By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president yesterday asserted that “the screams are going to get louder and louder” as New Providence’s limestone supply dries up due to enforced quarry closures.

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that all quarries that supply the construction industry with much-needed limestone and aggregate have been closed since last Thursday as a result of what he described as enforcement actions by the Government’s environmental and planning agencies.

He suggested that the move has resulted from the Government finally moving to enforce provisions in the Conservation and Protection of the Physical Landscape Act, which was passed into law in the 1990s, but without realising the negative “snowball effect” it would have on construction and the wider Bahamian economy.

Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy, the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) director, in an e-mailed response to Tribune Business inquiries said the Department of Physical Planning - and not her agency - is responsible for overseeing that particular Act. 

However, she disclosed that many quarry owners and operators have rejected requests to apply for - and obtain - a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) from her agency. And Bahamas Wildlife Enforcement Network (BahWEN) officers are now conducting checks to determine if these operations are complying with existing environmental laws and regulations.

“To my knowledge, the Bahamas Wildlife Enforcement Network (BahWEN) officers have been out conducting visits of known quarry sites to confirm that the owners and operators are in compliance with environmental laws,” Dr Neely-Murphy said.

“Most of them have been requested to apply for a certificate of environmental clearance from the DEPP so that the environmental conditions under which they may safely operate may be outlined. Many of them have decided not to apply and now BahWEN is conducting their checks.

“Many of the sites have been mined to expose the freshwater lens and are very near to critical infrastructure. Owners and operators should apply to the DEPP for a CEC at the earliest opportunity.” Mr Sands, though, seemingly confirmed that the result has been that “limestone quarry pits are all closed in Nassau since Thursday last week, which is significantly impacting construction”.

Noting that there are around three to four limestone-producing quarries in Nassau, located on Tonique Williams Highway and in southern New Providence, he added: “They’ve all been closed based on the actions of the Ministry of the Environment until they receive a permit, which the minister and director of planning have to give them.

“It impacts anyone doing any roadworks where you need physical limestone material, anyone doing a building who needs to do a floor and foundation. You need quarry aggregate from limestone. Just imagine all the jobs on this island that need limestone fill and they’re backed up. It’s significant.”

Suggesting that the Government is moving to take enforcement “to another step”, the BCA president added of the consequences: “You’re holding up business activity in construction with the closing of the quarry sales.

“Persons in the heavy equipment industry have been calling, making complaints. They cannot make money because they cannot operate their trucks if there is no aggregate to move. If they’re not moving their trucks they are not making money.

“The equipment operators who work on the roads, moving aggregate with back hoes, they cannot make money because there is no aggregate to push around. I don’t think people understand the snowball effect. When you do something in construction it affects several people every time. The screams are going to get louder and louder.”