The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE environmental group Bimini Blue Coalition (BBC) is admitting defeat in its effort to use the legal system to ensure that Bimini’s marine habitat is preserved in the face of development on the island.

The Coalition, a grassroots conservation movement, had challenged the mega-development being constructed on the island by Resorts World Bimini, an offshoot of Malaysian conglomerate Genting, on the grounds that it had caused – and would continue to cause – significant damage to the surrounding marine environment and culture.

The BBC also challenged the government for allowing the work to go ahead in the absence of necessary permits and approvals.

“Despite battling tirelessly to preserve the unique and ecologically significant marine habitat surrounding Bimini, a group of concerned citizens has been forced to admit defeat in the face of a court ruling ordering them to pay more than $300,000 before the matter could be heard by a judge,” a press statement by the group released yesterday said.

Fred Smith, attorney for the organisation, said: “Unfortunately, we have been priced out of justice. Before the matter could even have its day in court, the developers and the government were able to successfully argue in the Supreme Court that because we are nothing more than a modest non-profit movement, we would have to pay more than $600,000 in security for costs, basically a downpayment proving we could cover the costs in case we happened to lose.”

Although the Court of Appeal later reduced the organisation’s legal fee to $315,000 ? in what was hailed by the BBC as “a victory of sorts”, that amount was still more than the organisation could afford. “We had no choice but to surrender the case,” Mr Smith said. “Bahamians should be concerned that citizens with no personal axe to grind, who are seeking to defend the public interest, can be denied their day in court because of their financial stature.

“At the end of the day, what it means is that when it comes to justice in the Bahamas, you have to be able to pay to play,” he said. “The government and foreign developers with deep pockets can join forces to ensure that ordinary citizens are blocked from accessing justice.

But despite the organisation’s disappointment, Mr Smith said their struggle to save Bimini is not being regarded as a total defeat because in June the group successfully convinced the London-based Privy Council to briefly halt the large-scale dredging of the seafloor off North Bimini to make way for a 1,000 foot pier and cruise ship terminal.