Duncombe decries EIA as inadequate
“We are not trying to get rid of Disney; we would just like them to consider a plan at that doesn’t include ripping up the beach”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local environmental groups have organized their own extended public consultation on Disney’s Lighthouse Point environmental impact assessment (EIA), with one well-known environmentalist telling Eyewitness News there was “a lot absent” from it.
Sam Duncombe, reEarth president, told Eyewitness News: “There is a lot absent in the EIA. It’s unfortunate that Disney seems to think this is an acceptable document.
“To boast that they have spent three years doing that is insane. A three-year EIA should have blown our socks off.
“We are not trying to get rid of Disney; we would just like them to seriously consider a different plan at Lighthouse Point — one that doesn’t include ripping up the beach.
“That is a spectacular beach and for anyone to say they can make it better is not true. What they’re proposing to do is significantly alter it, and that should not happen.
“It’s not a comprehensive EIA. It doesn’t come close.”
Local environmental groups have argued that the government is rushing the review of the EIA for Disney’s proposed cruise port at Lighthouse Point.
Further, they contend that the public consultation held via Zoom last Thursday on the controversial project — which attracted more than 350 attendees — was “a Disney show” that provided too little time and no opportunity for discussion of the adequacy of Disney’s assessment.
Members of the public have until May 6 to submit questions and feedback about the proposed development.
Local environmental groups have therefore organized their own extended public consultations, with the first meeting scheduled for tomorrow, April 15, at 6pm via Zoom.
Back in March, Disney executives released the Lighthouse Point development’s EIA. According to the company, an economic impact study done by Oxford Economic has indicated that over a 25-year period, the project is conservatively expected to provide a more than $800 million increase in the country’s GDP and a more than $355 million increase in Bahamian government revenues.
Disney executives said the company will be looking to select a contractor around mid to end of May.
They also expressed confidence that the company has addressed all outstanding concerns regarding the development in the extensive, 550-plus-page EIA.
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