12092020 BUSINESS

Page 1

business@tribunemedia.net

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020

$3.98 Activists: Oil explorer EIA ‘falls far short’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ACTIVISTS yesterday alleged Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) environmental impact studies “fall far short” of what is required by this nation’s laws and could facilitate breaches of international treaties. Waterkeepers Bahamas and the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay, in launching their bid to obtain permission to bring Judicial Review proceedings to halt oil drilling in Bahamian waters, claimed that plans outlined in BPC’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) could breach the so-called MARPOL convention that regulates pollution by shipping. Drawing on an EIA review they commissioned, the two groups alleged that plans to discharge so-called “black water” and crushed food waste from the Stena IceMAX drill ship could violate MARPOL’s prohibition on vessels disposing of waste less than three nautical miles “from the nearest land”. With MARPOL defining “the nearest land” as the “baseline from which” a country’s territorial sea is measured, the activists drew on The Bahamas’ Archipelagic Waters and Maritime Jurisdiction Act that determines this nation’s “baseline” as extending 12 miles from the nearest land - “not the coastline”. As a result, they are alleging that the site of BPC’s Perseverance Once well “is right on the edge of the Bahamian archipelagic waters”, thus putting it within the limits where MARPOL permits the discharge of ships’ waste. “The decisions to approve the EIA and grant Environmental Authorisation are unlawful because the BPC EIA contains the express intention to dump treated sewage at the rate of an estimated 6,000 gallons (22,700 litres) per day and comminuted food waste at the rate of 900 pounds (400 kg) per day in or within nautical miles of Bahamian archipelagic waters, in breach of MARPOL and Bahamian law,” the Judicial Review alleges. “If the project goes ahead, BPC and Stena will be in almost immediate and daily breach of MARPOL, and will be committing daily offences under Bahamian law. The decisions to approve the BPC EIA and to grant Environmental Authorisation in respect thereof for this reason alone were unlawful.” BPC’s attorneys, in a letter to Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner who represents the activists in their Judicial Review bid to halt the company’s exploratory drilling plans, dismissed attacks on the EIA as being of no merit. “You have made some scattershot criticisms of the EIA, but they are completely unfounded,” Leif Farquharson, a Graham, Thompson & Company attorney and partner, wrote.

SEE PAGE 3

$3.98

$3.92

Oil explorer fearing up to $500m harm

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) fears it could suffer “up to $500m in economic harm” if environmental activists succeed with yesterday’s legal bid to halt its oil drilling plans. The company’s Bahamian attorneys, in a letter that unsuccessfully sought to dissuade the launch of Judicial Review proceedings, argued that the “unconscionable” move was “doomed to fail” and “contrary to the public interest” by attempting to block The Bahamas from discovering whether it possesses a natural resource that could financially benefit its people. Leif Farquharson, a Graham, Thompson & Company attorney and partner,

• BPC attorneys say legal action ‘doomed to fail’ • Injunction would add ‘over $16m’ to its costs • Activists ‘harried and oppressed’ on court bid

FRED SMITH QC in a nine-page response to activist demands that BPC give an undertaking not to begin exploratory oil drilling until the Judicial Review action’s merits are decided, argued that BPC’s rights and interests would suffer “very serious prejudice” were an

injunction obtained from the Supreme Court. His November 30, 2020, letter to Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner who represents the activists, said BPC would incur costs “in excess of $16m” if it were

forced to halt plans to drill its Perseverance One well at the 11th hour. With the drilling ship, the Stena IceMAX, already well on its way to The Bahamas ahead of a December 20, 2020, start date that is just 11 days away, Mr Farquharson said his client had spent some $9.1m in preparation for this day after obtaining its Environmental Authorisation (EA) and other necessary environmental approvals in February 2020. Given that the activists, represented by Waterkeepers Bahamas and the Coalition to Protect

ENVIRONMENTAL activists yesterday alleged the delayed legal challenge to oil exploration in Bahamian waters resulted after they were lulled into a false sense of security by a Cabinet minister. Waterkeepers Bahamas and the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay, in their bid for Supreme Court permission to launch Judicial Review proceedings that seek to overturn the permits granted to the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), claimed they and others were “misled” by Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment and housing, at a May 2018 meeting. Recalling the meeting, which was attended by the likes of the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) and companies such as Dolphin Encounters, the two groups asserted that Mr Ferreira

given that BPC’s receipt of EA approvals was made public in late February 2020. The Supreme Court’s rules require that Judicial Review applications be filed within six months of when grounds for such an action arise, but the Waterkeepers Bahamas and Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay move is taking place more than nine months after the EA announcement - a point made by BPC’s attorneys, Graham, Thompson & Company. To address arguments that they are non-compliant with this rule, and thus “out of time”, the activists blamed the disruption caused by the subsequent COVID-19 lockdowns and curfews as well as BPC’s decision to suspend drilling

