By JEREMY FRANCIS, FN Staff Reporter

FREEPORT — Bimini District Council members are warning government officials of an impending protest that will last for days outside of the Bimini Bay Project gate if Gerardo Capo, the developer of the multi-million-dollar project, does not "stop the destruction."

If it materialises, the protest would be only one of several times the Council and residents of Bimini have taken government to task over the development's unfavourable terms.

According to a release issued by District Council member Lloyd "Duda" Edgecombe, Biminites feel betrayed after some promises given by five senior Ministers who visited Bimini in May to attend a town meeting with residents regarding their concerns about Mr Capo's project fell short of what was promised.

Participating in that meeting were Works and Utilities Minister Bradley Roberts; Financial Services and Investments Minister Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Local Government Minister V. Alfred Gray, and Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, MP for West End and Bimini.One of the concerns of residents was in regard to an entrance gate to the development's property, the construction of which, residents say, will prevent them from accessing the eastern end of the island.

"It was at this town meeting that the Obie Wilchcombe, Member of Parliament for Bimini, emphatically stated, and I quote, 'If the people of

Bimini do not want a gate, then there will be no gate,'" Mr Edgecombe

recalled. "Today the gate stands almost completed. It must be noted that the Local Council did not approve the construction of the gate, but Mr Capo was able to obtain approval otherwise."

The gate has been constructed across a public road and there have been occasions when management of the project have harassed and discouraged Biminites from having free access to the island's public beach or East Wells, which is Crown Land, Mr Edgecombe said.

Even more upsetting for Biminites is the fact that the mammoth development constrains them to just two miles of the seven-mile island.

"You are talking about confining about 1,600 residents to a two-mile space and a growing population," said Bimini District Council Chief Councillor Tasha Bullard-Rolle, after residents had first staged a protest outside of the development's gate back in May. "Where are we supposed to go if we are denied access to the additional five miles.

"We are of the opinion that the road that takes you to the gate is a public road, and we are also of the opinion that the eastern portion of Bimini is Crown Land. To be denied right to a public road which gives access to Crown Land that belongs to the people does not sit very well with the residents."

But even worse than the gate's construction, Council members are irate that Bahamians are still not being hired by the Capo Group and that they have been given authority to import even more cheap labour from South America.

Mr Edgecombe said that when persons are brought in from other countries, the money they are paid leaves The Bahamas, while young Bahamian men are finding it hard to take care of their families on a daily basis. He added that written letters and phone calls made to Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Peet in this regard have been to no avail. The project has thus far had little or no economic boost for Biminites, he said.

And while not many jobs are being created for Biminites as a result of the development, Mr Edgecombe has complained of the construction interfering with some residents' livelihood.

"Mr Capo promised that he would be environmentally-friendly, then he turns around and continues his destruction unchecked with a bulldozer, wreaking havoc in the Mosquito Point and North Sound area, destroying the Mangroves,

and digging up the sea floor. This results in the silting of the entire North Bimini lagoon with dredged effluent," he said.

"A veteran bonefisherman reported that silt has settled all over the bay," Mr Edgecombe continued. "Even in a high tide the flats get muddy, conchs have disappeared, and the amount of fish depleted from the flats."

Mr Edgecombe and his District Council colleagues are once again appealing to Prime Minister Perry Christie to intervene in the Bimini Bay Project

development, this time calling upon him to ask Environment Ambassador His Excellency Keod Smith to explain why "he has allowed his good friend Mr Capo to cause so much destruction to the environment of this island."

In fact, Mr Edgecombe said that the people of Bimini feel that Mr Capo is too close with certain government Ministers, "especially the Bradley Roberts."

"While in opposition, the Prime Minister and some of his Cabinet Ministers were highly critical of the damage being inflicted on Bimini by the Capo Group," he said. "Yet, it is common knowledge that once elected they rescinded the proactive measures that had been instigated and has given Capo carte blanche to bulldoze the Mangroves to build an 18-hole golf course on the northern tip of the island and dredge and destroy the lagoon as he sees fit."

Adding insult to injury, Mr Edgecombe said government members are claiming that the development will have no adverse environmental consequences even as the environment is being destroyed.

The Council members said that Mr Capo and the government needs to know that it isn't too late to scale back the Bimini Bay Project and beseeched Prime Minister Christie and his Cabinet to "listen to the people, who voted for them, and not Mr Capo, who they are protecting."