By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The stand-off over fees being levied to visit Exuma’s swimming pigs was deepening yesterday with many of the island’s excursion providers adamant they and their guests will not pay the charges.

Mal Richardson, head of the Exuma Charter Boat Association, and principal of Triple A Adventures, told Tribune Business that its members will meet today to plot their next move over what he described as “a bit of a situation” with the pigs’ owners at Big Major Cay.

He acknowledged that while some operators were paying the levy, set at $10 for adults and $5 for children, or telling their guests they had to pay it, others are refusing to collect it and/or pay The Original Swimming Pigs Ltd, the company formed by the eight pig owners.

“Everybody wants to know if they’re collecting this money legitimately, if they have ownership of the island, and how do they charge guests who only swim in the water with the pigs but don’t set foot on the island,” Mr Richardson explained. 

“It’s an ongoing problem. We’re having a meeting tomorrow [today] and will discuss how we move forward. It’s become a major problem right now and we’re trying to find netter answers to deal with the situation.”

Robert Thompson, of Island Adventures, told Tribune Business that the stand-off over the fees was threatening to disrupt a major tourism attraction that has attracted worldwide recognition to The Bahamas.

Branding the situation as a “money grab” by the pigs’ owners, he added: “We’re not going to pay. It’s going to cause a serious problem if it’s not straightened out. We can come up with a plan where we pay $1,000 a week for someone to feed the pigs and give them water, and any vet expenses we’ll pay for ourselves and keep people on the island.”

However, Bernadette Chamberlain, president of The Original Swimming Pigs Ltd, questioned to Tribune Business how the excursion and tour providers could look after animals that they did not own and enter on land that was not theirs.

Asserting that Nassau-based tour operators are paying the fee, along with several from Exuma, she refuted concerns over the land’s ownership and ability to charge, and added of the non-payers: “They want to make money off of other people’s pigs and don’t want to pay to take care of them. It’s a lot that goes into taking care of those pigs and they don’t get it.”

Ms Chamberlain, who runs Chamberlain’s Cottage Rentals on Exuma’s Staniel Cay, and her fellow pig owners have been backed by Janet Johnson, the Tourism Development Corporation’s chief executive, who previously urged the tour operators to “show good faith and pay their way” by paying the fee to help ensure the pigs’ welfare..

She told this newspaper: “There’s an association, and they have been talking about starting to charge for the pigs’ welfare. That’s what it basically is all about.

“They’ve (the pig owners) formed a company and advised all of the tour operators that they were going to start charging on January 1 - $10 for adults and $5 for children. [Only] two of the operators are objecting.

“The money is going to the welfare of the pigs and for wardens to bring some order to the tour. The Tourism Development Corporation is fully supportive. It’s long overdue, and the tour operators need to show good faith and pay their way.”

See tomorrow’s Tribune Business for more.