EDITOR, The Tribune. 

Kindly allow me space in your publication to express my concerns after attending the public consultation in Black Point, Exuma on Thursday, October 3, 2024 regarding the proposed development on east Sampson Cay.

I have been a tour boat operator for over 13 years, having been inspired by my grandfather, who was a catamaran operator when I was a boy. The Exumas is the only home I know. I am an Exumian first, and a tour operator second. Exuma is what most would describe as having a boutique charm. It’s remote with a quiet sense of community. Its scarcity in development is what gives it its charm.

That’s what attracts the tourist that comes here to the Exuma Cays. We’re not a market for a large, commercial resort. You have to do your research to know about Exuma to even think about coming here, and we like it like that. This is what the people who visit these islands like about the Exuma Cays.

A project of this proportion, with its potential economic and environmental effects is not a good match for the Exumas. It’s like driving a Rolls Royce in the streets of the Exuma Cays. An incredible display of engineering and design, the Rolls Royce should be admired, but it simply does not work in this environment.

These concerns were shared during the public meeting, which I attended virtually, but I have yet to receive a response from the organizers. With about a few hundred people in attendance, the number of people that would be affected by this project is likely triple that number. The local tourism businesses, which represent about 85% of successful Exumians, are thriving because of the small, boutique feel of the area.

The project proposal calls for the dredging of two marinas and a service dock on the northern bay. The proposed northern marina and service dock present major concerns, especially with the scale of seabed dredging that they will require. Dredging those areas presents some serious effects on seagrass and the surrounding marine ecosystem. Within the seagrass is where conch and sea turtles feed and frequent, and so you threaten their life span. Dredging also can affect the local coral reefs, which would suffer irreparable damage, sedimentation, and complete destruction.

During the public meeting, it was said that the native trees would be removed from over 40% of the land and later replanted on other islands in the Exumas on a 3:1 scale. That just doesn’t make sense to me. This means that some native trees will be removed permanently. This includes mangroves, which are a nursery haven for young marine life and act as a protective barrier in the event of a surge due to a hurricane or other natural disaster. Alone, these factors may not seem like a big deal, but together, they are a big deal and threaten our environment.

The development seems to be contrary to what is the natural aura of the Exumas. This project may work for the larger, more developed Bahama Islands, but surely not for smaller islands.

I live here because of the simplicity of the area. I love to fish, catch conch, and enjoy the island and its blessings. We all are living here by choice. I’d hate to see a large scale of the environment destroyed in exchange for a development that, at present, seems to be widely missing the mark, both environmentally and economically.

Keiran Miller,

Co-owner of Staniel Cay Adventures

November 3, 2024.