August 27, 2004
Christie Panders to Foreigners While Ignoring Guana Cay Residents
While Prime Minister Perry Christie was cavorting around China pandering to Chinese investors he was ignoring serious complaints regarding PLP campaign contributions and development in Guana Cay.
Follows, an email sent to Mr. Christie from the residents and visitors of Guana Cay.
To: pmchristie@bahamas.gov.bs
Subject: Passerine Development on Guana Cay
The following e-mail has been sent to almost 400 addresses, about 800 people, who are opposed to your planned development on Guana Cay. All of the recipients are either second home owners on the Cay or vacation there regularly and have become to think of the Cay as home,
I trust your in-box will be flooded with messages indicating our displeasure with the development as planned.
There is no need for a 250 slip marina nor an 18 hole golf course.
Hi All:
This a brief report on the status of the Passerine Development on Bakers Bay on Guana Cay. It is not pretty.
Don't know what any of you can do to help modify or quiet it down. Perhaps e-mailing the Prime Minister:
cleomi.turner@opm.gov.bs
audley.turner@opm.gov.bs
david.davis@opm.gov.bs
or the developers:
abullock@bmpatl.com
jmannelly@bmpatl.com
Following this report is a bunch of stuff that might interest you.
Subject: Re: Town Meeting tonight
The developers gave their presentation of what they want to do at Bakers then there was questions and answer time.
There is a proposed 250 slip marina, an 18 hole golf course, a small villa type hotel, condos and homes. It is to be a community not a resort. They have set aside a beach area for the locals and they are building a community center for everyone. Most of Joe's Creek will be untouched and preserved. they will create a system to take care of all the garbage on Guana Cay, build a fire station, have places to eat, build roads.
1. The beach they have so kindly set aside for the locals is a "trash" beach as Johnny called it. A rocky beach.
2. The community center looks like something that belongs in a big city, columns,etc.
3. Next to Joe's Creek will be the sewage system plant and water plant
4. The fire station will be built in their expensive community.....how will that benefit us???? No answer to that one!
5. Places to eat? "Who wants to go and eat with the rich and famous?" That's what Aubs said!
6. They will have a road somewhere past Seaside that will be for the locals to drive their golf carts to the rocky beach!
7. The environmentalist stated that the developers will use only organic fertilizers on the golf course. One of the second homeowners stood and said that he works in Delaware with environmentalist every day and goes to meetings just like we had last night. Jim said to the developers, "organics pollute too! You need to really think about what you are saying to us!"
Someone asked them, where are these people going to get groceries? No answer, just double talk.
Out of one side of Robert Sweeting's mouth he said, "No one can stop the locals from having picnics on the beach they used for many years." Out of the other side of his mouth, after a woman asked him if the locals will be chased off of the beach like they are doing to the locals in Winding Bay. He said, "Well, if you have a million dollar home, you might not like people having parties in front of your house."
It was all a bunch of typical government officials tip toeing over the issues. Gottlieb was there, he is their attorney. He said that at first he was dead set against it but he says that "what these people are proposing is something totally new and groundbreaking for the Bahamas." Even Robert Sweeting, who a few months back, sat under the Fig tree and told us that he was fighting tooth and nail against the project because "Guana Cay doesn't have the infrastructure to handle something of this magnitude." Now he is all for it!
The Abaconian was there so I'm sure there will be a write up. I know you all probably don't get it until its a month old. But when I see the story is in there, I'll scan it and send it to you.
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What follows was sent to many in May and June.
Please help Guana!!!!
Tobu
As a part time resident of Great Guana Cay, my friends and other interested parties think it is about time to draw aside the veil of secrecy that seems to surround this proposed development on the North End of the Cay.
Would you be so kind as to answer a few questions?
1. At what stage are the negotiations with the Bahamian Government?
2. Has any earnest money changed hands for the purchase of the property from the current
owner?
3. Has the Bahamian Government approved the transfer of the Crown Land and the Tax
Acquired Land to your client?
4. Will the Bahamian people and the part time residents of the Cay continue to have access
to the North End Beaches for anchoring in Bakers Bay, picnicking, walking the beaches
etc., the traditional uses we have enjoyed for many, many years?
5. Will road access be provided to the Settlement?
6. Will solid waste be environmentally managed on site? If so, how ? If not, what plans do
you have in place.
7. What is the time frame for this project?
8. Will you, in fact, be setting up the Great Guana Cay Foundation as outlined below?
Your voluntary answers to these questions would go a long way toward building confidence in the people who will be most affected if this project proceeds, the residents and visitors to Great Guana Cay.
Thank You
Prentice Strong
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This is a compilation of investigation into the proposed Guana Cay Development on the North End.
