Earl Deveaux - Environment Minister - Resignation Sought Over Billionaire Islamic Leader - The Aga Khan Matter

Calls made for Earl Deveaux to resign
By MEGAN REYNOLDS
Tribune Staff Reporter
mreynolds@tribunemedia.net:



CALLS were made yesterday for the resignation of Environment Minister Earl Deveaux over plans to develop Bell Island in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.

Dr Deveaux said he was minded to approve plans submitted by Island of Discovery Limited, understood to be billionaire Islamic leader the Aga Khan. He also admitted accepting a free ride in the Aga Khan's helicopter to attend a film screening in Abaco before going on to Bell Island with BNT executives the next day.

However, former PLP MP Philip Smith said: "Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

"In late 2006, Shane Gibson, quite correctly, resigned from Cabinet in a similar matter involving a permanent residency permit for an American entertainer.

"Maybe when he tenders his resignation from Cabinet, Dr Deveaux will also tell the Bahamian public how much it will take to buy him since he claims he does not 'think a helicopter ride could buy' him.

"I look forward to reading the resignation statement; or failing this, the letter of dismissal from the Prime Minister."

Plans to dredge and excavate at least 8.8 acres of marine sand flats, rock and vegetation for two channels, 12ft and 14ft deep, a barge landing and 20 slip yacht basin, as well as roads across the 349-acre island, have been passed on to the BNT for their input, Dr Deveaux said.

But after they were revealed in The Tribune yesterday, conservationists opposed to any development in the park expressed further concerns over allegations the BNT accepted a $1 million donation from the Aga Khan last year.

Sam Duncombe, from conservation group reEarth, said: "By allowing development in the park, they are destroying the natural beauty, the ecological diversity and history associated with being the first marine park started in the world.

"Does a million dollars negate this critically important focus?

"If this is the case, the BNT hierarchy should resign immediately followed closely by the Minister for the Environment, because it's painfully clear that they have abandoned their directives."

BNT executive director Eric Carey refused to comment on whether the Trust accepted a donation from the Aga Khan, nor would he state the Trust's position on the Bell Island development despite being the usual spokesman for the Trust.

"This isn't an environmental issue anymore," Mr Carey said.

"It's getting too political.

"This requires input from the board so I will let the president know that a statement is expected and he will meet with his colleagues on the board to address all of the concerns that have been raised."

He said BNT president Neil McKinney is expected to return to Nassau next week.

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted by Florida consultants Turrel, Hall and Associates Ltd concluded the development would not have a significant environmental impact and the planning applications state "no negative environmental impacts expected".

But in an area where fishermen are arrested for taking anything within the 112.6 acre park, the possibility of approving plans to dredge and excavate in a zone that has been protected since 1958 has astounded former Exuma MP and PLP Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries George Smith.

He said: "We will arrest a Bahamian from Black Point who passes through the cays and catches a few fish, but we're going to let a man come in, because he's Mr So-and-so, and do dredging to 15ft?

"If it was John Brown from Long Island I think it would be a different story.

"I cannot envision that we would want to see that in the park, where after the dredging, the silt will settle on reefs and on shoals in an area that has not been disrupted from the day it was made a park."

September 15, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

AES Defends "Safe" LNG Project

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, Bahamas

25th April 2005

 

 

 

The local environmental group reEarth has launched a national campaign against liquefied natural gas projects in The Bahamas, but an official from the company has insisted that the plant and pipeline would be safe.

 

"AES from the very beginning has been fully committed to making sure that the facility is going to both meet all environmental [requirements] as well as being a very safe operation," said Robin Pence, vice president of communications for AES.

 

"We feel that we have met all conditions for both of those qualifications."

 

But reEarth officials continue to insist that LNG is dangerous.

 

"Liquefied natural gas is not flammable as long as it is contained," the group notes on its website. "If the containment facility is breached LNG reverts to natural gas and becomes a flammable vapour cloud when mixed with air. This cloud of plume can drift for miles until it reaches an ignition source; a cigarette could ignite it."

 

While Mrs. Pence did not speak specifically to this claim that LNG could be explosive, she reiterated that regulators both in the United States and The Bahamas have already approved the project.

 

"The [Bahamas Environment Science and Technology Commission] have reviewed the proposal from both an environmental and safety perspective and has approved it," she pointed out. "We believe that it's going to provide a very good source of fuel for people in Florida by making sure that we are respectful, safe and environmentally-friendly for the people of The Bahamas."

 

But the local environmental group has urged Bahamians to ask themselves why AES is seeking to bring the project to The Bahamas and not the United States if it is so safe.

