that generate millions of dollars in revenue for the hotels, marinas, restaurants, bars and merchants, Bimini is uniquely located 48 miles from South Florida, which has the largest number of registered boats as well as the largest concentration of divers in the Continental Unites States. Because of Bimini’s proximity to South Florida and its reputation as a world class dive destination it attracts hundreds of small boats that come to Bimini to dive Bimini’s incredible reefs and support the local hotels, marinas and merchants. All of this is in jeopardy,” said Watson, who holds the world record of the deepest compressed air dive, descending to 437 feet. He once swam 66 miles underwater in 19.5 hours from the Florida Keys to Miami, never surfacing. He’s been featured in People Magazine and Outside magazine, and on TV in many shows, including Inside Edition and The Today Show.

And the dive industry’s organization, DEMA, expressed similar outrage.

“A very real concern to DEMA and to all diving businesses – especially those based in nearby Florida ­– is the fact that any environmental degradation, especially of the magnitude being described in the North Bimini Ferry Terminal Project EIA and its addendum, is likely to have a negative impact on the perception of pristine diving which Bimini now holds in the minds of diving consumers,” said California-based DEMA president Tom Ingram.

“As a result of this project, it is possible that the number of divers visiting Bimini will decline dramatically as public perception develops regarding this project’s potential environmental impact.”

Thousands have signed a petition urging the government of The Bahamas to enact a Freedom of Information Act and an Environmental Protection Act that they say, had they been in place, would have allowed public consultation before a project of this proportion was undertaken and might very well have prevented dredging that is predicted to cause irreparable damage, according to the company’s own Environmental Impact Assessment.

May 22, 2014

Save The Bays

Neal Watson, president of the Bahamas Diving Association expressed grave concerns about the future of Bimini’s waters ...as the 450-foot-long cutter suction dredger, the Niccolo Machiavelli, hovers ...waiting for a legal case to make its way through the courts ...possibly clearing the way for it to dredge a channel ...to accommodate cruise ships delivering passengers to a resort and casino

Dive association: Bimini dredging ‘pending catastrophic event’

Nearly 40 years after he first began sharing the beauty of Bimini’s coral reefs, luring divers from around the world to the tiny island in the northern Bahamas, one of the most respected names in the world of undersea adventure today issued a warning that Bimini is on the verge of a “pending catastrophic event”.

Guinness world record holder, movie and TV celebrity and president of the Bahamas Diving Association Neal Watson expressed grave concerns about the future of Bimini’s waters, as the 450-foot-long cutter suction dredger, the Niccolo Machiavelli, hovers, waiting for a legal case to make its way through the courts, possibly clearing the way for it to dredge a channel to accommodate cruise ships delivering passengers to a resort and casino.

That dredging, say opponents, would wipe out some of the most spectacular coral reefs in the undersea world.

However, Malaysian-based Genting Group, which owns Resorts World Bimini (RWB), has said it needs to dredge the channel and build the pier to deliver up to 500,000 guests a year to the casino and hotel on the island that is now home to about 1,500 residents. RWB has said it is following all appropriate laws.

Concerned citizens who formed the Bimini Blue Coalition and initiated the legal action said they are worried about everything from the destruction of their way of life and the management of human waste, to the lack of direct economic benefit and the destruction of the reefs. Six of the world’s best, experts have said, lie in the path of the planned channel. Concerned citizens also worry that the dredging will stir up so much silt and cause so much turbidity that it will kill off Bimini’s rich fishing grounds that were immortalized in Ernest Hemingway’s novel “Islands in the Stream”.

“Having started the first recreational dive operation in Bimini in 1975 and still being involved in promoting diving in Bimini, I am devastated by the pending catastrophic event about to occur in this diver’s paradise,” said Watson.

“This fragile ecosystem has already suffered a degree of degradation over the past 40 years, which has occurred throughout not only the Caribbean, but also the entire world. However, this dredging project will cause more irreversible damage to the reefs in the next 30 days than would normally occur over the next 30 years.

“This is not just an environmental issue but an economic issue. In addition to the three top-of-class dive operations located in Bimini that generate millions of dollars in revenue for the hotels, marinas, restaurants, bars and merchants, Bimini is uniquely located 48 miles from South Florida, which has the largest number of registered boats, as well as the largest concentration of divers in the continental United States. Because of Bimini’s proximity to South Florida and its reputation as a world-class dive destination, it attracts hundreds of small boats with divers that come to experience Bimini’s incredible reefs and support the local hotels, marinas and merchants. All of this is in jeopardy,” said Watson.

“Bimini has attracted fishermen, boaters and divers since the days of Hemingway,” added Watson, who continues to promote Bimini and was recently re-elected for another two-year term as head of the Bahamas Diving Association, the organization he has headed for 15 years. “The uniqueness, natural beauty, pristine clear waters, abundant marine life and incredible reefs are threatened.”

