By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

ENVIRONMENT activists say they are confident Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will ensure Styrofoam collected from waters in Bimini after Hurricane Irma destroyed Resorts World Bimini's floating docks will be disposed of properly.

In separate interviews with The Tribune on Tuesday, spokespersons for two environmental groups, Heather Carey of Raising Awareness about the Bahamas Landfill (RABL), and Jenny Cook, of Save Our Home, noted Dr Minnis' efforts to have the issue adequately resolved.

According to both women, Dr Minnis has accepted daily briefs on how clean-up efforts in Bimini have progressed and how recovered Styrofoam should be disposed.

"Communication with Prime Minister (Minnis) has been constant," Ms Carey said. "He's indicated that he's going see this through and that is clear in his actions."

The RABL spokesperson added: "Every point that we have raised during the process is being addressed by him and he has listened to what we've said.

"There was talk about disposing the Styrofoam in Bimini, or Nassau or Grand Bahama; we thought those options were bad ideas because none of these islands are equipped with facilities to properly dispose of the Styrofoam. We presented that argument to the prime minister and now he's communicating with the resort on the best options moving forward."

Styrofoam, due to its properties, is non-biodegradable. When ingested by animals, it often blocks their digestive tracts, causes starvation, and ultimately death.

Of those disposal options being discussed, Ms Cook added: "We've been notified by the prime minister that he is indeed on top of this. He is aware now of the issues with recovered Styrofoam being bagged and dumped at the landfill in Bimini."

She added: "I think the government is now on the resort to make sure that whatever it is doing, is done decently and in order. The Styrofoam will have to be handled in an environmentally safe manner and the prime minister is ensuring that is done."

With respect to ongoing clean-up efforts, Ms Cook said residents in Bimini in the days following Hurricane Irma, launched their own clean-up campaign, about two days before the resort.

"We've been working everyday on our homes and our communities; and what we have left we put that into our environment because it is important to us," she added.

"We did our most recent clean-up Saturday, just as quick as we pulled mounds of the Styrofoam from the water, almost immediately after that, more started to float in. By Monday, our shorelines were covered in the stuff again."

Ms Cook said she's been informed that engineers will be on the ground in Bimini this week to examine the floating dock and how the resort should move forward.

In a release Tuesday, Resorts World Bimini insisted that clean-up efforts at the resort were "progressing well," and that was still on track for a September 27 reopening.

The release noted: "Our team has successfully removed debris from the water and from the surrounding landscape that was cause for concern."

It added: "Resorts World management is currently reviewing damage with the marina owner and will be working towards submitting a claim to the insurance carrier."