By FAY SIMMONS

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN environmental activists yesterday reiterated fears that Royal Caribbean’s $100m beach club project will cause “total decimation” of western Paradise Island despite assurances to the contrary.

The activists, in a joint statement responding to the cruise giant’s multiple environmental stewardship pledges, argued that the Royal Beach Club’s 17-acre site “cannot survive intact” with a daily average visitor count of some 2,750.

“We continue to believe that the site cannot survive intact and faces full transformation, and total decimation, of its physical assets,” the group alleged. “The precedent for grossly exceeding a small area’s carrying capacity is as per the permanent and irreversible impact Royal Caribbean had on the Bahamian island Little Stirrup Cay, whose Bahamian name couldn’t even survive the undue pressure to transform to Coco Cay.”

They also recalled the concerns voiced by Joe Darville, Save the Bays chairman, who argued that the location, which includes four acres of Crown Land, “is ill-suited and incapable of absorbing the impact of the estimated 3,000 visitors that Royal Caribbean plans to descend on the site daily”.

The group, which includes ex-Bahamas National Trust (BNT) chief, Eric Carey; Save the Bays chief, Joe Darville; reEarth president, Sam Duncombe; EarthCare’s Gail Woon; Rashema Ingraham, executive director, Waterkeepers; and Casuarina McKinney, executive director, Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), hit out after Royal Caribbean pledged that its $110m Paradise Island project will contribute “zero” waste to the New Providence landfill.

The cruise giant added that its development will also employ “100 percent renewable energy by 2030”, and said the environmental plans for its Royal Beach Club are built on what it described as “six focuses” - zero waste-to-landfill, renewable energy, wastewater treatment, protecting and enhancing the surrounding habitats, and environmental monitoring.

However, the activists retorted: “While we appreciate Royal Caribbean’s commitments, what the company announced yesterday was insufficient to deter us from our request for information. We still do not have any real, meaningful details on Royal Caribbean’s environmental plans, or answers to the numerous questions we’ve posed. This remains a significant problem for us.

“Royal Caribbean needs to respond to our previously stated requests for online public access to all documents related to the beach project submitted to the Government by Royal Caribbean, inclusive of the cultural and environmental impact assessments and management plans.”

They also renewed calls for “responses and mitigation plans related to the beach project submitted to the Government by Royal Caribbean”, and “open in-person and online town halls at which members of the public will be permitted ample time to express their views, and a commitment to making transcripts available online”.

All Royal Caribbean responses “to numerous unanswered questions shared by The Bahamas’ business and environmental communities, regarding the impact of its proposed project” need to be supplied in writing, and an environmental review timetable, “including a schedule of town hall meetings and public comment period”, supplied no later than April 30.

However, in promising that the Royal Beach Club will contribute no extra waste to the New Providence landfill, the cruise line said: “The beach club will be free of single-use plastics and offer compostable service ware at food and beverage venues.

“In addition, it will be equipped with biodigesters to reduce food and other organic waste, and process cooking oil into biodiesel for energy production. The cruise line will also develop partnerships with local Bahamian companies focused on recycling and innovative waste reduction programmes.

“Royal Caribbean is committed to a net-zero carbon footprint for the Royal Beach Club by 2030,” it added of its renewable goals. “The project will incorporate smart design considerations during construction, including natural shade, low flow filters and more. The line will also invest in renewable green energy production – solar, wind and hydro – both onsite and through innovative, new partnerships throughout New Providence.”

Royal Caribbean, in an effort to mitigate environmental fears, is also promising no dredging or overwater cabanas. “Royal Caribbean will conserve the ocean environment, including coral, and will not dredge the area in and around Paradise Island,” the cruise line added.

“In addition, the cruise line will not build overwater cabanas on the property, and it has no marine development plans for the northern shore where abundant coral is present. It also plans to minimise the impact on marine life through monitoring and adjusting the location of the limited structures, such as the floating pier, in place during construction on the southern shore of the island.

“The Beach Club will have a dedicated and best-in-class wastewater treatment plant that will process 100 percent of the wastewater generated onsite. More than 95 percent of the treated wastewater is intended for beneficial reuse, and the remaining byproduct will be composted for landscaping and vegetation.”

Noting that the western end of Paradise Island “has fallen into disrepair, with several former residential properties neglected or abandoned”, Royal Caribbean added: “The company will restore this area by adding native plants and vegetation, removing invasive, non-native species of plants and only constructing buildings on previously altered property or that contain significant invasive or non-native species of plants.”

“In addition, Royal Caribbean plans to continuously study and protect wildlife during construction and eventual operation. When building and operating the beach club, a Bahamian company will conduct environmental monitoring and publicly report information through an environmental scorecard.

“As part of its commitment to an open and public process, Royal Caribbean will hold a supplemental public hearing in conjunction with The Bahamas’ Department of Environmental Planning and Protection. Details for the meeting are being finalised with the Government of The Bahamas and will be shared as soon as they are available, in line with notice requirements. The cruise line will also share more about its environmental plans in the coming weeks.”

Royal Caribbean added that, with the Royal Beach Club having received the Government’s “conditional approval”, the information provided about its environmental pans will include answers to questions submitted by Atlantis and others during the initial public consultation in September 2021.