May 14, 2014

thenassauguardian

Niccolo Machiavelli ...the monster dredger and reef destroyer ...should not be allowed to tear up the seabed off the coast of north Bimini

‘Reef Destroyer’ arrives in Bimini

By Diane Phillips & Associates

Machevelli dredgers off Bimini harbour

 
Environmentalists say pristine dive sites set to be destroyed in defiance of senior judge’s warning

Niccolo Machiavelli ...the monster dredger and reef destroyer

A mammoth seafloor dredger, dubbed ‘The Reef Destroyer’ by local environmentalists, has arrived in Bimini as developers forge ahead with construction of a controversial ferry terminal despite a top judge’s stern warning.

The 450-foot, 1,200 ton Niccolo Machiavelli is a specialized cutter-suction dredger designed to break up hard material which standard dredgers cannot remove. It is among the most powerful machines of its kind, and is set to be unleashed on one of the most pristine and significant marine ecosystems in the world, environmentalists say.

“That monster dredger cannot be allowed to tear up the seabed off the coast of North Bimini,” said Fred Smith, QC, attorney and one of the directors of fast-growing environmental movement Save The Bays. “There are 14 world-class dive sites and some of the most sensitive and important reef systems on earth there - many of them directly in the developers’ intended path of destruction.

“Resorts World Bimini is being allowed to move full speed ahead by a government that has failed in its mandate to act in the interest of Bahamians – and this despite a strong warning from one of the country’s top judges.”

Last month, Court of Appeal Justice Abdulai Conteh told lawyers for the government and Resorts World Bimini that construction should not be allowed to progress while the project is being challenged in the courts.

"In a democracy, no self-respecting government would do anything to jeopardize proceedings before the court. When there is a contested issue, one should not change the facts on the ground until a decision is made,” the judge said. “It’s more than a precept, and it is applicable in the Bahamas - it's about the rule of law.”

Justice Conteh's comments came as part of the ongoing appeal by Save The Bays and the Bimini Blue Coalition against a Supreme Court’s ruling that unless Smith’s clients pay a collective $650,000 ‘security for costs’ to the government and Resorts World Bimini, their judicial review action would be dismissed.

“Clearly, this administration has no self-respect,” Smith said yesterday. “The justice spoke to the grave implications if work continues, but the government has obviously given carte blanche to the developers, and they are racing ahead to get the work done before justice can run its course.

Environmentalists in Bimini say work on the ferry terminal is continuing despite Court of Appeal Justice Abdulai Conteh’s statement that the facts on the ground should not change until justice has run its course. Opponents of the development have circulated photos of newspapers dated after the judge’s remarks, with work underway in the background.

“This is always the way in the Wild West development show that this country has become. By the time a court can decide if a project is being undertaken according to the law, it is already a fait accompli, the environment has already been irreparably damaged, and local communities have already been overwhelmed or displaced.”

Smith noted that following Justice Conteh’s remarks, the attorney for Resorts World Bimini promised the Court of Appeal his clients would do nothing without the appropriate permits.

“The responsibility for this falls squarely in the lap of the government,” Smith said. “If work is continuing it is because they are allowing it to continue. They continually bow to the will of wealthy developers and the Bahamian people are always the losers in the end.”

On April 25, Smith wrote to the Attorney General’s Office urging the government not to do anything to jeopardize the Bimini judicial review proceedings.

“We would be grateful if you could urgently revert with confirmation that your respective clients will maintain the status quo (by which we mean, not carry out or allow the carrying out of any further changes to the development site including construction or pre-construction operations” the letter said.

In a letter to Resorts World Bimini, sent on the same day, Smith asked the company to confirm whether the government had granted any permits, licenses or approvals in respect to the development.

Smith said there has been no response to either letter to date.

Meanwhile, a recent presentation by marine biologist Dr. Kristine Stump demonstrated that under successive developers, the Bimini project has already had serious negative effects on the marine environment.

The results of her study showed declines in several important fish species that occurred after mangrove deforestation.

“We found acute and chronic effects on not only the sharks, but also the entire marine community following the development within the lagoon,” Stump told the dozens of scientists and conservationists attending an international conference in Nassau.

The waters around Bimini, Bahamas are home to a plethora rare and important marine species, including the endangered small-toothed sawfish.

The Niccolo Machiavelli is a cutter-suction dredger equipped with a rotating cutter head for breaking through hard materials such as compacted sediment and stone. The material is then sucked out by dredge pumps. The vessel can dredge to a depth of 35 meters and exerts a cutting power of 7,000 kW.

It is named for the 15th century Italian thinker whose notoriously cynical political theories gave rise to the expression “The ends justify the means.”

BahamaNews Ma Bey

April 30, 2014