The following is a statement by Save the Bays:
The government’s continued
support for the controversial “anchor project” policy of national development
is the subject of a new video by prominent social and environmental advocacy
group Save The Bays (STB).
The video, narrated by STB education
director Joseph Darville, documents how the current administration promised to
create sustainable local economies on each Family Island that would benefit
Bahamians, only to revert to the shortsighted old model of mega-resorts owned
by wealthy foreign interests.
“Anchor resorts and mega-resorts
are continuing to flood our Family Islands, and as more and more invade our
shores they are being kept secret from the Bahamian public,” Darville said.
“But hold on, didn't we hear that
Perry Christie and his government had abandoned the anchor project plan? Didn’t
they mention something about full-circle economies in the Family Islands?
Something must be dead wrong, since all these new developments are like the old
failing ones.”
Darville noted that the developers
of anchor projects, which are mostly gated and exclusive, arrive in the Bahamas
with promises of many jobs. The projects move forward with the full support of
local politicians eager to announce new employment opportunities.
Far too many of the projects go
bankrupt and fail, he said, but only after destroying the local environment and
culture – which the government has a duty to protect for the prosperity of
generations of Bahamians to come.
“All these anchor projects are
dumped on our Family Islands, they are all the same. Now, they conjure up new
buzzwords, like sustainability and full-circle economy, but they are nothing
new. And if they have not worked in the past, they will not now, or ever. And
yet our politicians keep up this charade, deceiving the public,” Darville said.
He explained that while many of
these mega resorts were failing over the years, small sustainable developments
throughout the islands have been succeeding.
STB has advocated for a tourism
development model based on such smaller scale resorts with a modest
environmental footprint. Such a policy, the group says, would not only protect the
country’s natural resources for future generations, but also make Bahamian
ownership in the industry a realistic proposition.
The new video is part of an
ongoing series covering key aspects of the organization’s fight for a better
Bahamas. It can be viewed on Save the Bay’s YouTube channel (http://bit.ly/1BbqfIi).