INTRODUCTION
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for
the invitation to address you on an issue of national importance. A decision
which will impact our children and grandchildren and probably generations
after them. Some will argue that it is the most critical decision this
government has made since it took office in May of 2007. The question I
would like to address today therefore, is has the government made the right
decision to move the container port from bay street to the area of Arawak
Cay?
BACKGROUND
The world renowned EDAW town planning group was commission
by the Bahamas Government in 2004 to develop a master redevelopment plan
for the City of Nassau. This redevelopment plan stretched from the Montague
foreshore in the east to Arawak Cay in the west. A key component
of the redevelopment plan was the movement of the container port out of
the “city of Nassau”. The EDAW report in conjunction with Coastal Systems
International’s, Environmental impact Assessment, concluded that the Southwest
Port was the best location for the relocation of the container port. As
a result of this conclusion a further report was commissioned from by the
Government and the private sector at a shared cost of $500,000 to determine
the cost and feasibility of the container port in the Southwest. Ecory’s
Inc. was chosen to prepare the report. Ecorys 154 page report was concluded
and presented to the Government in September 2007, over 18 months ago and
still today no mention of it. Not one word. It has not been tabled in the
House of assembly, it has not been tabled in the Senate, you cannot find
it on any government website. The question is therefore why would the government
of “transparency” and “accountability” not table a report that cost the
tax payers $250,000, not one word of what it contains or even an acknowledgement
that they received it.
THE EDAW REPORT
The EDAW report identified what it called “critical moves”
for the redevelopment of the city of Nassau and they included:
“The project design team investigated seven possible
new locations for the consolidation of cargo activities which included
(1) No action/optimization of the existing port facilities downtown;Relevant information for the alternatives analysis/assessment was obtained through literature review, a series of site visits and field inspections, interviews with Government officials, stakeholder meetings, and preparation of an intensive coastal engineering analysis for each of the project alternate sites. The project team used the compiled data to evaluate each potential port relocation site according to a matrix of criteria covering environmental impacts, compatibility with island long term master planning, engineering and construction issues and socio-economic concerns.”
(2) Arawak Cay;
(3) Clifton Point;
(4) Power Plant;(between BEC and Brewery)
(5) South Ocean;
(6) Adelaide; and
(7) Coral Harbour.
They concluded the following based on the Coastal Systems International Environmental Assessment:
“From their review of all available data concerning the proposed cargo relocation and consolidation project, the project team selected the power plant site as the preferred alternative. Relocating the port to the Power Plant site would clearly meet the Project goals of increasing port capacity, beautifying downtown Nassau and alleviating traffic. In terms of environmental impacts, construction of a port facility at the Power Plant would minimize the impact to marine resources to the greatest extent practicable.”
In fact the Coastal System EIA data in its report supported
a view that it was better to leave the port downtown rather than move it
to Arawak Cay. Of the 7 locations examined Arawak Cay was ranked 6 as the
least desirable location, with downtown (the existing site) ranking 5th
ahead of Arawak Cay. Only Clifton Point was ranked behind Arawak Cay at
number 7 as the least desirable location.
On the face of it therefore there appears no justifiable
reason supported by any data or study to move the container port to Arawak
Cay or anywhere in the vicinity of Arawak Cay.
THE MISTAKE
I have said on many occasions that the government have
made many mistakes during the past 2 years and the Prime Minister
has admitted that his government during this term has failed the Bahamian
people in many respects, but this decision, I firmly believe, when history
is written, will rank as their greatest failure.
The site of it on the Western Shore will be a constant reminder to this generation and future generations of a government that failed to be open and transparent. A government, which in the face of evidence, data and a report to the contrary made a decision based not on facts or logic, a government which if history is kind will record this decision as “bone headed” and if unkind, as I suspect it will be, will use less complimentary language.
That is why the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly and myself and others in the Senate have made it quite clear to the Government that we will not support the move of the Container Port to Arawak Cay, or anywhere in the vicinity of Arawak Cay, without reasonable data to support such a move.
We have gone further and sent a message to those would be investors in the port at Arawak Cay that we do not support it and they invest at their own risk. A similar message was issued once before on the Clifton Development and the same message has been delivered again in relation to the relocation of the port to vicinity of Arawak Cay. Buyer beware.
I am now reliably informed that plans are underway to produce a new 72 acre manmade Island just west of Arawak Cay, directly in front of Saunders Beach. This new Island is to be connected to Nassau by a new Causeway somewhere between Perpall Tract and the Shell gas station on West Bay Street. Needless to say, without a report of some sort to support this, one can only describe this decision as madness. Can you imagine driving on West Bay Street passing Saunders Beach and seeing a manmade Island full of containers. This is where we are headed.
What I find ironic, when one looks back at the reasons the government gave for not moving to the southwest port; that it would take too long to build and that it would be too expensive. But yet a year and half has passed since the government promised that the containers would be off of bay street and we have no idea of the cost of this new island, the cost of the new causeway and the cost of the new roundabout and new roadway adjacent to the Vista marina subdivision opposite Saunders Beach.
The Southwest port would have been 50% completed by now and the cost would have been defined and we would not have sacrificed more valuable beach or impeded further the limited view of our beautiful oceans.
This is one of the defining issues of this generation and we cannot afford to get it wrong. The government must in the interest of transparency and accountability tell the Bahamian people why they are ignoring the Ecorys report, the EDAW report and the Environmental impact Assessment done by Coastal Systems International.
At some point the Bahamian people will draw a line in the sand, maybe at Saunders beach, and say enough is enough. No more.
Thank you.