By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian environmental activist yesterday revealed she “knew in my bones” more than a decade ago that the Blackbeard’s Cay project would hit trouble with its dolphins as the main victims.

Sam Duncombe, reEarth’s president, told Tribune Business that the present “mess” and damaging publicity for Bahamian tourism could have been avoided if successive administrations had obeyed the rule of law and enforced the Supreme Court order obtained ten years ago that effectively closed down the marine mammal attraction off New Providence’s north coast.

She spoke out as Jomo Campbell, minister of agriculture and marine resources, yesterday pledged that the Government is working to safe the five surviving dolphins with a team of officials on-site in Wednesday in a bid to assess and remedy the situation (see article on Page 22B).

Mr Campbell, though, said his ministry was having to proceed cautiously due to the “long-standing legal battle” surrounding the dolphin attraction and its developer, Blue Illusions Ltd. He likened the situation to a “puzzle”, and added that the Government is having to put “all of the pieces together” as it moves for a solution.

Blue Illusions’ ownership was initially split 50/50 between foreign investors Samir Andrawos and Victoria Iglesias. However, the project ran into financial trouble following the COVID-19 enforced tourism shutdown and border closures, and both have seen separate personal bankruptcy trustees appointed over their financial affairs by the US courts after they were unable to repay loans they personally guaranteed.

However, Damian Gomez KC, former minister of state for legal affairs, successfully obtained a Bahamian Supreme Court order authorising him to seize and take over Mr Andrawos’ 50 percent Blue Illusions stake to recover an unpaid $1.25m legal bill owed by the former owner. This, though, is being challenged by Mr Andrawos’ bankruptcy trustee, sparking legal battles in both The Bahamas and the US.

Mr Gomez on Thursday, while confirming that he holds 50 percent of Blue Illusions, said he was not responsible for the dolphins and had given his consent to both trustees for someone to feed and care for the mammals as well as agreeing to their sale. He said blame for the five survivors’ current plight lies with the trustees for Mr Andrawos and Ms Iglesias.

However, Mrs Duncombe yesterday argued that it was “somewhat contradictory” for Mr Gomez to confirm he owns 50 percent of Blue Illusions, the immediate project holding company, but has no responsibility for the dolphins’ care. The site, on Balmoral Island, located almost opposite Sandals Royal Bahamian, is Crown Land that has been leased, and sub-leased, from the Government.

Disclosing that she has fought a 34-year battle against dolphin and other captive animal facilities, the reEarth chief said the eight Blackbeard’s Cay fatalities and the resulting negative publicity may have been avoided if the authorities had acted on the Supreme Court order she and her group obtained a decade ago.

Then-Supreme Court justice, Stephen Isaacs, ruled in the environmental activists’ favour by ordering that Blackbeard’s Cay effectively be shut down. He overruled the dolphin import licences, ordering that the mammals be moved to a suitable location and also quashed the development’s Town Planning Committee approval and ordered that the site be restored to its previous use.

However, Blackbeard’s Cay and its dolphin attraction remained in business for six further years with no enforcement action taken ensure its closure until the COVID-19 pandemic did the job. “If the Government had listened to us in 2013 and not allowed this facility to open we wouldn’t be here,” Mrs Duncombe told Tribune Business.

“And if we had followed the court order we wouldn’t be here and the dolphins wouldn’t be dead. Every government treats us like we’re out to get them but we have a vested interest in this country as well. I knew in my bones this facility was going to end up in a bunch of legal mess and the real victims would be the dolphins.

“I knew in my bones from the first time I read an article about them opening, and here it is. We are here, and I’d just love the Government to work with us. Between us and the Government we can make this right.” The “us” is Mrs Duncombe, reEarth and the Dolphin Project, the latter of which is offering to provide the necessary food, medical care and facilities the five survivors require at no cost to The Bahamas.

They are also exploring the possibility of creating a “sanctuary” for the Blackbeard’s Cay dolphins and others at a location near Rock Sound, Eleuthera, but need government support and permission for all this to happen. “There are so many legal issues surrounding this case that I learned more through your articles than through the Government,” Mrs Duncombe told this newspaper.

“I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes but here it is: In 2014, there was a signed court order to remove those animals. Every government since then - FNM, PLP, QYZ - it doesn’t matter. None of them made a move to move those animals to a safer location. Everyone’s at fault as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t have the authority to do it. They’d have been gone the next day if I did.

“We rely on our elected officials to follow the law, and when we win a case they do as the court orders... Either we’re going to be a country that follows the law or we’re not. The Government, every government, cannot expect its citizens to follow the law while watching them failing to do so,” Mrs Duncombe continued.

“They failed to move those animals and are not using the laws that do exist to get the job done. I just don’t understand why it wasn’t done from then. I don’t understand why it’s not being done now. I don’t know why the Government is not talking to me. I went to help and said we would not say a word. The only reason we went public is because we did not get a response from them.

“I couldn’t sit on my conscience when these animals were not being fed, didn’t have shelter and the water in which they are kept is too low.” Mr Campbell yesterday said the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources has been addressing the dolphins’ plight since April 19, which is after the meeting that Mrs Duncombe had with him and senior officials on April 10 to alert them as to what was happening.

Mrs Duncombe reiterated that the present situation on Blackbeard’s Cay appeared to violate the Animal Control and Protection Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the regulations for captive dolphins. Regulation 35 of the Marine Mammal (Captive Dolphin Facilities) permits the responsible minister to place a dolphin in care if they determine it is not in the mammal’s best interest to remain at a facility.

As a result, she argued that Mr Campbell has “the authority to confiscate any animal being abused and to appoint whoever they want to look after that animal”. As for Mr Gomez’s position and comments, Mrs Duncombe said: “I found them somewhat contradictory.

“I don’t understand how he owns 50 percent of Blue Illusions but doesn’t own 50 percent of the dolphins. He doesn’t own the dolphins but had to give approval to the US trustees to send money to feed them.” The reEarth president added that the proposal for a dolphin sanctuary was not designed to make money for her but to rescue mammals who “deserve more than we are giving”.

Noting that the Government has not been in contact with herself and the Dolphin Project since their April 10 meeting, Mrs Duncombe said: “Here we are. We have an opportunity, a real opportunity for the country to make a very bad situation end u being a positive one, and for the deaths of those eight dolphins to not be in vain if they move the needle forward like the court order said and move the survivors to a sanctuary.

“Maybe it will take in other dolphins whose facilities have closed. I just want them [the Government] to work with us. I’m tired of fighting. To think of The Bahamas having a dolphin sanctuary is an immediately positive ongoing story for The Bahamas and I just wish the Government would call me and talk to me. I don’t understand why I’ve become persona non grata.”