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Background
The Bimini's are a small group of isolated Bahamian islands and cays fifty
miles east of Miami, Florida. Immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in his
novel "Islands in the Stream", Bimini is famous as the original
home of big game fishing in the Gulf Stream waters that touch it's shores.
The two principal islands are North and South Bimini which lie adjacent
to each other in a pairing seven miles long north to south that forms
a lagoon, mangrove estuary and sea grass habitat. At the southwest end
of North Bimini is Alicetown perched on a narrow strip of high ground
where the majority of Bimini's 1600 residents live. A number of other
natives and foreigners live in developments on South Bimini. Until recently
the rest of North Bimini was uninhabited and most is still a combination
of mangrove wetlands and sandy scrub areas. Bimini has the only mangrove
estuary on the entire northwest Great Bahama Bank and serves as a fish
nursery for thousands of square miles of sea bottom. This rich area has
supported commercial and recreational fishing for nearly a century and
it is the unique geography of North Bimini that makes this possible. Contained
within Bimini's north pointing arrow headed shape is an extensive system
of tidal flow channels which course through mangrove habitat. In the northern
interior is North Sound, a shallow large cul-de-sac surrounded by mangroves
that researchers have found to be the richest area for post larval fish
and invertebrate development in all of Bimini. The warm waters of the
north flowing Gulf Stream deliver millions of floating larval sea creatures
every day to Bimini where they settle and begin to develop. Generations
of Biminites have earned their living from the conch and lobster that
originate in the Bimini lagoon and disperse throughout the region. Now
however Bimini faces biological annihilation.
Of critical concern is the ongoing construction of a mega-development
on North Bimini. Known as the Bimini Bay Resort and Casino, Phase I of
the present three phase plan is well on it's way to completion. The developer,
Gerardo Capo of Miami, Florida plans to build homes and condominium apartments
for thousands of people, a large marina, a gambling casino and worst of
all, a golf course, all on an island with no room for such a project.
Most of the golf course will be built on what is now mangrove wetland
adjacent to North Sound which will be dredged and the sea bottom destroyed.
The surrounding land will be scarified and filled. Also, there is no adequate
plan for disposing of the solid waste or sewerage that so many residents
will generate and no plan to prevent golf course fertilizer runoff from
entering the remaining natural areas. Mr. Capo has little regard for the
environment and his bulldozers and backhoes have already destroyed large
numbers of mangroves, dug up the seafloor and silted the entire North
Bimini lagoon with dredge effluent. Research scientists and fishermen
working there have reported a catastrophic decline in biological productivity.
Their work has revealed reductions in numerous species including conch,
lobster and the lemon shark, a top predator that traditionally reproduces
in the shallow waters of the lagoon. Examination of shark specimens has
revealed neurological damage due to the release of toxins during the dredging
operations. This is just the beginning of problems for Bimini. If allowed
to be built, Phases II & III will destroy the Islands' biology.
Many native Biminites and environmentalists are desperate to stop Bimini
Bay at Phase I before Capo enters North Sound but to date the National
Government in Nassau ignores their pleas. The government did "force"
Mr. Capo to reduce the scope of his project somewhat and now tout it as
"environmentally friendly" but the reality is that it's no more
than window dressing. The same amount of land will be scarified, dredged
and filled. Furthermore Capo has plans not only to do Phases I, II &
III but to expand into all of the remaining uninhabited areas of North
Bimini. The greatest irony is that another branch of the Government, the
Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF) is simultaneously
trying to create a marine sanctuary in North Bimini that would preclude
Capo's Phase II & III development plans. Already on paper, the plan
is referred to as the Bimini Marine Protected Area or MPA. It was recognized
early on that so vital was the Bimini MPA that it was to be the first
one designated. Unfortunately communication between BREEF and other parts
of the government seem non-existent and the time table has been derailed
by Capo's development. BREEF has plans drawn for a sanctuary in and around
North Sound and their representatives were in Bimini recently to tell
the locals about it. People who attended the meeting voiced strong opposition
to Capo and supported the MPA but BREEF seems to have no power to counter
the development. In Bahamian politics Bimini is considered a backwater
and so officials in the National Government often make their decisions
based on direct negotiations with Capo to the exclusion of the Bimini
residents. Capo promises all kinds of employment for Bahamians but then
imports cheap labor from Mexico and other poor countries. Rarely are more
than a few Bahamians employed on his project but the Nassau government
allows him to continue.
