• Chamber chief’s plea follows heated meeting

• Opponents of Symonette project shouted down

• Proposal for 163 jobs still before Gov’ts NEC

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The North Andros Chamber of Commerce’s president yesterday urged that the community “get all the facts” so it can make an informed decision on a multi-million aggregate mining project following a heated weekend Town Meeting.

Darrin Bethell told Tribune Business that North Androsians, and the private sector especially, want to “make a decision from knowledge and not just hearsay” on whether the proposal by Bahamas Materials Company will be beneficial for residents and the wider economy.

Speaking after a weekend Town Meeting in Nicholl’s Town, where he estimated up to 75 percent of attendees were in support of the development by Cameron Symonette, the Symonette Group’s chief executive, and his partners, the Chamber chief said the overriding sentiment was that it could “awaken the sleeping giant” that is North Andros.

Fred Mitchell, minister of foreign affairs and the public service, who attended the Town Meeting together with two other Cabinet ministers, in a voice note to Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) supporters yesterday somewhat downplayed the extent of Bahamas Materials’ support.

Affirming police estimates that the meeting at Nicholl’s Town primary school was attended by 250 persons, Mr Mitchell said himself as well as Glenys Hanna Martin, minister of education, and Basil McIntosh, minister of state for the environment and natural resources, had been speaking on “public policy issues” at what became a “lively” meeting.

“It turned out that the hot button topic for the evening was one that was not listed; that of a proposal on the table for the mining of aggregate in North Andros on a combination of private and Crown Land,” Mr Mitchell said. “The proposal is similar to one in Grand Bahama where aggregate is mined and shipped out of the country.

“A group of young men sought to present the case that this proposal will provide $53m in monies over ten years for employment, and 150 jobs. The difficulty is that because that proposal is before the Government, none of us would comment on any of the proposals and its disposition.”

This, Mr Mitchell said, resulted in “push back” from the same young men. He added that the Government’s position is that the Morgan’s Bluff port in North Andros is to remain publicly-owned and operated, even though Mr Symonette and his Bahamas Materials partner, Ted Baker, have never proposed acquiring it as part of their project.

Mr Mitchell also sought to link Bahamas Materials’ project to climate change, although he did not make a convincing case for connecting the two while referring to the potential carbon credits hold for The Bahamas. He said: “It maybe that it is better to leave our forests, leave the sand, the aggregate and aragonite in the land, the ground at at sea. Nowadays they’re paying Gabon not to cut down its forests.

“No comment was made on the project in North Andros because the decision is still outstanding. It raises the question of whether the present generation has a responsibility to protect our heritage today, or forget about [that] and just cash in today. The answer is for the Government and Bahamian people to decide.”

Mr Symonette declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday. This newspaper understands that he and the Bahamas Materials team have effectively been gagged by the Government from speaking publicly about the project, or fully engaging with the North Andros community, because it is still under review by the Cabinet’s National Economic Council (NEC).

The proposal, which was first presented to the Minnis Cabinet, is understood to have been shown to the Davis administration at end-January and a decision is now awaited as to whether it will be given approval in principle so Bahamas Materials can begin the process of obtaining its environmental approvals and holding Town Meetings with the community in North Andros.

Meanwhile, Mr Bethell said both the extent of support for Bahamas Materials and the temperature at the meeting was greater than that allowed for by Mr Mitchell. He estimated that around 75 percent of attendees were in support of the project, with many wearing t-shirts and face masks indicating as such.

The North Andros Chamber president said the issue was briefly discussed by both Mr Mitchell and Leonardo Lightbourne, the area’s MP, with the latter telling the meeting he was “aware there was strong support for the project” and is “going to do all he can to make sure the project gets moving into the next stage”.

Voicing surprise at the backing for Bahamas Materials, Mr Bethell said the meeting became really heated when the project’s arch opponent, Prescott Smith, the Bahamas Fly Fishing Industry Association’s (BFFIA) president, and his attorney, ex-PLP MP, Keod Smith, began speaking out against it.

Acknowledging that opponents were in the minority on Saturday evening, the Chamber chief said Keod Smith was unable to complete his speech and police officers had to intervene to “control the crowd and settle them down”. He said the sentiment from the majority of attendees was that the Smiths and other opponents were threatening “to take bread out of our mouths, opportunities out of our way”.

“There was strong discussion throughout the evening about North Andros wanting opportunities for what may be economically beneficial to the community,” Mr Bethell said. “They want to have a better understanding and know what risks are out there concerning this project so they can make a sound decision as to whether to support it. That was the general sentiment.

“It was we want better. We see other islands moving forward. We believe this project can awaken the sleeping giant. I spoke to a lot of people. They were saying give us the opportunity to have a Town Meeting, hear the folks and let us make a decision. Give us the environmental studies, the economic studies and let us make a sound decision.”

As for the private sector, Mr Bethell added: “The business community is just really concerned about the facts. We want to know more about the project and get all the facts, not through social media and public commentary. When you go into business you want more economy, you want more growth in the community. 

“They want to look at the project, see the merits and if there are any potential liabilities protect themselves against them. The key is for people to get the facts and make a decision from knowledge, not from hearsay.”

Sources familiar with the project, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to do so, said it planned to create 163 direct jobs in Andros along with numerous spin-off entrepreneurial opportunities. They dismissed any climate change concerns, saying the project will be located on “fallow” land in the shape of the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s 5,500 acre wellfields that have been inundated with seawater from past hurricanes.

Bahamas Materials plans to mine the site for calcium carbonate (limestone). The extracted rock would then be crushed and screened at a purpose-built plant before being exported by sea to either Florida or New Providence for use by the construction industry in a variety of construction applications.

However, the plans go beyond mere aggregate mining to explore how the land could be reclaimed, and repurposed, for other productive use such as real estate once all the rock has been extracted. Bahamas Materials Company is proposing a corporate structure where a subsidiary, Morgan’s Bluff Development Group Ltd, owned by local residents would control/own the land and lease portions to it for mining via a phased approach.

“The control remains with the Government and the people,” a source said. “This project will pay royalties, it will pay taxes and it will pay Business Licence fees.”