It makes interesting reading.
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The following story was written on February 20 and published in the Abaconian, a weekly news paper published in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas.
GUANA CAY SAYS NOTO DEVELOPMENT
A Town Meeting, attended by 65 people, was held at 600 PM at the Guana Cay School House Thursday, February 19, to discuss the latest proposal by Passerine at Guana Cay on their development plans for the North end of the Cay. ( Passerine refers to the order (passeriformes), an order of birds including finches, warblers, swallows etc. ) The extensive plans would occupy some 650 acres extending from North Beach to the property of Randy & Marlese Figi and Guana Seaside Village and would include the Joes Creek area and 148.9 acres of land owned by the Bahamian Government of which some
20 acres are wetlands in the Joes Creek area.
Plans for the 500 million dollar, 6 year development would include 350 homes, a 100 member Golf Club with an 18 hole golf course, a 75 unit hotel, a marina with 200 slips reached from the Sea of Abaco by a 1200 ft. channel dredged to carry 11 ft. draft.
The contentious meeting was opened by Chief Councilor, Walter Sweeting, of the Hope Town, Man OWar and Guana Cay Council. He outlined the proposal and then turned the moderating duties over to Alex Williams, Administrator for Abaco. Mr. Williams told the gathering that the development was far from a done deal and that the purpose was to gain insights as to the concerns and wishes of residents of Guana Cay. The audience began to speak all at once and Mr. Williams sorted things out and began pointing to individuals to speak.
The concerns of the people centered around the issues of the use of Government Land, the construction of the marina on wetlands, the impact of golf course fertilizer run off, the social and moral impact of the development and the adequacy of the infrastructure to support the development.
Robert Sweeting, elected Representative to the Legislature began by summing up his concerns.I think this is far too big a development for the North End. Some development is bound to take place though, he said adding nothing should be done to the Joes Creek area and the wetlands.
Johnny Roberts, of Nippers asked several questions about the involvement of Bahamians in the project. Will there be any land for Bahamians? Will there be a road to the Settlement or will it be a gated community? Will any Bahamians be offered concessions in, or business opportunities at, the development? What construction companies will be involved? Any Bahamians? Mr. Williams responded that these details were not yet worked out.
Other questions and Mr. Williams responses were Junior Sands The 148 acres is ours. It should be kept wild.
Johnny Roberts - It should be for our Grandchildren.
Bob Sylvester Will there be pump out at the marina?
Williams - All marinas built from now on will have sewage pump- outs.
Roy Champion - What about the run-off of fertilizer from the golf course?
Williams - That detail is not in the proposal.
Kathleen Frederick - Has the Best Commission done an Environmental Statement?
Williams - Not yet
Aubry Clarke - Is Kent Smith trying to get property down there?
Williams - I think Kent Smith should behave himself.
The question was raised about who would be responsible for solid waste?
Williams - Solid waste is the Governments responsibility.
Maureen Malone - You mean just like Hope Town, Man OWar and Guana Cay are taken
care of now?
Troy Albury - What about traditional beach access?
Maureen Malone - The bottom line is we dont want them here.
Susan Harward - Money talks and we have no money.
The only person to speak out in lukewarm favor of the development was that of Marlese Figi whose property abuts the project. A member of the audience pointed out to the gathering that her property was actively for sale.
A member of the audience asked about the cost of acquiring the 148 acres of Government land that appears to be pivotal to the plans of Passerine.
Mr. Williams responded that if the stamp tax and transfer costs were paid to the Government, the land could be acquired by a legal entity.
The meeting then was adjourned at 730 PM and groups of people gathered outside the Guana Cay school house discussing the meeting and what the final outcome might be.
The fate of Guana Cay now hangs in the balance.
EDITORS NOTE 4/23/04
It has been reported that the Figi property has been sold for 1M to a person from South Carolina.
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The following document was received by me from a friend in Florida around April 2nd.
The Great Guana Cay Foundation
A project to study and learn about compatible development and living on tropical islands
The Great Guana Cay Foundation concept is the brain child of Bullock, Mannelly
Partners, Inc. The GGCF is to be made up of a consortium of vested Institutions and businesses, with an initial gift from BMP of both land within the northern Guana Cay development project, and an initial endowment fund. The assets of the GGCF will include conservation area, and a visitor/outdoor recreational facility on GGC. The foundation has a mandate to develop a self-supporting outdoor recreation and education program for property owners and their families, as well as for the Abaconian residents. The GGCF must then raise funds to support long-term environmental research, outreach and education programs for Bahamian schools, and archiving/dissemination of long-term ecological monitoring of GGC environs.