The loss of the
Bimini estuary would be a tragedy far greater than the size of the islands
themselves or the problems it will cause for the local population. Bimini
is a special place both biologically and historically and it needs international
help if it is to survive. The Bahamian Government must be convinced to
stop Bimini Bay at Phase I and to implement the Bimini MPA. Historically
the Government of the Bahamas responds to public outcry if it is indeed
public. A letter writing campaign can be most effective but all letters,
whether directly to the newspapers or to the politicians must get press
coverage. To ensure this the letters to government officials should be
"open letters" and copies should be sent to all major newspapers
in the Bahamas. Press coverage in the USA can also be helpful, particularly
in Florida newspapers and magazine publications that cater to the fishing
and diving community.
What You
Can Do!
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Bimini
can be rescued if enough people make enough noise. Please write
letters of protest against the planned Bimini Bay Development.
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Here's a sample
letter:
Dear Prime Minister Christie,
I am writing you
out of deep concern for the fate of the mangrove forest of Bimini Island.
I have heard disturbing news that the Bimini Bay Resort and Casino is
now taking place, and that Phase 1 has already transpired against the
wishes of the majority of the local population and contrary to the recommendations
of a scientific study which recommended against this unsound project.
The developer,
Gerardo Capo of Miami, Florida plans to build homes and condominium apartments
for thousands of people, a large marina, a gambling casino and worst of
all, a golf course, all on an island with no room for such a project.
Most of the golf course will be built on what is now mangrove wetland
adjacent to North Sound, which will be dredged and the sea bottom destroyed.
The surrounding land will be scarified and filled. Also, there is no adequate
plan for disposing of the solid waste or sewerage that so many residents
will generate and no plan to prevent golf course fertilizer runoff from
entering the remaining natural areas.
In short, this development is a disaster waiting to happen. Please take
steps now to halt the further loss to this important and beautiful place,
which will otherwise be further degraded and destroyed by this extremely
short-sighted and unsustainable development plan.
Sincerely,
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The Rt. Hon. Perry
Gladstone Christie - Prime Minister
The Office of the Prime Minister
Cecil Wallace - Whitfield Centre
Cable Beach
P.O. Box N 3217
Nassau, N.P. Bahamas
Honorable Alfred
Gray
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Local Government
East Bay Street
P.O. Box N-3028
Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas
Mr. Cole Smith
BEST Commission, Ministry of Health and Environment
Nassau Court
P.O. Box N 3730
Nassau, The Bahamas
Hon. Obediah H.
Wilchcombe, M.P.
Ministry of Tourism
British Colonial Hilton Hotel
Bay Street
P.O. Box N3701
Nassau, N.P. Bahamas
Editor
The Punch
P.O. Box N-4081
Nassau, New Providence
Bahamas
Contact: Ivan Johnson tel: (242)-322-7112
cell: (242)-357-7240
Fax: (242)-323-5268
email: thepunch@coralwave.com
Editor
The Freeport News
P.O. Box F-40007
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
Bahamas
Telephone: (242)-352-8321
Fax for the Freeport News: 242-351-3449
email: oswaldtbrown@hotmail.com
Editor
The Confidential Source
SS 6276
Nassau, New Providence
Bahamas
Telephone: (242)-322-7172
FAX: (242)-322-6727
email for The Confidential Source: editor@bahamapost.com
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Livingston S. Marshall
Environmental Consultant
Office of the Prime Minister
P.O. Box CB-10980
Nassau, Bahamas
Michael T. Braynen
Director of Fisheries
Department of Fisheries
P.O. Box N-3028, Nassau, The Bahamas
Mrs. Nakira Wilchcombe
BEST Commission, Ministry of Health and Environment
Nassau Court
P.O. Box N 3730
Nassau, The Bahamas
Editor
Nassau Guardian
P.O. Box N-3011
Nassau, New Providence
Bahamas
Telephone:for the nassau Guardian: 242-302-2300
Fax for the Nassau Guardian: 242-328-6867
email: editor@nasguard.com
email: anthony@nasguard.com
Editor
The Bahamas Journal
P.O. Box N-8610
Nassau, New Providence
Bahamas
Telephone: (242)-356-2555
FAX: (242)-356-7256
FAX: (242)-325-3996
email: bahjour@coralwave.com
Editor
The Tribune
P.O. Box N-3207
Nassau, New Providence
Bahamas
Tel: (242)-322-1986
Fax: (242)-328-2398
email: letters@tribunemedia.net
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