By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A well-known attorney yesterday warned that the Bahamian taxpayer would be held “liable for millions of dollars” should the Government succeed in enforcing the Supreme Court order requiring it to close the Blackbeard’s Cay development.

Wayne Munroe QC told Tribune Business that such action against his client, the developer, would be ““manifestly unfair” and a breach of their constitutional rights because they were not a party to the court action that produced Justice Stephen Isaacs’ Order.

That action was between reEarth, the environmental activist group, and the various Government defendants, and Mr Munroe said “it wouldn’t be cricket” to enforce the Order against Blue Illusions when it had been “dismissed” as a party to that case.

He argued that since reEarth “chose to delete or dismiss” his client from the action, it could not now seek to benefit from an Order impacting Blue Illusions - and which he said does not affect it, since it was a ‘non-party’ to the legal battle.

“It would be a breach of constitutional rights to be affected by a court action to which you are not a party,” Mr Munroe told Tribune Business, indicating this would be his ‘first line of defence’ to any Government effort to enforce Justice Isaacs’s August 31, 2015, Order.

“That would be manifestly unfair. It wouldn’t be cricket, as the English would say.”

And, should efforts to block the Order’s enforcement fail, and Blackbeard’s Cay be forced to close, Mr Munroe hinted that the Government would face a multi-million dollar lawsuit for loss of profits and other damages stemming from a ‘breach of contract’ involving Blue Illusions Ltd’s Heads of Agreement.

“It can’t make the Bahamian public liable, and liable for millions of dollars,” Mr Munroe told Tribune Business. “They’ve [Blue Illusions] invested a significant amount of money in the country, so they have retained counsel to make sure they’re interests are protected.

“When you have a deal with somebody and they break it, you’re entitled to damages.”

He added that Blue Illusions, which is headed by St Maarten-based businessman, Samir Andrawos, had invested $12 million to-date in transforming Blackbeard’s Cay into a cruise passenger ‘getaway’ experience, complete with dolphin encounter and other attractions.

Between 60-100 Bahamians were employed at the site, which is located just off New Providence’s north coast on Balmoral Island, opposite Sandals Royal Bahamian.

Pledging that he would immediately head to the Supreme Court should any attempt be made to enforce Justice Isaacs’ Order, Mr Munroe said the series of cases spawned by litigation over the Baker’s Bay project on Great Guana Cay had affirmed the Government has the authority to enter into Heads of Agreement with developers.

“They [the Government] struck a deal with my client that they can have the facility and invest ‘x’ amount of dollars as part of the agreement’s terms,” he said. “They have approvals in effect.

“The Cay is seeking to comply with everything the Government asks of it. They send people out frequently to examine the mammals, give them directions as to what they can and can’t do, and they comply.”

Justice Isaacs’ Order requires both prime Minister Perry Christie and the Town Planning Committee to mandate that Blue Illusions cease developing the island location and restore the land to its original condition,

And V. Alfred Gray, as minister of agriculture and fisheries, is required to remove the dolphins at the Blackbeard’s Cay encounter to a new, “appropriate location”.

Mr Munroe said the Government’s attorneys indicated they had taken legal advice over Justice Isaacs’ Order, and its potential enforcement, when they appeared before Justice Milton Evans, as a similar situation had arisen years before in relation to the Baker’s Bay development.

Justice Evans is hearing the dispute between Blue Illusions and the Honduran supplier over who owns the Blackbeard’s Cay dolphins, a case in which the Government has intervened.

Mr Munroe, meanwhile, acknowledged that his clients were likely to be the subject of another Judicial Review action by reEarth as its permits were subject to an annual renewal.

“When the Government embarks on a public consultation, as no doubt it will, it will have some tough decisions to make,” he told Tribune Business. “Whoever loses in that, I have no doubt they will be going to court.”

Mr Munroe, though, was adamant that this time he would demand that reEarth lodge a financial ‘security’ to cover his client’s costs, suggesting that Blue Illusions was dismissed from the first action because the activist group did not want to “run the risk” of such a payment.

He added that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Blackbeard’s Cay project had already been performed when the trial before Justice Isaacs was heard last year, adding: “Why it was not presented to the court then is beyond me.”