EDITOR, The Tribune.

An open letter to Minister of Tourism and MP for West Grand Bahaham and Bimini Obie Wilchcombe:

I am writing to express my grave concern in general at the Resorts World project in Bimini, and specifically as to your comments to The Tribune regarding the dredging.

First of all, dredging is only part of the project; building that monstrosity of a pier right on top of and next to the major prime dive sites in Bimini was not even addressed in the article.

I read the EIA cover to cover when it was first published. You could not possibly have read it and made the comments you did. So my question is why have you not read it? When the developer’s own paid consultants warn of the high likelihood of devastating environmental degradation, including the loss of marine resources, shouldn’t that have been the first sign that this project needed to be reviewed and any approvals revisited?

What is the purpose of requiring an EIA if its findings are to be ignored?

I see no need for an “inventory tribunal” when the procedures are already in place to allow for public consultation, environmental review, etc...but those procedures and laws must be followed and in this case there do not seem to be any permits available to the public, and due process does not appear to have been followed.

Why not?

West End has already been devastated by the hit and run done by the Ginn Corporation; numerous reefs were killed and the south shore landscape altered forever and not to the good. Have you seen it lately? I have, and it makes me want to cry. It’s an abomination that that level of destruction was allowed.

This beautiful country desperately needs to be protecting and preserving our natural environment, which already faces so many challenges via large scale commercial fishing, pollution and development and other human-caused issues. To allow a mega development such as the one in Bimini and give the foreign developers carte blanche to wreak havoc on the natural beauty and valuable resources on Bimini is not progressive or sensible. If this project is allowed to continue, what will you tell the fishermen of Bimini when their livelihood is completely gone? What tourists will want to visit Bimini once its waters look like Biscayne Bay? Or indeed all of south Florida. (Dead and dirty).

The very thing that attracts visitors to Bimini is its natural beauty and pristine waters and some of the best fishing and diving in the Bahamas. Those things, once gone, cannot be put back or fixed.

I beg you to put aside all financial considerations and look at this project like a true native son sworn to protect this Bahamaland. I understand that some development is necessary, but surely not to the point of decimating what makes the Bahamas so special to begin with. This project does not even begin to resemble responsible, sustainable development.

Thank you for your consideration and I pray you will read the EIA, and reconsider your support for this atrocity.

ELIZABETH (TIP) BURROWS

Freeport, Grand Bahama,

May 9, 2014.