Work was expected to resume on the multimillion-dollar Baker’s Bay project last Friday, a day after a Supreme Court justice dismissed the legal challenge by concerned Guana Cay residents against the project which they claimed could have a significantly negative impact on their island.
Dr. Livingston Marshall, senior vice president of environmental and community affairs for the developers – Discovery Land Company, said although Friday was a national holiday in the country he was confident that some of the company’s key managers and other consultants would have been on the project site looking at ways in which work could resume immediately.
“The developers are pleased, but I think that more so they are in the frame of mind of a sense of relief,” he said, describing the mood of the principals following Justice Norris Carrollﾒs decision handed down late Thursday afternoon.
“They have always said that they have had a very good project that they are bringing to this country, they have a commitment to the environment, they have a commitment to top quality products and to employing the best Bahamians out there and treating everybody like family.”
Eight months after hearing the case submitted by attorney Fred Smith on behalf of the Save Guana Cay Reef Association, Justice Carroll dismissed the challenge in its entirety.
Attorney for the Discovery Land Company Michael Barnett said the Supreme Court justice indicated that he was not convinced by the Association’s arguments, rejecting both the claims that the development would destroy the environment and the submission that Guana Cay residents were not properly consulted before that agreement was signed.
Dr. Marshall noted that the protracted legal battle had cost the developers several months of lost productivity and estimated that the project is now at least three to four months behind where the Discovery Land Company would have liked to have been by now.
It was almost one year ago ﾖ November 2005 ﾖ that the developers gave a voluntary undertaking that they would refrain from carrying out certain works, inclusive of clearing vegetation and constructing roads.
After clearing that hurdle, work was halted once again earlier this year when the Privy Council imposed an injunction on the developers.
Dr. Marshall said notwithstanding the lost time due to the work stoppage the company continued to employ at least 65 to 75 workers.
“We retained all of our employees on the Bakerﾒs Bay core staff,” said the senior vice president.
“Of course some of the employees who were working for various contractors were laid off. We are hoping that the vast majority if not all of those laid off employees will be brought back by those contractors, but that will be a decision by the contractors.”
According to Dr. Marshall, the company used a number of “creative” ways to keep its workers employed during the period of inactivity holding, for example, several environmental clean up days during which employees removed debris from some surrounding cays.
Pointing out that he did not have any indication of what the next move by the Save Guana Cay Reef Association would be, Dr. Marshall took the opportunity to invite members of the opposition campaign to dialogue and work with the developers in addressing misgivings, which they might still have.
“If there are additional legal challenges, Iﾒm sure that we will meet those with the same merit and the same fortitude with which we met the past ones,” he said.
“I would like to say that I think that there is great opportunity for the Association and others who feel concerned about the project to come and sit with the developers, the Bakerﾒs Bay employees and the staff and find a way that we can best address the concerns. If the environment is indeed the issue, there are certainly ways in which we as the developers would be willing to embrace those on the other side.”
Attorney Fred Smith, meanwhile, has vowed to appeal the case all the way to the Privy Council if need be.
By: Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
