The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Environmental activists yesterday said they would push the Government to “press the execution button” and follow a Supreme Court Order to shut down the $8 million Blackbeard’s Cay project.

Sam Duncombe, head of ReEarth, which won its Judicial Review application to quash all permits and approvals issued to the cruise passenger getaway attraction, urged the Government to realise that the battle was “over”.

The activists, and their legal advisers, are now armed with an August 31, 2015, order signed by Justice Stephen Isaacs that is designed to enforce his July 2014 judgment, in which he quashed all dolphin import and planning-related permits granted to Blackbeard’s Cay by the Government.

Although it has taken more than a year post-judgment to obtain the enforcement order, Mrs Duncombe described this week’s development as “very good news”.

She added: “Now we’re essentially waiting for the Government to follow the rule of law. But the reality is that we’re not stopping.

“The Government needs to understand, certainly for Blackbeard’s Cay, that it’s over. We’re hearing that they’ve [the Government and developer] been trying to get an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) done, fix permits and get things done after the fact.

“But you don’t have a second chance. It’s over. You blew it. This is a facility that should never really have opened. It’s unconscionable that any government anywhere would allow such a facility to happen.”

Blackbeard’s Cay, which is located off New Providence’s north coast on Balmoral Island, opposite Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort, has continued operating for a year despite Justice Isaacs’ ruling last summer, much to ReEarth’s dismay.

However, Monday’s signed Supreme Court Order enforces a judgment that requires Prime Minister Perry Christie, as the minister responsible for Crown Lands, “to consider according to law whether to exercise his powers” and require Blackbeard’s Cay’s developer to restore the seabed to its original condition.

And the Town Planning Committee was “mandated to take action under Section 48 (1) of the Planning and Subdivisions Act” to ensure it reverses previous decisions not to require the developer to “cease development” and “restore the land to its original use”.

“The construction work carried out at the facility by Blue Illusions Ltd has been, and is being carried out in contravention, of the Planning and Subdivisions Act, as it is being done without Site Plan Approval,” the Order said.

It added that both the Prime Minister and Town Planning Committee were in breach of their statutory duties.

The preliminary Site Plan Approval granted to the developers was also quashed, and the Town Planning Committee prevented from granting any such approval in future without a public hearing.

Tribune Business tried several times yesterday to contact Samir Andrawos, the St Maarten-based businessman who is the principal of Blue Illusions, the company behind the Blackbeard’s Cay project.

His cell phone was eventually answered by a woman who, upon being told by this newspaper that it was looking for Mr Andrawos, replied: “Who’s calling?”

Upon being told the identity of the caller, her mood seemed to change and she snapped: “You’ve got the wrong number.” The phone call was then disconnected.

However, in a previous interview with Tribune Business, Mr Andrawos warned that the ReEarth action would jeopardise more than 100 jobs and send a bad message to potential and current investors.

He pledged that he and his attorney, Charles Mackay, would defend Blue Illusions’ interest “the best we can”, adding that ReEarth’s move had created “a lot to be concerned about”.

Still, Mrs Duncombe told Tribune Business: “The idea that because a project has been approved by the Prime Minister’s Office, it can just rush through without paying attention to laws that govern the land, those days are over.

“It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of shutting this down. They need to return that land close to what it was. It’s not an option.

“Until that facility is closed, the game is still going. I’m really hoping the Government is going to look at this situation and follow the rule of law, and not try and stall. They’ve stalled, stalled and stalled.”

Mrs Duncombe accused the Government of employing such tactics with its failed appeal against Justice Isaacs’ judgment, which paved the way for ReEarth and its legal advisers to move for enforcement of that ruling.

Meanwhile, Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner who won the verdict on ReEarth’s behalf, confirmed that he and his client were moving to enforce the judgment against the Government and Blackbeard’s Cay.

“The Orders are very clear to the respondents,” he said, “in particular to cause Blackbeard’s Cay to be physically restored back to the position it was before they altered it in contravention of the Planning and Subdivisions Act, and the removal of the dolphins.

“We are going to be pushing the executive branch of Government to respect the Order of the judge, which is very clear and unequivocal.”

Mr Smith said the judgment, and subsequent Order, were “a very clear example of a Bahamian court” telling a developer and the Government that they had “failed to respect laws passed by Parliament”.

He added: “Sufficient time has been given to the developer and the Government to repair the marine and physical landscape, and sufficient time has been given for them to remove the dolphins to Honduras or elsewhere.

“We are going to be pushing the execution buttons through the court. No more play; it’s time for action. What’s going to happen at Blackbeard’s Cay is a direct consequence of the executive branch of government failing to respect the laws passed by Parliament.”

Not everyone may be as excited as ReEarth and Mr Smith about the prospects of closing Blackbeard’s Cay. A December 2014 affidavit from Blue Illusions’ former attorney, Desmond Bannister, alleged that any closure would be “felt throughout the tourist industry in Nassau”.

“To date, Blue Illusions has invested in excess of $8 million in an environmentally-friendly tourist attraction in the Bahamas,” Mr Bannister alleged.

“On a daily basis, the attraction funded by the company [Blue Illusions] attracts some 400 to 600 tourists, who are transported by boat from the cruise ships in Nassau Harbour.

“Tour, taxi and boat operators, and other tourist industry personnel depend on the attraction for their livelihood. Accordingly, the loss of employment locally would be felt throughout the tourist industry in Nassau if the company is forced to cease its operations.”

And, as revealed by Tribune Business earlier this year, Blue Illusions and Mr Andrawos are embroiled in a bitter legal dispute over the ownership of Blackbeard’s Cay’s eight dolphins with the company that supplied them.