By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

A LEADING activist yesterday urged the Government not to privatise the energy and water industries on the grounds that foreign buyers could "hold the Bahamas to ransom", adding that this nation had "not begun to scratch the surface" of sustainable, environmentally friendly development.

Unveiling a 45-page road map on sustainable development, in conjunction with organisations such as The Nature Conservancy and the Bahamas Humane Society, reEarth head, Sam Duncombe, said the Bahamas had to "stop sitting around and waiting for it to fall into its lap".

Urging the Government to show leadership on the issues outlined in the A Living Future document, many of which have been long discussed but never acted upon, Ms Duncombe said the Bahamas needed "to start respecting the limits of what we're doing" when it came to development and the country's environment - arguably its greatest resource.

Among A Living Future's more controversial suggestions are that key utilities/natural resources, such as energy and water, not be privatised but remain in 100 per cent government ownership for the benefit of all Bahamians and residents.

And the document also suggests that the Bahamas follow the lead of controversial, leftist-leaning Bolivian president, Evo Morales, in passing a Law of Mother Earth t0 give the environment the "same rights and protections as humans".

"Given that we rely so intrinsically on our environment, we believe that the Bahamas should follow Bolivia's lead and adopt similar legislation," the reEarth paper says.

As for privatisation, it is emphatic. "We should never privatize power," A Living Future says. "When a country hands over its essential services, power, communications and water to private corporations, the country can ultimately be held at ransom environmentally and financially." It cited the 2001 energy blackouts in California as a prime example of this.

Ditto the water industry. Noting that the sector had been partially privatised through the production contracts BISX-listed Consolidated Water held with the Water & Sewerage Corporation, the reEarth document said the latter frequently ended up owing its private sector counterpart millions of dollars.

"When you have an external entity dealing with your essential services, depending on what type of deal the Government cuts with them, they could hold us to ransom, hike prices and put us in a do or die situation," Ms Duncombe told Tribune Business, expanding on her anti-privatisation theme.

And she added: "In terms of energy, we haven't really even begun to scratch the surface of what needs to be done, and what can be done. What BEC is charging us to run a Kilowatt of power per hour is out of control. It's $0.35 per kilowatt hour.

"They claim they cut 5,000 homes off from power last year, but it's up to them to start working on solutions where everyone can have access to renewable power sources."

Suggesting that solar power be combined with wind and tidal sources in various forms, Ms Duncombe urged the Government to take the lead and move renewable energy in the Bahamas forward.

"There's so much that needs to be done, and we have to stop sitting around waiting for it to fall into our laps," Ms Duncombe told Tribune Business. "It [energy costs] affects the bottom line for business, and how much money in disposable income you can spend.

"As far as water goes, we need to take drastic steps to make water a national resource, so the Government owns 100 per cent. The Government needs to restrict how we use water. This idea that we can use millions of gallons of water daily to water golf courses and lawns has to stop."

A Living Future does not contain too much that is revolutionary, instead largely emphasising much-talked about initiatives that the Bahamas has, to-date, not implemented.

With the Bahamas Meteorlogical Department finding that the Bahamas receives 315 days of sunshine per year, the reEarth paper urged that solar water heaters be installed in all existing 80,000 Bahamas-based homes.

It recommended that the Government adopt a policy where all future residences, government and commercial buildings could not be granted occupancy certificates unless outfitted with solar water heaters or some other renewable energy format.

Also calling for tax incentives to be granted over a two-three period to those switching to solar water heaters, the reEarth paper noted that Earl Deveaux, minister of the environment, had said the Bahamas spent $9 million per year on heating water.

"Solar water heating and net metering can significantly reduce our fossil fuel consumption, and provide financial relief to thousands of Bahamians," A Living Future suggested.

"Today's average solar water heater (40 gallon) can be purchased and installed for approximately $1,500. If a portion of the $9 million was allocated to purchasing solar water heaters, this would instantly reduce fuel imports (2.2 barrels of oil per heater per year), reduce greenhouse gasses (8,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per heater per year), and alleviate significant costs to the consumer (on average $1,500 per year)."

Calling for BEC to phase-in renewable energy as a percentage of its total generation mix, with a 20 per cent goal over the next five-10 years, the reEarth document added: "Solar power generated from the roof tops of public schools and government buildings alone could significantly impact national debt by bringing down nationally-owned buildings and public service utility costs.

"Surges, outages, brown outs, black outs, and load shedding wreak havoc on consumer electronics and appliances, and on the country's productivity."

As for water, Ms Duncombe challenged the Government's recently-announced position that the water produced by Consolidated Water's Blue Hills reverse osmosis plant would be cheaper, and result in cost savings for both the Water & Sewerage Corporation and its consumers, than water previously barged from Andros.

The reEarth document said the latter cost $5.50 per gallon, and $3-$4 per gallon from New Providence's wellfields, compared to $5.61 per gallon from the Blue Hills plant. It added that 1.5 gallons of sea water was required to produce every gallon of fresh, potable water via reverse osmosis.

"In New Providence, the average Bahamian uses 45-55 gallons of water per day, which translates to a demand of approximately 10-12 million gallons a day," the reEarth paper said.

"Choosing to abandon wellfields leaves the land and water vulnerable to development. These wellfields must remain protected so that they may recharge and be used in the future."