Freeport, Grand Bahama – The proposed $500 million Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club development for Guana Cay would be brought to a halt next Wednesday if the attorney for residents opposing the project is successful in his attempt to convince the Supreme Court to issue an injunction.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Isaacs agreed on Tuesday to rule next week on the injunction application filed by Fred Smith, who contends that the project should be halted until the court rules on a judicial review of the government’s decision to approve the project.
The judicial review was set to begin Tuesday, but Justice Isaacs deferred it to June 13 and 14 after the Attorney General’s office requested an adjournment in the case.
Cheryl Grant Bethel, deputy director of public prosecutions, said the Attorney General’s office was served with the judicial review order hours before the Tuesday hearing was to begin.
She argued that taking into account the seriousness of the claims put forward in the judicial review, the government had the right to a reasonable amount of time with which it could prepare for the proceedings.
Mr. Smith and his clients want the court to declare that the National Economic Council had no authority to enter into a heads of agreement with the investors and they argue that the marina and residential development would negatively impact the environment.
Guana Cay residents traveled to Freeport and staged a protest outside the courts before sitting in on the day’s proceedings. The protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations held against the project.
The cay is home to more than 100 residents, some of whom are second homeowners.
Amid the ongoing tension over environmental concerns, the project’s developers, The Discovery Land Company, has embarked on a public relations campaign, and changed some of the project’s plans as a means of compromise.
Company officials, who had originally intended to create a 240-slip marina, plan to scale back the project to 180 slips, in addition to expanding the public beach park and adding a drainage system to the golf course that would prevent the runoff from contaminating the water and harming the nearby reef.
The company has also been advertising for a Bahamian construction development manager.
Prime Minister Perry Christie recently expressed confidence that justice will prevail in the judicial review.
By: Sharon Williams, The Bahama Journal