Mission Statement
The GGCF will be established for the express purpose of learning more about the impact of tourism development on the islands of the Bahamas and disseminating that information to residents and visitors alike for the continued preservation of island environments.
Rational and Justification - Why create the GGCF?
People from around the world are drawn to the Bahamas for their mystique, beauty and solitude of an island vacation or retreat.The Bahamas is a small country in terms of population size ( only 303,000 in the 2000 census), but vast in terms of geographic extent.
The Bahamas includes most of a massive carbonate rock archipelago in the western Atlantic, with some 1700 islands and cays that spread over six degrees of latitude. The Bahamas is a very special place in terms of natural history, with a unique attraction to tourists throughout the world.
Some people wish to make the Bahamas their second home, and, for these people, the adjustment to the reality of living on an island may be challenging. Developers strive to meet the desires and expectations of the tourist market; some obvious expectations being beautiful beaches, clear turquoise waters with abundant sea life, and a range of amenities for outdoor recreation as well as indoor comfort. The pressures of development to meet and exceed market expectations often bring environmental stress to small, fragile island ecologies.
Sadly, the Bahamas is no different from the wider Caribbean and south Florida in experiencing locally catastrophic loss of animals and plants in the wake of episodic development. Environmental degradation usually involves land conservation and land reclamation, specifically mangrove destruction and loss of dune structure and vegetation.
The need for planned and managed tourism development in the Out Islands is critical to the economic development of the country; the planning must emphasize a call for better development models and innovations specific to small islands. The political climate surrounding new developments in the Bahamas has become confrontational, with a poorly understood governmental process and approval combined with a lack of capacity on the part of development companies to understand and work with the unique environmental
conditions of small islands.
There is a clear need for leadership in the development community to make the planning, discussion, implementation and results transparent to the public as a living classroom in compatible development. What are appropriate construction methods? How can marinas be constructed to minimize long-term ecological damage or water quality degradation?
These are not purely academic questions, but critical to both the long-term economic viability of a development project as well as the environmental health of island systems.
Specifically, the GGCF mission is to use the BMP development on GGC as a case study for compatible development to provide special educational and outreach opportunities for expatiate residents, local Bahamians and the wider community of scientists and policy makers. The GGCF will work in cooperation with BMP in order to build a a rare partnership of environmental, education and economic interests in small island developments.
Objectives
The GGCF will function as a consortium of academic institutions, environmental groups, development interests, local residents and educators. The GGCF takes responsibility for three important objectives:
1. The GGCF will be tasked with creating a living history of the island, and maintaining a dynamic information system on the ecology and physical environment of GGC before, during and after development of GGC.
2.The GGCF will be tasked with the maintenance and management of the conservation areas within BMP development including mangroves, beaches and coastline buffer zones.
3. The GGCF will be tasked with promoting and facilitating interactions between scientists involved with long-term environmental research and monitoring in the environs with outreach and educational programs for island residents and Bahamians.
Foundation structure and assets
The GGCF will be in the unique position to offer spatial and temporal comparison of landscapes that are natural and highly altered. The GGCF has the management responsibility over a coastal mangrove creek system as well as a coastal buffer zone around the development. In addition to the conservation areas within the development community, there are a number of nearby marine reserves, protected areas and national parks.
Here is attached an organization chart in the original document.
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The following thoughts are a compilation of ideas and thoughts of people I interviewed about the project..
1. I understand that Kathleen Sealey has been hired ( see above ) as an environmental consultant. She is formulating a long term program of conservation for the area. She is a highly recognized environmentalist who lives in Nassau and teaches at the U. of Miami.
2. Another said that he understood that about 6 months ago the Guana Cay Foundation contacted Friends of the Environment. Friends responded with suggestions, etc. but they haven't heard anything since.
3. Another mentioned that John Head, the lead developer who owns Abaco Inn, has told us that they will be setting up a preserve which will encompass almost the entire Joe's Creek area. We urged him to talk about his plans but the Government does not want him saying anything yet.
4. I was also told that the thick book that was presented at the meeting in Guana is not allowed to be examined any more. The Administrator, Alex Williams, was told not to let it out publicly, that he was not supposed to have had it at the meeting.
COMMENT - It seems that secrecy prevails.
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The following story appeared in the Abaconian on April 1st, 2004
In-Depth Study of Controversial Residential Development in North End of Guana
By Stephanie Humblestone
The Great Guana Cay Foundation, established expressly to learn more about the impact of tourism on the islands of The Bahamas, is currently conducting a Rapid Ecological Assessment of the proposed Passerine Residential Development on Guana Cay.
Headed by marine biologist, Dr. Kathleen Sullivan Sealey, its mission is to document "the ecology of the island before, during and after construction."
