OSWALD BROWN WRITES
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 10, 2018 — It has been almost two decades since environmental advocates assassinated the hopes and dreams of the vast majority of the population of Grand Bahama that the country’s second most populous island was on the verge of having a sustained period of unbridled economic growth as a result of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that had the full approval of the then government.
Responding to a strong lobbying campaign mounted by the late Edward St George, the dynamic and visionary chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), in 2001, the then Free National Movement (FNM) government – headed by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham — approved, in principle, the construction and operation of an LNG re-gasification facility in Grand Bahama.
Ingraham and the FNM lost the May 2, 2002 general election, but the new Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government, led by Prime Minister Perry Christie, also approved the proposed LNG project for Grand Bahama. It was envisaged that the natural gas would be pumped via a pipeline from a location in Freeport harbour to Florida, which at the time was facing a serious energy crisis.
However, the environmental group ReEarth, headed by Sam Duncombe, strongly opposed the proposal, claiming that it would be environmentally harmful to The Bahamas, even though Tractebel North America, the Texas-based company seeking approval to build the pipeline, produced reams of evidence that it would be environmentally safe.
Meanwhile, a second company, Virginia-based AES Corporation, also proposed to construct a $650 million LNG re-gasification terminal at Ocean Cay, a man-made island off Bimini, for the origination of an LNG pipeline to Dania Beach, Florida, but that proposal also faced opposition from ReEarth.
It apparently did not make difference that the then Minister responsible for the environment, Senator Dr. Marcus Bethel, reportedly had endorsed the LNG project based on the advice of consultants who had reported that the LNG terminal for Ocean Cay did not pose any threat for the people or the environment of The Bahamas.
Eventually, however, both Tractebel and AES abandoned their plans, citing among their reasons “questions surrounding the infrastructure for LNG facility development within The Bahamas” and “environmental constraints and requirements.”
Of course, after the proposed Tractebel and AES projects in The Bahamas were scuttled by environmentalists, both companies focused their attention on other parts of the world. For example, according to its website, “AES entered Panama 16 years ago and since then has made a total investment of more than $1.3 billion in the country.”
The fact that ReEarth and Sam Duncombe were able to derail these LNG projects speaks volumes for the tremendous power environmental advocates exercise in The Bahamas primarily because they have become experts at mounting campaigns to frighten Bahamians into believing that proposed major developments they do not support are harmful to the pristine environment of the islands that comprise The Bahamas archipelago.
It is interesting to note that back then, Attorney Fred Smith, who more recently was a close ally of Sam Duncombe’s in their “Save the Bays” environmental campaign, was one of the strong supporters of the Grand Bahama LNG project as a highly paid lawyer for the GBPA. This is not to imply that Mr. Smith, whose advocacy credentials also include human rights, makes decisions on what and who to support based on whether he benefits financially, but at the time he was indeed one of the top lawyers for the GBPA and he may have been complying with the instructions of his clients, no matter how he personally felt about the issue.
Today, now that LNG is being heavily promoted as a solution to high electricity costs in The Bahamas, Edward St. George’s spirit must be “rattling his bones” in the mausoleum overlooking Taino Beach in his beloved Freeport where his body was interred after his death.
Just take one minute and consider what the current cost of electricity in The Bahamas would be today if the LNG projects proposed for Grand Bahama and Ocean Cay almost two decades ago had become a reality. Granted, the targeted markets for those projects were consumers in South Florida, but it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the residual benefits from an LNG project based in Grand Bahama or Ocean Cay would have been extended throughout The Bahamas.
Now juxtapose that declaration in your mind with this lead paragraph from a recent article in The Tribune: “The country was said to be one step closer to lower energy bills and more stable electricity generation with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Bahamas Power and Light and Shell North America for an integrated LNG gas-to-power project.”
BPL Chairman Donovan Moxey was quoted as saying that the MOU “is the first step towards a desired long-term power generation pact between BPL and Shell and bringing strategic change to electricity generation and supply in New Providence.”
“The goals are to achieve cleaner power generation, lower cost fuel sources, and a reduction in the cost of electricity generation,” Mr. Moxey is quoted as saying.
Prior to his death in December of 2004, Edward St. George, whose visionary policies established a solid foundation for Freeport’s economic success during his years as Chairman of the GBPA, made no secret of the fact that he was highly disappointed that the LNG project failed to become a reality in Grand Bahama.
Obviously, we should all now be thankful that with the passage of time and the fact that it is now used as a major source of energy in other countries, LNG has finally gotten the “green light” – hopefully with the approval of Sam Duncombe and other environmental advocates – to bring some relief to electricity consumers in New Providence, whose electricity bills are outrageously high.
