By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An Opposition MP says he will confirm with the House of Assembly’s clerk whether the Government tabled an environmental permit for a dock amid growing controversy over Athol Island.

Adrian White, the St Anne’s MP, has adamantly told Tribune Business on four separate occasions - once after viewing a video recording of House proceedings last Wednesday, July 17 - that Leon Lundy, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, never tabled the environmental go-ahead for development activity on the island as he promised during the morning session.

However, the purported certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) was provided to this newspaper by a regular source who said he obtained it from the House of Assembly. And this newspaper understands that government sources are asserting the permit was tabled by Mr Lundy just as he had pledged.

The CEC obtained by Tribune Business shows it was granted to Andrew Hanna on February 16, 2024, for the construction of a wooden dock at Athol Island that is shown in this newspaper today. Dredging was forbidden, and the applicant was to provide the necessary storage space for any heavy equipment required. All other necessary permits had to be obtained from the relevant government agencies.

The CEC is stamped by the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), and appears to bear the signature of its director, Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy. When previously asked by Tribune Business if any environmental permits had been issued for development activities on Athol Island, she replied “no”.

The DEPP chief also answered “yes” when asked whether the environmental regulatory agency planned to take action against those involved on Athol Island. The CEC, meanwhile, was also dated July 17 and signed in its top right-hand corner, which is consistent with a document that has been tabled in the House of Assembly.

Mr White, though, was adamant that the CEC was never tabled - at least to his knowledge - last Wednesday and he was present for the entire day’s House proceedings. He said last night that he even stood at three hours and 16 minutes into the afternoon session to ask if Mr Lundy would table the Athol Island environmental permit as promised but the central and south Andros MP did not respond. 

Pointing out that his intervention took place during the third reading of the Registrar of Records Act, Mr White said there was no indication from David Forbes, the House of Assembly clerk, that the relevant document had been tabled.

Having watched the video recording, the St Anne’s MP said Mr Lundy stood up nine minutes later during the ‘member statements’ stage of proceedings and tabled three documents . These were the update on the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s Eleuthera woes, the land adjudication memorandum and Land Registry memorandum.

“He acknowledged that he was tabling three. Again, no mention of the February environmental approval for Athol Island,” Mr White asserted. The St Anne’s MP added that the Government side also said the CEC would not be tabled because it was “irrelevant to the debate” on upgrades to The Bahamas’ intellectual property rights regime.

He suggested that the CEC may have been signed and dated, but Mr Lundy and the Government side could have ultimately elected not to table it. “I’ll look into it. I’ll write to the clerk,” Mr White said, adding that - however it has emerged - the purported CEC raises further questions over development activity on Athol Island.

He added that it was just a small piece of a much bigger puzzle, as the beneficial owners of the project still have not been identified. Mr White said Andrew Hanna was likely to be the contractor hired to build the dock, not the principal developers.

“It’s just one of several approvals that are needed to get that project to where it is,” he told Tribune Business. “We haven’t seen any licence or lease for the seabed on top Department of Physical Planning for clearing the land itself.

“There haven’t been any Ministry of Works construction approvals and Department of Physical Planning approvals for the building of the dock and that structure on it.” Mr White said The Bahamas’ policy was not to approve over-water structures such as the one constructed on the Athol Island dock with very few exceptions.

He again challenged why no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and public hearing on this, had been conducted prior to the CEC approval being given especially since Athol Island sits squarely in the middle of Marine Protected Area (MPA). Other developers have previously applied for the necessary permits for projects on Athol Island but these were never granted.

“There’s been one or two who have gone through the application process. I met one who had an application in from 2005, and never got approved,” Mr White said. “This administration has made a complete farce of environmental protection.”

Tribune Business yesterday obtained maps of Athol Island produced and signed-off by the Department of Lands and Surveys in December 2023, and which appear to show the island divided into various parcels, some of which are four acres in size.

Athol Island lies 0.75 miles east of Paradise Island, and was once eyed by former Atlantis owner, Kerzner International, as a potential golf course location. That proposal was subsequently dropped, as it is a site of historical significance and sits at the heart of a Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Several Bahamian businessmen who have to sought to obtain permits/approvals for Athol Island projects through the front door by going through the established regulatory channels have been frustrated with their developments coming to a “standstill” and not moving forward.

Tribune Business revealed in 2022 how Al Collie, developer of West Bay Street’s Club Luna, formerly the Zoo, was seeking to invest $2m in an Athol Island beach break destination that could create up to 100 Bahamian jobs.

Mike Darville, nephew of Sunshine Cruise operator, Chris Darville, and his company, Sand Dollar Tours, commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a $1m project involving a one-acre development that would feature a 1,900 square foot timber dock; an 800 square foot floating dock; 3,200 square foot deck; and a surveyor’s trail.

And Tony Knowles, chief executive of Pirate’s Revenge, operator of the pirate-themed ship, the Blackbeard’s Revenge, confirmed he had submitted an application to create a “Treasure Island” destination for guests that would embrace eco-tourism while preserving historical ruins in the area. None of these three projects have progressed.