The controversial project, which involves transforming 640 aces of land north of the Guana Seaside Village resort into an upscale residential complex complete with a 200-slip marina, 350 home sites and 18-hole golf course, elicited unanimous disapproval at a recent town meeting on the island.
Dr. Sealey is focusing on all aspects of the development especially the wetlands in Joe's Creek which is part of the 148 acres of Crown land, an area of paramount concern to the residents of Guana Cay. She has drawn up a work plan which comprises five phases:
Pre-construction and Assessment, Construction Monitoring and Assessment, Post
Construction Assessment, Environmental Outreach and Reaction Program Planning and Long-term Monitoring and Research Program Planning.
"We are trying to document the state of the property as it is now, and we will then consider recommendations to the developers to see how we can preserve the most
bio-diversity and ecological function of the site," said Dr. Sealey, who has carried out extensive work in coastal ecology throughout the Florida Cays and the Caribbean.
Now in Phase One, Dr. Sealey and a small team of assistants with varied backgrounds in environmental research are studying upland vegetation, mangrove plots and faunal assessment, coring and ground water assessment, coastal fish and living marine resources and coral reefs and their adjacent hard bottom habitats.
Their field work involves covering the island on foot to identify mature trees such as Caribbean Pine, Lignum Vitae, Mahogany and Red Cedar, critical patches to be preserved, rare and endangered plants such as orchids and bromeliads and feral animals.
"We will suggest areas for harvest or recovery of native plants for use in landscaping," explained Dr. Sealey, whose overriding purpose is to educate the developers about the site.
A resident of Nassau, Dr. Sealey responded to an invitation by the developers to visit Guana Cay which she did at her own expense. Unimpressed by previous "poor quality" reports, she drew up a preliminary one advising that special focus be placed on "critical processes available to protect the ecology of the site."
"It hit me that consultants coming from outside The Bahamas often know nothing about island ecology," she said, stressing that if development is to take place, it should be "managed properly."
She compared development in The Bahamas with what has happened over the years in the Florida Cays where $14 million was expended in efforts to clean up in the aftermath ofmistakes made.
"We need to learn from them and not do the same thing," she said referring to "on site disposal units" and "the cheapest easiest cesspits" and other unthinking practices which she views as a "slow death for an island."
Unlike on other parts of Guana Cay, UNESCO regulated coastal setbacks will be
observed. Coast types such as high/low energy beach, dunes and rocky shores will determine these distances.
Aside from feeling that the small island of Guana Cay does not have the infrastructure to "handle" all the ramifications of such a major development on their island, the community feels that its precious wetlands are about to be destroyed with deep dredging for the proposed marina.
Dr. Sealey explained that the marina will be situated outside of the wetlands but anywhere that it does touch will be a buffered zone. The wetlands will be protected as far as possible with boardwalks around them in places.
"The wetlands are perhaps my biggest concern in The Bahamas. Everyone wants to fill in these ephemeral ponds' and dredge them for marinas," she said. Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They are nurseries for species inherent to The Bahamas, and they are where the ocean's food chain originates.
Some mangrove areas will be lost in the marina development and the overall system impacted. But to counter this, permanent mangrove plots will be established at the marina margin along with a mangrove creek reserve area.
Leaving no stone unturned, Dr. Sealey and her team are showing the developers that they will have to invest as much or more in preserving as developing.
Some of what they have to correct or address is in the wake of their predecessors. Part of the land in the development includes long abandoned Treasure Island, Premier Cruise Line's whimsical project which is now in a state of ruin. It is here that Dr. Sealey and her researches observed trees with Lobate Lac Scale, a particularly devastating and potentially lethal pest of trees and shrubs. It produces a soot mold which covers the branches of trees and the insects themselves. Relatively new to Florida, the long term effects of this infestation are not known but small trees infected by it have died.
This insect was more than likely on some of the exotic plants brought in by Premier. Dr. Sealey pointed out that the developers would have to eliminate the problem and thus would be preventing it from becoming widespread throughout the island.
The ideal is no development, but Dr. Sealey conceded that progress is inevitable and that there is "good and bad" development. Her Foundation work plan is to ensure that there is minimal invasion of the environment and where it does occur, there will be replanting and in some cases relocation of plants.
"Guana Cay is the largest contiguous coppice left on an offshore Cay between Walkers Cay and Elbow Cay," she said, emphasizing that when clearing land, it would be done only two hectares at a time.
Contrary to public opinion, the development it is not a "done deal." It does not yet have the Prime Minister's stamp of approval. However, if and when it does, Dr. Sealey will continue with her efforts by preserving and mitigating wherever necessary to ensure that the environment is protected.
"We will visit and monitor the development and later on we are planning to have an office on site," she concluded.