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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Leading environmental attorney and consultant Romi Ferreira tells members of Sunrise Rotary a proposed new Planning and Subdivison Act 2015 that would replace the 2010 legislation would strip away the rights of Bahamians to be consulted or to see information pertaining to proposed developments even in their own back yard.
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Nassau, Bahamas - A bill being considered by government could set The Bahamas back decades and deprive Bahamians of the right to be consulted even on projects that affect their own community, says a leading authority.
Romi Ferreira, environmental attorney and consultant, told members of Sunrise Rotary Club that the proposed Planning and Subdivision Act 2015 would strip Bahamians of the right to consultation – a right, he said, that currently exists under a land use act that was passed unanimously and agreed by both parties in 2010.
“That’s right – the public’s right to be consulted on matters affecting, them, matters that affect you and me, matters that could affect everyone in this room, would be wiped away, gone, if this bill, the Planning and Subdivision Act 2015, passes,” said Ferreira. “Everything we have fought so hard for would be gone, including the requirement that all subdivisions and projects be required to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment that acts as a land use planning tool.”
Under the proposed new bill, only subdivisions or projects of 100 lots or more would be required to provide an EIA, said Ferreira who has been leading the Planning and Subdivision Act information campaign for the popular environmental movement Save The Bays.
BTC Chairman and Rotarian Leon Williams, left, speaks with leading environmental attorney and consultant and Save The Bays director Romi Ferriera following the March 3 Sunrise Rotary meeting at the British Colonial Hilton.
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“So you know what they would do, they would build Phase 1, 99 lots, Phase 2, 99 lots, Phase 3, 99 lots,” said Ferreira. Even in cases where an EIA would be required, the new bill would not require that the information be disclosed to the public. “That omits the vital and internationally widely recognized purpose of an EIA which is to ensure members of the public are given early and effective opportunities to participate in decision-making.”
The new bill, he said, would also allow “bonus zoning” for developers to exceed building heights or other standard zoning restrictions, allowing a sort of trade-off of circumventing zoning and approved land use in exchange for ‘other benefits’ to the public, all negotiated behind closed doors and without public input.
And, he said, the new bill would ‘grandfather in’ unregulated development, rendering hard-fought legal decisions like Nygard Cay and Blackbeard’s Cay useless.
Violating any of the regulations of the new bill would attract a fine of $10,000 – a figure Ferreira said developers would gladly pay and hardly notice – and it would allow for payment in lieu of park spaces.
“This single piece of legislation would set us back decades, a country that is one of the few in the world still not to have a sound environmental protection act, and now we are considering moving backwards even more? It is incredulous and we as a people must stand up, speak up, sign the petition online (www.savethebays.bs/petition) and let our voices be heard,” he pleaded. “Keep the Planning and Subdivision Act 2010. Do not pass this new 2015 PSA unless you want to give away all your rights as a Bahamian.”
Launched in 2013, Save The Bays has become an outspoken advocate for addressing climate change and its work toward passage of a freedom of information act, environmental protection legislation, an end to unregulated development and stoppage of oil pollution has attracted nearly 20,000 Facebook followers.
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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