By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Opponents of Disney Cruise Line’s Lighthouse Point project yesterday pleaded with the next administration to reassess the development, saying: “We don’t want Disney out; we just want a better deal.”

Sam Duncombe, reEarth’s president and a leading member of the Stop Disney - Last Chance for Lighthouse Point Campaign, told Tribune Business she remained “hopeful” that the cruise line would change course and work with Bahamas-based groups to instead develop the south Eleuthera site into a “model for sustainable development” and land-based tourism.

It would seem highly unlikely that Disney would agree to such a radical makeover, given that it is a cruise-based - rather than land-based - operation. It already has a signed Heads of Agreement for the project, which it estimates will involve an investment of between $250m-$400m (most of this being spent on the cruise pier), and has long completed the purchase of all land it requires at Lighthouse Point.

Asked whether these factors mean the Lighthouse Point campaign has little chance of succeeding, despite all the sound, fury and support it has generated, Mrs Duncombe replied: “I don’t know if I’m as dumb as a door, but we live in hope.

“We have to at least try. We cannot continue to allow these iconic lands of ours to fall into the hands of people not looking after them in the way we would. Lighthouse Point is an iconic, scenic piece of land that should have remained in Bahamian ownership.”

Mrs Duncombe argued that establishing Lighthouse Point as a cruise port/beach break destination was “not the best use of the land” given its location in a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The campaign is calling on the next administration to re-evaluate the development, even though the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) has given Disney clearance to begin work on its Environmental Management Plan (EMP).

This seemingly indicates that the DEPP is confident the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has addressed all key issues, and Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook last month that Disney was seeking to begin construction at Lighthouse Point in earnest in early 2022 once all the necessary approvals and certificate of Environmental Clearance were in place.

However, Mrs Duncombe said: “We remain hopeful that Disney will realise we don’t want them out; we want a different deal. If they’re true to their commitment about protecting the environment there should not be an issue for them. Imagine Disney’s resources being put to use as a model of sustainable development. They have an enormous opportunity here to do that, and that’s what we’re hopeful of.

“We’re still hopeful that Disney will abide by their own commitments to protect the environment and be good stewards of the environment, and work with us or other organisations in the country to really make Lighthouse Point a model for sustainable development given the major issues we have coming down the pipeline like climate change. 

“We have to at least try to do better, and Disney needs to do better in The Bahamas, and so far it has not happened.” The campaign’s call for a “sustainable development model” sounds much like the rival proposal for Lighthouse Point, backed by the One Eleuthera Foundation and Bahamas National Trust, but which had little chance of succeeding as Disney had the agreement to purchase the land.

Mrs Duncombe also challenged the economic benefits of Disney’s deal, given that its cruise ships pre-COVID each generated multi-million dollar sums annually yet the GDP impact from Lighthouse Point was estimated at $805m or $32.2m annually over 25 years.

“They are paying no taxes for decades when Bahamian businesses are struggling to stay open,” she added. “It’s not like Atlantis with 5,000 employees. They’re saying they will hire 150 people at the end of the construction phase. They’re throwing us a bone. That’s not going to help us. It’s not a good deal for The Bahamas.”

However, Kim Prunty, Disney Cruise Line’s vice-president of public affairs, told last month’s Eleuthera Business Outlook that the cruise line was hoping to begin operations at Lighthouse Point in the first half of 2024.

She added that while Disney had committed in its Heads of Agreement to supplying 30 percent of the project’s energy needs from renewable sources, it was now targeting a 90 percent threshold as well as “zero waste to the landfill”.

Ms Prunty also said the $355m in extra tax revenue that the development is projected to generate over a 25-year period exceeds that value of the concessions it has received from the Government, although it has provided no figure for the latter. The project is forecast to generate 120 construction jobs, with a minimum 80 percent going to Bahamians, and 150 full-time operational posts

Thomas Mazloum, Disney Cruise Line’s president, added: “We know there is a delicate balance between economic development and the environment, and we believe wen have really struck the right tone with this one,” he said. “We always said we would only move forward at Lighthouse Point if we were convinced it was complementary to our long-standing commitment to the environment.”