The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

About a year ago, BEC’s deputy general manager Shevonn Cambridge and safety and environment manager Bharti Jones were quoted in the press saying BEC is “not the sole contributor” to Clifton’s oil pollution problems. According to a Tribune Business story, they were referring to the presence of nearby facilities belonging to the three major oil operations – Rubis, Sol Bahamas (Esso), and FOCOL (Shell).

According to them, these operations are at least partially responsible for the unsightly and extremely environmentally harmful toxic waste that has been leaking into the ground and water around Clifton for years. If this is so, the companies in question should be made to clean up their mess immediately. Certainly, they should not be rewarded for bad behaviour.

Therefore, the FNM government must come clean and tell the public whether one of thee alleged polluters, namely FOCOL is involved in Shell’s bid for an LNG terminal which has been in the papers lately. Everyone knows that Shell is usually synonymous with FOCOL in the Bahamas and if this is not the case with this particular deal, the facts must be clarified.

If on the other hand, FOCOL is involved, then something is very, very wrong.

How can the government consider giving a major energy contract to one of the alleged polluters at Clifton? At the very least, none of the companies operating in that area should get any further government business until a thorough investigation is conducted of who is responsible for this environmental catastrophe.

CALEB

Nassau.,

April 8, 2018.