Local construction engineer Hammond Rahming is calling on the government to make it mandatory for local experts to participate in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), a call also sounded by EIA professional Romauld Ferreira.
The EIA is a scientific document ﾖ demanded by the government prior to granting approval for developments to proceed ﾖ listing the environmental impact a development will have, and the measures the developer will take to mitigate that impact.
It appears that foreign companies are eating into the EIA market in the absence of legal requirements that Bahamian EIA firms be used or even involved in EIA preparation.
“No EIA should be done without a joint venture of a Bahamian company, and I say that because we as Bahamians are the ones who should really take interest in the protection of our environment, and we are the ones who will determine to a much greater extent than a foreign entity that (a particular proposed development needs to) scale back,” Mr. Rahming said.
“Because (a Bahamian would be better at) protecting (the environment) more so than the foreign fellow ﾖ the foreign fellow, in most cases ﾖ even though Iﾒm not hitting their integrity ﾖ but in a lot of cases the dollars would probably take precedence.”
Mr. Rahming insisted that he was not impugning the honour of foreign EIA firms.
He also insisted, however, that in the event that a Bahamian firm is not able to conduct the EIA itself, Bahamian firms ought to provide oversight of all EIAs conducted in The Bahamas.
Mr. Rahming said there is absolutely no question that a Bahamian firm would have unique local expertise, and “would understand the local situation more than a foreign person.”
Mr. Ferreira, who has conducted EIAs for the Department of Fisheries, Sea Shells at Cotton Bay, Consolidated Water Reverse Osmosis Plant and a marina development in Long Island among others, agreed.
He pointed out that his training is specifically in the flora and fauna of the North Atlantic and Caribbean and West Indies ecosystems, as opposed to an ecologist who trained in other parts of the world with different ecosystems.
Mr. Ferreira contends that his training and the training of other local experts, however, does not appear to have stopped developers from hiring foreign firms to conduct EIAs in The Bahamas.
“The EIA market in this country is locked down by foreign bodies ﾖ thereﾒs one in particularﾅhowever, they have it on lock. Itﾒs the whole concept that foreign is better,” Mr. Ferreira said.
“As far as I know, the BEST Commission has no list of people approved by them, so if a developer comes in and they go to BEST, BEST ought not to point them to one particular EIA provider.
“What BEST should have, though, is a list of persons who are competent, who have done EIAs before and who have some experience, and at least give them a list. Let them choose. But thatﾒs not happening.”
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