‘Let’s get out of the private sector’s way’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

plans originally scheduled for April. Arguing that they “maintained the hope that the minister’s May 2018 assurance would be honoured” after BPC’s self-enforced halt, the Judicial Review filings alleged: “The applicants were misled by the minister in May 2018 into thinking the project would not go ahead, and so were unprepared when the February decisions were announced.” Recalling events at that time, the activists claimed: “Three weeks after the BPC EA application, and the BPC EIA and EMP were submitted, which was not known to them at the time, Joseph Darville, in his

SEE PAGE 4

SEE PAGE 4

SEE PAGE 2

• Allege Ferreira said ‘never’ to permits • Blame this for delayed legal challenge • BPC attorneys: ‘You’ll fail at first hurdle’ “gave a commitment to all present that there ‘never’ would be permission given for offshore drilling for oil in The Bahamas”. However, Waterkeepers Bahamas and the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay (Save the Bays) alleged that unknown to all present, BPC had submitted its application for Environmental Authorisation (EA) for its first exploratory well - and the associated Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to the ministry some three weeks before that meeting. The activists, in legal papers filed yesterday, were forced to explain the lengthy delay in filing their Judicial Review challenge

MATT AUBRY

THE Bahamas must not lose sight of urgent structural reforms as it focuses on immediate needs, a governance reformer warned yesterday, adding: “Let’s get out of the private sector’s way.” Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, told Tribune Business that it remained critical to address The Bahamas’ underlying faults that date from pre-COVID-19 while it continues to grapple with the pandemic’s fall-out. Describing the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent growth and fiscal forecast as “reasonable”, he added: “The reality is we need to correct some of these structural pieces that are in place to make it easier to invest further, and drive investment by locals and foreigners. “Are we doing what we need to do to get there? What is going to drive us out of this is fostering and shoring up private sector opportunities in industries and areas, and levels of taxation, that we may never have thought of before. “Let’s get out of the way of the private sector so that whatever system we have there not be these obstacles. Let’s apply concepts everyone seems to agree on, such as the ease of doing business, digitisation, procurement system monitoring and managing the government’s finances and how money is disbursed,” he continued. “These are going to be critical things to allow the private sector to develop out, whether it’s businesses we have or businesses to come. We have to have a much clearer road from

Activists ‘misled’ by minister on oil drill By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

$3.98

Small business survivors: 90% to keep doors open By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SOME 90 percent of small business survivors plan to “stay in business” fully after the recent COVID-19 easing sparked more optimism among entrepreneurs, a sector consultant revealed yesterday. Mark A Turnquest, pictured, president of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre that plans to formally launch in January, told Tribune Business the mood would have been much different if restrictions had persisted into December.

• Remaining firms ‘battle tested’ despite losses • Consultant says one-third of jobs slashed • COVID restrictions eased just in time Describing his clients and other micro, small and medium-sized (MSME) survivors as “battle hardened”, he said “everybody and their Ma” was seeking to access the $5,000 grant funding being made available through the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC). Revealing that he had completed 40 such applications on behalf of clients himself, Mr Turnquest said:

“All the restructuring has taken place. They’ve laid off who they were supposed to lay-off and kept on who they wanted to keep on. “They’ve moved full force. The majority of businesses kept on, on average, 65 percent of their staff. My small business clients are optimistic, surprisingly, and they are staying in business. At least 90 percent of them have indicated at this point in time they are willing to stay in business fully. “They have already felt

the pain, the losses, and have reduced their staff, streamlined their inventory, are looking at more value-added products for customers, and are developing good marketing machines. A lot of them have blended online and offline sales, and are taking money transfer payments, electronic wallet payments. They’re in a better position to face next year.” With the timing and roll-out of any COVID-19 vaccine in The Bahamas

“still a question in the air”, Mr Turnquest predicted that this nation would not start to feel the full benefits until the 2021 third quarter. “Hopefully everything is going to rev up, and then we will be in a good position,” he added. “I was very concerned about the gym owners. All of them took over a $100,00 hit in lost revenue, rent and transfer costs. “All of them are broke. If you don’t have sales for nine months..... All of them took a hit that was out of this world. If you don’t have sales for nine months, I don’t care who you are, you will be broke. And when I say

SEE PAGE 4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.