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Some residents complain about planned port move By JASMIN BONIMY ~ Guardian Staff Reporter ~ jasmin@nasguard.com: As the government's plan to relocate the downtown container port to Arawak Cay forges ahead, some residents of Vista Marina insist the multimillion-dollar plan would negatively impact their neighborhood, which borders Saunders Beach. Their concerns came only days after Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham assured that plans for the area will only enhance it. At a press conference yesterday morning, several residents voiced their concern over the planned relocation of the port as well as plans to build a road directly behind their homes. The new road is labeled corridor 18 under the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP). The roadway, once completed, will service large trucks traveling from Gladstone Road to the relocated container port, according to government officials. Attorney Michelle Campbell, who is building a home on property she has owned for nine years, said her everyday life has been impacted by dust and noise pollution. "I [believe] it's going to become a concrete jungle on this island," she said. "I understand that there is a road directly behind me and there are other roads being built. But this New Providence is only 21 by 7 [miles]. Where are these roads going? "The road behind me is coming onto West Bay Street, but West Bay Street is already crowded in the mornings and evenings, so why are they doing that? It doesn't really seem to make much sense. But I think the port is going to be a disaster and wreck the beauty of Saunders Beach. I think it's going to have an environmental impact on the beach and to people going there." However, an independent study has shown there will be little to no change to the shape or profile of Saunders Beach as a result of the construction of the port on nearby Arawak Cay. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed port relocation and the 1,000 foot extension of Arawak Cay shows that Saunders Beach will go unharmed during and after the construction. On Sunday, Prime Minister Ingraham said any suggestion that the work the government is engaging in will harm Saunders Beach is simply "nonsense". He also said detractors attempting to create hysteria and widespread public concern about the port's move to Arawak Cay have no basis for their claims. "We're only seeking to do what's good, but there are always some people who have other thoughts in mind," he said. Yesterday, Campbell said she would have liked more transparency in the port relocation plans. "I'm building a home in this area and I'm actually devastated at what has happened," she said. "I've been back and forth to the Ministry of Works and the information you can get is very little. It's not enough to connect the dots. I think that these things should be readily available so residents can look at them prior to these sorts of things starting." Telvern Dean, another Vista Marina resident, said she too has had difficulties obtaining information about work in the area. Dean said she is concerned about the environmental impact on their community. "What's going to happen now to control the noise pollution and other pollution associated with this project," asked Dean?. "Not to mention that when the [Nassau Harbour dredging] is finished, the traffic with the big trucks at 2 o'clock in the morning; when are we supposed to find time to sleep? "We are working people and when we come home, it's supposed to be a place of refuge, not a place where it's like a war zone. When you pass here in the evening, you get so depressed because you see [workers] going full speed ahead." Teresa Palmer, a Vista Marina resident of 10 years, said she and her daughter have been trying to sell their home in recent months. But she claimed the eyesore of ongoing work has hampered the sale. This is not the first time Vista Marina residents have spoken out. Dean and Campbell were just two of several people who raised concerns about the new roadway and port relocation plans back in March. Yesterday, those residents received the support of Progressive Liberal Party Senator Jerome Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald heads The Committee to Protect and Preserve The Bahamas for Future Generations, which has been relentless in its opposition to the port move. "We show our support for the Vista Marina residents," he said. "The Committee to Protect and Preserve The Bahamas for Future Generations has come out to lend [its] support to them and also to enforce the point to make it very clear today that it seems as if the government is not being full and frank and accountable to the Bahamian people and not acting in a manner which is deemed to be transparent and there are a lot of questions out there that need to be answered." But Fitzgerald's own motive behind his objection to the port relocation recently came into question. Documents released by the government on Wednesday show that Fitzgerald and businessman Mark Finlayson were the president and vice president respectively of a company that tried to build a water desalinization plant at that same location just a few years ago. Acknowledging that he did run a company that attempted to finance a water plant at Arawak Cay, Fitzgerald told The Nassau Guardian on Wednesday that the plans were scrapped sometime in 2006, and the government is only attempting to "muddy the waters" by releasing the information as public outcry about the planned port move grows. The prime minister has promised that the government will soon hold town meetings to hear residents' concerns and to provide more information on its plans. Friday, July 24, 2009