The Member of Parliament for High Rock Kenneth Russell implored the government yesterday to revisit its agreement with the developers of the Ginn project in West End Grand Bahama, raising concerns once again about the potential for serious environmental degradation should a major storm strike in the future.
However, Works and Utilities Minister Bradley Roberts declared that government officials would not grant approval for any investment project that would wreak environmental damage.
In particular, Mr. Russell drew attention to the plans of the Ginn investors to raise the land level by eight feet.
“This eight feet of build upﾅwill also cause flood waters to rise even higher and last longer resulting in more damage to life and property in West End,” he said while making his contribution to the budget debate in the House of Assembly.
“When the floodwaters come heavy wind behind it and there is nowhere for the water to go, the water will build up to a depth higher than the normal flood would be.”
West End was one of the settlements on Grand Bahama that took a wallop in Hurricane Frances in 2004, enduring six to eight feet of floodwater. There was also a 14-foot tidal surge, Mr. Russell said.
“What do you think will happen if the water canﾒt get over the island?” asked the Grand Bahama MP.
“West End would be destroyed and possibly hundreds of persons dead, so on behalf of the good people of West End I beg this government now to please revisit this development again, ensuring that all the rich people on the Ginn property and common man and woman in West End settlement can coexist in that area.”
Mr. Russell declared that the project will forever change the landscape of the settlement in Grand Bahama.
However, responding to the criticisms that Mr. Russell leveled, Works and Utilities Minister Bradley Roberts said there has always been a thorough evaluation of all plans submitted by investors. But he said detailed plans have not been submitted to the government in the case of the Ginn development.
“The [Bahamas Environment Science and Technology] Commission is involved in the process with the town planning body and they possess sufficient knowledge to be able to make sensible decisions when and if plans that are submitted do not comply with what is considered to be best business practice,” Mr. Roberts said.
“Further no investor in his right mind would invest billions of dollars to his own detriment.”
But Mr. Russell insisted that many thousands of acres have been “scraped clean” and he questioned how it was that the investors have not yet submitted detailed plans.
Minister Roberts argued that what the Ginn developers are actually doing is cleaning up the environmental damage left by the investors of the former JackTar property which was previously on the land designated for the Ginn development.
His comments drew scoffs of disapproval from members opposite.
“All is ask is the government revisit this,” Mr. Russell pleaded. “The people of West End deserve better.”
The Ginn development is expected to feature 1,800 single-family residences, and a 50-room ultra-luxury hotel combined with a golf club house servicing two 18-hole golf courses.
The main hub, which will accommodate one of the largest buildings in the Bahamas, will include a 20-storey condo complex, housing a casino, 100,000 square feet of meeting space, many restaurants, retail stores, water parks and other amenities.
The central marina will be equipped with 145 slips, and the design also includes a 20-acre Bahamian retail village with access to a public pool.
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
