By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

LINCOLN Bain, leader of the Coalition of Independents, has vowed to take legal action against the government if officials move to prosecute Bahamians living and farming on Crown land.

This comes after Environment and Natural Resources Minister Vaughn Miller raised alarm about increased incidents of unlawful land clearing in the country and promised to crack down on those engaging in the illegal practice.

It is not clear how many areas of government land have been cleared illegally in the country.

However, Attorney General Ryan Pinder told reporters last week he knew of at least 50 individual land plots in the Carmichael Road area that had been cleared by people who did not have permission to do so.

Some of those areas, he added, housed protected and endangered trees.

To address the issue, Mr Pinder said the government planned to issue cease and desist orders to those land dwellers as well as post notices advising them to vacate the property.

“And to the extent that that is ignored or not complied with, we will be proceeding with criminal prosecutions against those that are on the land illegally clearing the land or trespassing on government land,” Mr Pinder said last week.

Members of the COI have taken exception to the minister’s remarks, arguing that Bahamians have a right to live on Crown land because it “belongs to them.”

The group also believes that the Davis administration cannot demand Bahamians to vacate the property, insisting they are protected under a standing injunction centred on the demolition of unregulated communities.

“We’re out here for justice,” Mr Bain told reporters outside the Office of the Prime Minister where dozens of his supporters gathered to request a meeting with the prime minister.

“We’re out here because we are concerned for the wellbeing of Bahamians in general and for particular Bahamians who are now residing and farming in the area of Carmichael Road and the northern area that somehow the government is calling the ‘Lincoln Bain area’.

“We are concerned because contrary to a court order preventing any interference with any unregulated community in New Providence and Abaco that the Attorney General and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources has threatened that he will send cease and desist orders contrary to that order and he will also prosecute persons in those areas.

“We are concerned for that. That goes against the law. That goes against the rule of law and we are willing to take this to court if we have to even as far as the Privy Council, we are willing to do whatever it takes to do this.

“It is Crown land,” Mr Bain added. “Crown land belongs to all of the Bahamian people, but up to this time, Crown land has really only been able to be really used by either politicians or their cronies or foreigners and we are concerned that a hotel could come here and be given tens of thousands of acres, sometimes hundreds of thousands of acres of Crown land. While if a Bahamian asks for one acre, it’s a problem.”

He also claimed that Bahamians are not responsible for deforestation in the area, saying “illegal immigrants” are to blame for the issue.

Yesterday, Mr Pinder reaffirmed the government’s stance on the issue and said respective land dwellers can expect to see those cease-and-desist orders issued before next Tuesday.

He also rejected Mr Bain’s comments that Bahamians are protected by the court’s injunction.

“That injunction deals with demolition of shantytowns in Abaco in violation of the Building Controls Act and the method in which places were built. That is entirely different and if you read the ruling, it’s clear that the rule applies with respect to building codes and respect to shantytowns in Abaco,” the attorney general told reporters yesterday.

“In fact, the attempt to expand the injunction throughout The Bahamas was denied so I think it’s very clear that that ruling is inapplicable to what we’re dealing with here in Nassau which is illegal land clearing in violation of the Forestry Act and trespass upon Crown land without permission.”

Mr Pinder also said if land dwellers want to engage attorneys to fight the action, they have a right to do so.

“​Nobody is talking about restricting anybody’s right to judicial process. We are enforcing the rights of the government and protecting the property and land of the government,” he said.

According to officials, people found guilty of unlawful land clearing can face fines of up to $25,000 or two years imprisonment or both.