The Chairman of Save The Bays, Joseph Darville says, “with much consternation, we are learning that an EIA for the proposed Oban Industries has been completed, but will not at this time be made public for scrutiny. This, in itself sounds most fishy. Even an idiot, without the least understanding about our marine ecosystems, would realize that even the minimum incursion for establishing an oil refinery, storage facilities and mega ships birthing, even with the most sophisticated and modern machinery, would wreak havoc on some five ecosystems comprising the proposed areas. Presently, those areas are home to a multitude of varieties of sea life; all will all be wiped out with the very first application of dredging machinery.”
Mr. Darville asked: “Why are we even entertaining any discussions related to such activity, when worldwide we are seeing dramatic departure from digging into the belly, bosom and breasts of Mother Earth to bring up outdated and damaging sources of energy? We should instead, like wise and sensible small nations are now doing, utilize the natural resources daily available to us to not only obtain energy for our own consumption, but also be in a position to supply it to other entities in the region.
“If we are in the very least concerned about leaving an environmentally sound and safe country for future generations, we must cease forthwith from selling their birthright for the proverbial pot of porridge. It would take one accident, explosion or oil spill to further destroy the area, as well as the entire extent of the south shore of Grand Bahama. The putrid smells from the refineries will forever create health problems, resulting in deaths, across the entire island,” he said.
“Finally, why are we venturing into the destruction of our natural protections against ever increasing and dramatic climate change effects by damaging or destroying the very first barriers against storms and rising seas? We tout the serious consequences on small island nations at the United Nations, yet at the same time we are inviting entities to come in and obliterate protections that they cannot impinge upon in other places. Greed and avarice bring these entities to our shores and we fall prey to their dangling trinkets and magnified false promises of great wealth. It simply must stop,” said Mr. Darville.
