White tourists and resident of the Bahamas beware! Racism is rearing its ugly head and the government of the Bahamas is not doing enought to curb the attitude.
The only reason why ReEarth spokesperson, Sam Duncombe, is getting attention in her persistent fight against proposed liquefied natural gas projects for The Bahamas is because of the colour of her skin, Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller declared on a weekend radio talk show.
“The lady that is pushing this, Ms. Duncombe, was also involved in [opposing] the Clifton [Cay] project. So I think because of that she is given a little extra incentive to push and be listened to.
“Had this been a regular Bahamian of a hue like you and I, it would not have been tolerated or she would not have gotten the coverage that she has certainly gotten,” Minister Miller said while a guest on the Love 97 Sunday programme “Jones and Company” with Wendall Jones.
“How many Bahamians are really against LNG? The worst you hear is her voice along with a few others.”
Minister Miller said the reason the government has not yet announced any decision regarding LNG is because Prime Minister Perry Christie wants to make sure that his administration carefully considers all views being put forward.
“Some people get the impression that because the government is hesitant to make a decision or because it hasn’t made a decision so far that there are drawbacks to this particular project,” Mr. Jones said.
But Minister Miller ensured that this was not the case.
He also detailed the economic benefits that the AES project being proposed for Ocean Cay would bring.
“Bahamians would be getting anywhere from $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion over a 25-year period, in addition to the spin-off industries that would be associated with servicing an LNG terminal in The Bahamas,” Minister Miller said.
AES would also be required to pay a license fee of $9 million and $6 million per annum for the seabed lease.
“The throughput fee initiates at some $3.5 to $5 million in year one,” Minister Miller continued. “The island of Bimini receives $100,000 per annum for 25 years as a gift to assist in [its] economic development. The commission that the prime minister would wish to form with COB for a marine technology centre, that gets a gift of $150,000 to initiate that project.”
He said there would also be $400,000 set aside to train Bahamians who would be hired as part of that project.
The Minister said LNG opponents are spreading a lot of misinformation about the proposed projects.
“Could it possibly be true that this is as dangerous as they say?” Mr. Jones asked. But Minister Miller said nothing could be further from the truth.
“You hear these things about the explosion of an LNG tanker. What they don’t tell you is that an LNG tanker is storing its gas at minus 260 degrees. It is ice. If you hit a tank, the ice would come out. During the Iran-Iraq war, for example, two scud missiles went into two of their LNG tanks. Nothing happened.
“How does ice explode? It isn’t practical. It is impossible, but it is what they feed the Bahamian people. And I’m sorry to say, but I must say it is just a pack of lies for their own self interest.”
Minister Miller said certain people who consider themselves to be environmentalists are opposed to any industrial undertaking anywhere.
“It is just their thing,” he said. “They simply don’t want it. If LNG was a problem, the United States has five such terminals on its shores-there has not been a loss of life at a re-gasification terminal in 40 years.
“There has not been a loss of life on a ship since its inception. There is this perception that they are putting out there to the public that is grossly unfair to the Bahamian people.”
Minister Miller reiterated that the government will not make a decision based on emotions, but on facts.
This article was adapted from an earlier article in The Bahama Journal
