By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Developers behind the $5 million Blackbeard’s Cay project yesterday vehemently rejected claims by environmental activists that it lacked the required government approvals and permits, saying: “Everything is in order.”

They were responding after reEarth director, Sam Duncombe, alleged that Blackbeard’s Cay was an example of “unregulated development”, charging that her inquiries of government departments had unearthed none of the necessary approvals.

But, in response, Charles Carter, the former PLP MP and Cabinet Minister, who is one of Blackbeard’s Cay’s principals, told Tribune Business it would be impossible to conduct a project of such magnitude and visibility without all the permits being in place.

“There’s no way that project can get going without them,” he said. “I’ve never been involved in anything illegal in my life, and don’t intend to start now.”

He declined to comment further. Mr Carter’s position, though, was backed by other contacts close to the $5 million project, who said it had already obtained its full occupancy certificate from the Ministry of Works.

“They have permits for every single thing the have done,” one source close to Blackbeard’s Cay said. “I can confirm that everything is in order. They’ve got all the permits they need.”

That is unlikely to satisfy Ms Duncombe, who said her inquiries of the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology (BEST) Commission, Port Department and Department of Physical Planning had produced no results.

“No one seems to have any documents on that facility,” she said. “I’ve asked if any applications were put forward to do some dredging, put dolphin pens in, and no on can find anything to do with Blackbeard’s Cay.

“That’s what they’ve said. We don’t have anything in writing from them [government agencies], and that’s part of the problem. No one wants to put their name to anything.

“This is ridiculous now. If any permits exist, they need to show them to the public, because the pens are up. It has implications for development, lack of transparency.”

The Blackbeard’s Cay project has been subjected to great scrutiny in recent weeks, with the developers believing this has largely resulted from “misinformation” being circulated about the development.

Initial concerns stemmed from Bay Street retailers, worried that Blackbeard’s Cay would suck away hundreds of cruise passengers - principally Carnival customers - from downtown Nassau. And this has been followed by Ms Duncombe and environmental concerns - especially over the dolphin attraction.

“We oppose the introduction of a fourth captive dolphin facility in the Bahamas when so many countries around the world are shutting their doors to this archaic industry,” she said yesterday.

“This creates negative publicity for the Bahamas, and potentially affects our tourism market as so much of that market is now turning its head to more environmentally sustainable excursions.”

Setting out her concerns in a May 27 letter to V. Alfred Gray, minister of agriculture and marine resources, Ms Duncombe said: “We seek governmental support in preventing any future dolphin facilities in the Bahamas.

“We have recently become aware that approval has been granted by the National Economic Council for a marine mammal facility to be built at Blackbeard’s Cay. We have also been informed that preliminary approval has been granted for a similar facility in the eastern end of Grand Bahama.”

Ms Duncombe said neither proposal had been made public, and subject to consultation.

Arguing that these projects were moving the Bahamas in the “wrong” direction, Ms Duncombe said there were currently three dolphin attractions in the Bahamas - 30 dolphins at Atlantis; 18 at Dolphin Encounters; and over 30 at UNEXSO in Freeport.

She argued that, rather than acting as scientific and educational institutions, “these facilities are more about perpetuating a multi-million dollar industry benefiting from inefficient legislative control in the Bahamas”.