 

"Why should The Bahamas bear the brunt of the Untied States' energy needs?" - the group has questioned. "Across America from Florida to California and Canada to Mexico, LNG plants are coming under fire from communities that don't want these plants near their communities. The United States should seriously be looking at alternative energies to support their burgeoning demands on the world's energy resources."

 

The question of why AES chose The Bahamas was one Mrs. Pence quickly responded to.

"I think what has made this a good location is that it is an uninhabited island," she said. "It's far from any tourist or population centre as opposed to being on the mainland and next to any population centre. So this is a remote island far from anything and from that perspective it has been deemed the best site and it is also the safest and most environmentally-friendly."

 

The company wants to build a regasification plant on Ocean Cay, near Bimini and transport LNG to South Florida via an undersea pipeline.

 

Wealthy residents of Cat Cay, located 7.8 miles away from Ocean Cay, have fiercely opposed the company's proposal.

 

The Cat Cay residents say the facility would be too close to their backyards and could become a terrorist target.

 

At a town meeting on Cat Cay three weeks ago, Cat Cay Club President Manuel Diaz said residents would never support the project.

 

"The Bahamian flag represents bright sunshine, crystal clear blue waters and a black nation," Mr. Diaz said. "There are no LNG symbols on it and you can rest assured that it will be a very cold day in hell before that ever happens."

 

Mr. Diaz has also said that, "Supposedly, the government will collect $1 million in revenues and permanently create 35 jobs at the Ocean Cay industrial complex. Well, Cat Cay Yacht Club already contributes around $10 million annually to the overall Bahamian economy."

 

But Mrs. Pence also pointed to the economic benefits of the AES project.

 

"For The Bahamas it provides a source of revenue," she told The Bahama Journal.

"The project is estimated to make direct payments to the Government of The Bahamas of approximately $700 million over the first 25 years of operation. It would also create jobs over the two years in the construction phase and then permanent jobs for people who would maintain the facility."

 

Asked whether AES has been frustrated in the delays in getting the project approved, she said, "We certainly understand the need for the government to go through all the appropriate reviews to make sure that it has passed all the appropriate tests and that the community is supportive."

 

In early January, Prime Minister Perry Christie had said on a local talk show that the AES project would have been approved by the end of that month.

 

But he later indicated that the vehement objection from Cat Cay residents resulted in the government delaying approval.

 

It is now unclear when "and if " the controversial AES project will get the governmental green light, although company officials remain hopeful that it will.

LNG Project Approved

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, Bahamas

16th December

 

 

 

 

Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller told the Bahama Journal yesterday that the government has approved in principle the proposal submitted by the AES Corporation to build a liquefied natural gas pipeline in The Bahamas.

 

The minister was asked to respond to reports in the Trinidadian press yesterday, which quoted him announcing the approval at the IBC/Energy Caribbean conference.

"We intend to diversify and expand the economic mix which will enable us to move ahead", he said. "The environment and tourism impacts can and will be addressed and the government intends to provide the clarity and stability necessary to attract these investments."

Minister Miller's announcement came on the same day that the Tractebel and El Paso energy companies and FPL Group Resources were announcing an alliance geared at sealing the government's approval to carry out a similar project in the northern Bahamas.

Some Bahamians, particularly those who are a part of environmental groups, are worried about a possible adverse environmental impact any LNG project could have.

AES officials have tried to placate those anxieties, assuring communities in The Bahamas and South Florida that any negative impact would be negligible.

Company officials continue to point to the significant benefits that such a project would bring to The Bahamas.

According to Project Director Aaron Samson, the AES project for The Bahamas would pay $7 million a year in business license fees.

The project is also expected to create about 450 jobs during the construction phase and 25 to 35 permanent employment opportunities.

"We're convinced that this is a very finance-able project and we won't have difficulties bringing it to fruition", Mr. Samson told the Bahama Journal in an earlier interview.

Company information says AES owns or has an interest in 160 plants in 23 countries.

Local environmentalists like those belonging to the group ReEarth continue to raise concerns regarding such projects.

ReEarth spokesperson Sam Duncombe has questioned whether companies like AES choose The Bahamas for their projects because of "our country's very loose environmental laws."

"I think a lot of it is that if they choose The Bahamas they would avoid the environmental laws that they would have to adhere to in the United States", she has told the Bahama Journal.

But it is a criticism Mr. Samson has repeatedly dismissed as he pointed to the unwavering commitment that AES has to the strictest international environmental standards.

The entire project would include a liquefied natural gas import terminal; a liquefied petroleum gas removal plant; a seawater desalination plant; an undersea pipeline to supply potable water from Ocean Cay to North Bimini; as well as Ocean Cay employee housing and associated facilities on South Bimini, and an undersea natural gas supply pipeline.