The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder has rejected the notion that losses suffered by the Brooklyn Bridge barge through theft should reduce the owners’ obligation to pay environmental fines, saying looting is “private action by private individuals” and entirely “unrelated” to regulatory enforcement over reef damage.

Although the incident became infamous for attracting scores of looters, residents and environmentalists say the reef destruction in Abaco — one of roughly half a dozen barge groundings in recent years — has exposed flaws in deterrence and penalty frameworks.

North Andros MP John Pinder said operators are travelling too close to shore “to take shortcuts for a profit,” while critics have derided the proposed $20,000 fine as insufficient, calling for penalties in the millions.

Mr Pinder explained yesterday during an Office of the Prime Minister press briefing that the looting cannot offset the environmental fine, and that the government has a separate enforcement duty under the law.

“One has nothing to do with the other,” he said. “One is a private action by private individuals who were contrary to the law, and the second one is an enforcement and regulatory matter by the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. So they're unrelated.”

The government will fine the barge owners at least $20,000 under the Environmental Planning Protection Amendment Act 2024, with further prosecution possible once a full environmental assessment is completed.

Mr Pinder said amendments earlier in the administration empowered the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) to issue immediate spot fines, an authority it previously lacked.

“What we did in our amendment is we provided spot fines by the agency, so when they see a criminal or environmental violation, they can find you right away,” the attorney general said.

“So there's at least some instant penalty, and then we pursue alternatively, or in addition, the provisions under Environment Planning Protection Act, where we would have to now go and enforce certain matters in court as well.

“So the spot fine isn't the only fine. It's an immediate reaction that the department now has an empowerment to do. Then we proceed under further prosecution, once we understand the damages to the environment, to the reef, and then we monetise that, and then we prosecute.”