Bahama Pundit

Former Environment Minister Discusses Oil Prospects

by Larry Smith

Following a series of public presentations by the Bahamas Petroleum Company and the government's relative silence on the matter since the election, former environment minister Earl Deveaux has released an essay he hopes will "explain the complex nature of the subject and inform public discussion about the choices and decisions that must be made."

BPC's interim report for June 2012 expressed "frustration at the lack of clarity coming from the new administration in The Bahamas", while noting that neither of the two main political parties had made any reference to oil exploration or regulation in their election manifestos. Prime Minister Perry Christie has said that regulations must be updated and a national referendum held before oil drilling can proceed.

According to BPC's interim report, "We intend to be aligned to the ‘best practices’ currently employed by Norway, the UK and the US representing internationally recognised standards. BPC will strive to fulfil its role in the transformation of the (Bahamian) economy in the most environmentally safe way possible."

To understand where we are today with oil exploration we need to go back to 1945, when the British enacted our original petroleum law to facilitate exploration by Gulf Oil, Standard Oil, Superior Oil and Shell. This legislation was replaced by the Pindling government in 1971. The new act came into effect seven years later, when the regulations were published, and remains in force today. 

40th Anniversary Celebrations off to Poor Start

by Simon

The kick-off event of the 40th independence anniversary was announced recently at the Cabinet Office.  It was a bumbling and incoherent affair provoking many questions while providing few considered answers. 

Two days later, Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans for the centenary commemoration of World War I by the United Kingdom.  What a study in contrast between the envisioning and planning of the two commemorations by the respective heads of government and policymakers. 
  
In a carefully-crafted address at the Imperial War Museum, the transcript of which is available at 10 Downing Street’s website, Cameron articulated the vision and values intended to guide the commemoration.

Characteristically, Prime Minister Christie has failed to do likewise on at least two occasions.  He failed to do so at the announcement of the committee spearheading our 40th.  He failed again at last week’s announcement of the renaming of the newer Paradise Island Bridge in honour of Sir Sidney Poitier, and related activities.    

The Bahamas Petroleum Company's Travelling Road Show

 by Larry Smith

Last week I attended the Bahamas Petroleum Company's travelling road show at Bradley Ferguson's Crab House and Seafood Emporium on Collins Avenue - and, in the interest of full disclosure, enjoyed some marvellous free crab cakes after the show.

Before the crab cakes arrived, BPC chief Simon Potter and others spoke about the British company's plans to drill for oil about 200 miles southwest of Nassau, on our maritime border with Cuba. A day later, they made the same presentation to the Caribbean Contractors Association.

Potter is a former British Petroleum geologist from Wallingford, England who joined BPC last year. He has worked on oil operations in the North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, Australasia and Russia, and was backed up by Roberta Quant, BPC's environmental officer (who previously worked for the BEST Commission) and Jobeth Coleby, a lawyer who is responsible for compliance and risk management.

Their presentation coincided with publication of the company's environmental impact assessment, which was produced by Acorn International and is now available on the BEST Commission website. One of the key takeaways from the presentation was that although the Bahamas already faces significant environmental risks from oil production, it does not enjoy any of the benefits.

The Christie News Network

by Simon

Not to be outdone by Oprah Winfrey’s launch of her eponymous network, OWN, Prime Minister Christie has so captivated the ZNS Evening News that it might be rebranded, the Christie News Network or CNN.

Ad nauseum, week after week, Christie is featured, story after story.  Some have taken to betting on the number of reports that will showcase the Prime Minister: two, three, four?  

To boost ratings, Oprah is prominently featured on OWN.  Perhaps Christie’s mandarins decided to further capitalize on his razzle-dazzle celebrity; in this instance, to jazz-up the evening news.  As Bahamians are mesmerized by his every utterance, ZNS may consider a nightly commentary by him on the weather. 

After Basil Dean’s forecast, Christie might comment on whether we may expect: fair to mild, partly cloudy or thunderstorms.  Given Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the country’s long-term outlook from stable to negative, the Finance Minister’s thoughts would be welcome on the inclement weather relative of public finances.

The strategy at the Christie News Network is, “Show Me Your Motion”, recording Christie in constant motion, in contrast to his previous term.  At play is the illusion that public relations equals substance.  

The End of the Ingraham Factor—the Start of a New Politics?

by Larry Smith

North Abaco voters were unable to resist the blandishments of the new PLP government on Monday. The by-election was a replay of what happened when former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling resigned in 1997. Voters in a small out island constituency elected a little-known freshman from the other side to replace one of the all-time heavyweights of Bahamian politics.

Just as South Andros voters repudiated Pindling, Abaconians disowned Hubert Ingraham - who had represented them for 35 years before stepping down in August - by rejecting his hand-picked successor two to one. This only goes to show that once considered out of power for good a politician becomes as irrelevant as yesterday's wet newspaper.

In time Ingraham may metamorphose into an elder statesman - whose experienced advice is sought after. But for now he is on the wrong side of history, and his North Abaco swan song will be recorded as one of a number of key by-elections that helped shape the political development of the modern Bahamas.

The Wilson City Power Plant—Dawn of a New Day?

by Larry Smith

In the summer of 2009 I went to Abaco to seek out a top-secret government construction site deep in the pine forest.

No - it wasn't the Bahamian equivalent of Area 51. It was a BEC power plant. I use the word "secret" because there was no real public communication of what was planned at the site, although the government had decided on its course of action four years earlier - in 2005. 

Following my visit, I reviewed the environmental impact assessment for the project at the BEST Commission office on West Bay Street, and then wrote an article entitled The Great Wilson City Power Plant Mystery. That article laid out most of the available facts surrounding this $105 million public sector project for the first time.

My 2009 article underscored the main issue which the Court of Appeal recently ruled on - transparency in government, or rather the lack of it. In short, how can a state agency spend tens of millions of public funds without any accountability whatsoever? In fact, BEC wouldn't even answer even the most basic questions until it was forced to.

That lack of transparency carries over to the current operation of the plant, pollution of the environment, waste of financial resources, inappropriate planning, and other public interest issues. And based on BECs track record, as outlined in the 2009 article, we know what lack of transparency means. According to the record, the corporation is the nation's worst polluter.

The Student Experience in Education

by Simon

Former Tourism Minister Vincent Vanderpool Wallace doggedly drove a core message on achieving success in tourism:  Relentless focus on the visitor experience!  Similarly, might we achieve greater success in education by relentlessly focusing on the learning experience of students in public schools?

Scholar of mythology, the late Joseph Campbell, might have agreed with Vanderpool Wallace:  “I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” 

Some may argue with the beginning of his proposition.  Yet, from a hermit in his cell praying, “Nearer, My God to Thee” to the thrill seekers atop a rollercoaster ride, hands outstretched to touch the sky, we are endlessly seeking experiences of being alive.  The hermit and the rider both hunger for experiences that may captivate the whole person: mind, body and soul.