Save The Bays (STB) commends the government for bringing a package of Bills before Parliament to regulate and govern oil exploration in The Bahamas.

We also welcome the statement of Minister of the Environment Kenred Dorsett that environmental protections enshrined in the regulations will follow international best practices adopted since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

STB will reserve further comment on the regulations themselves until our directors have had a chance to study the documents tabled today by Minister Dorsett.

It is important to note here, however, that regardless of its contents and structure, a regulatory regime can only be as effective as the commitment and integrity of those tasked with enforcing it.

In this regard, STB feels compelled to point out the long record of dismal and at times virtually nonexistent enforcement of the environmental protocols already in place under a wide array of laws. Indeed, The Bahamas has suffered and continues to suffer due to the failure of successive governments to uphold their sacred duty to preserve the country’s natural resources for the benefit of future generations.

Nowhere has this failure been more pronounced than in the blind eye turned to the egregious culture of unregulated development, which has been allowed to destroy huge swaths of ecologically unique and culturally invaluable marine and terrestrial habitats throughout the country, in the name of a boost in jobs and revenue generation in the short term.

As the advocates of oil exploration project that its economic impact will be comparable or even greater than that of resort development, STB fears a similar culture will ensue, but at the risk of far graver consequences. To be clear, regulation of this sector is not a matter to be taken lightly by any Bahamian: a major oil drilling accident in Bahamian waters could bring this country to its knees overnight.

Meanwhile, a lax attitude to environmental protection in general can easily lead to a failure to penalize smaller incidents and accidents, which in turn, over time, could ruin our domestic fisheries industry and compromise the very assets upon which our tourism industry is based. Anyone doubting this need only look towards Clifton Pier, where leaks and spills of heavy fuels and toxic materials have gone uninvestigated (should that be unpunished?) for years, continuing unabated to this day.

There have been a number of reasons for these failures in enforcement, among them the bewildering array of laws that touch on environmental protection. For this reason, STB has been campaigning for over a year for a comprehensive Environmental Protection Act that would harmonize and rationalize these requirements and regulations into one comprehensive conservation and protection regime.

The other leading cause is the lack of an enforcement agency with any real power. The existing body, the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology Commission (BEST), has repeatedly been described by STB as “a toothless tiger”, having stood by while large-scale outrages were perpetrated upon areas of rare ecological significance around the country. BEST has had no choice in the matter; it does not possess a legal mandate to prevent or penalize substandard or destructive activities, but acts merely as an advisory board to government.

Therefore, STB takes this opportunity to renew its call for the creation of an Environmental Protection Act along with strong relevant regulations and a truly independent, well-funded and effective environmental regulator, before oil exploration is allowed to begin. This body should be created by Act of Parliament, and its independence from political or any other form of interference should be enshrined in law.

Otherwise, any and all environmental regulations and protocols run the risk of ending up being worth less in practice, than the paper they were written on.

While we cannot speak for the more than 17,000 friends on Facebook who believe, as we do, that the environment matters, we can say with certainty that those 6,000-plus who have signed the petition at www.savethebays.bs echo the urgent call for an Environmental Protection Act.

The imminent reality of oil exploration makes enacting that legislation more pressing than ever. Thus, Save The Bays commends government on its tabling of regulations and seeks further confirmation of its meaningful goodwill in this regard by announcing it will introduce an Environmental Protection Act in the immediate future prior to the issuance of any exploration permits. In that way and only in that way will the people of The Bahamas know and trust that the Government of The Bahamas has the interest of the future of this country and its most spectacular natural resource – the waters, coral reefs and marine life – at heart.