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Woods urged to walk away from Albany 

April 4th, 2008

By ROGAN M. SMITH, Guardian Senior Reporter, rogan@nasguard.com

The ongoing battle to protect Adelaide’s beach from Albany developers has taken a new twist, with local environmentalist Sam Duncombe sending a letter to Tiger Woods, urging him to back out of the billion-dollar project, which threatens to erode the four mile-stretch of beach and ultimately split it in half.

Woods, a golf superstar, is one of three major financial backers for the Albany project.

Duncombe, who is also the director of reEarth, a local organization dedicated to protecting the country’s environment, said the Albany development is “ecologically, environmentally and socially irresponsible” and sent the letter outlining the environmental and social impact the project will have on The Bahamas.

She said the canal, marina and golf course should be eliminated in order to make Albany a sustainable, environmentally friendly project.

Albany executives maintain that they have taken extreme precautions to ensure that the damage to the coastline is mitigated.

“I ask you again to remove your support for this project, or better, let’s go back to the drawing board to create a development that you can be proud to be associated with, and your neighbors will be delighted to call you neighbor,” she said.

“I believe that your commitments via your charities speak of an honorable man that gives back to community, that cherishes community and future generations. I urge you to consider combining the golf courses with the existing South Ocean golf course, as well as combining the marinas on the most western point of the South Ocean property.”

The Albany project has gotten its fair share of criticism. For the past several months, environmental activists have called the billion-dollar development unsustainable.

Duncombe said if Adelaide’s beach is dredged for a canal, erosion on the four-mile long beach will accelerate, leaving Bahamians with a degraded shoreline.

Albany’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) outlines plans to renourish Adelaide’s beach for 30 years. Duncombe said this is a clear indication that beach erosion is anticipated.

“What happens after 30 years? Our natural environment and specifically our coastline is the only real wealth that less fortunate Bahamians have. Most don’t have boats to jump on to escape the stress of daily life, but the coast is just a drive away,” she said.

“For many Bahamians, this is their only source of recreation and relief from the problems of their everyday lives. Why should the property owners of Adelaide’s beach and the public in general lose their beach, while the Albany beaches will be continually nourished with the sand from this public beach?”

According to Duncombe, there are at least two public beaches, Delaporte and Jaws Beach, which are currently suffering from beach erosion due to the construction of canals.

She said the beaches are on their way to becoming “rocky moonscapes.”

“The dredging for the canal and marina will also cause a siltation, which will affect the spectacular coral reefs and magnificent diving in the area. The dive/snorkel industry on the southwest coast is responsible for tens of thousands of visitors to New Providence every year, not to mention millions of much needed tourist dollars.”

The Albany EIA states that the dredging, beach nourishment and jetty placement could each collectively result in substantial, sustained increases in turbidity, reducing the light available to the corals and impact the few sensitive coral communities in the vicinity.

“Beaches and corals protect the land from storm surges and large waves. With these beaches disappearing and the coral severely compromised by these kinds of development, more and more of New Providence is made vulnerable to storms and hurricanes, including the coastline residences of Adelaide village,” she said.

Duncombe said the project would also have a social impact on the country, because it would deny public access to the southwest coast for private use.

Albany’s proposed 150-foot canal will cut through Adelaide’s beach, slicing the beach in half.

Duncombe said the project will deny Bahamians the freedom to walk the southern coastline, something she said generations of Bahamians have enjoyed for years.

“You may not be aware that Adelaide’s beach is one of the few remaining public beaches where every summer, thousands of Bahamians traditionally gather for spiritual restoration, recreation and relaxation. No amount of mitigation can compensate for the denial of beach access to Bahamians and to the destruction of our beach,” she said.

The Albany development will also impact New Providence’s fresh water supply, according to Duncombe. She said Albany’s plan to place its golf course on top of the island’s largest water lens is “indefensible.”

“Lined or not, the golf course will impact the island’s largest remaining water resource area. Golf courses require fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides to keep them green and ‘healthy’. Despite the most stringent protocols, during heavy rains run off from the golf course will pollute the freshwater lens, and eventually the marine environment, destroying the very things that attract people to our island,” she said.

The Albany development’s EIA states that the total water use (potable and irrigation) during peak period for the development will exceed 1.2 million gallons of water per day - approximately 10 percent of the water usage for the whole island.

“New Providence is home to at least 215,000 people who use approximately 55-60 gals of water per day, compared to the 1,000 persons who will be living at Albany using close to 1,000 gallons per person per day,” she said.

“Coupled with the astronomical water demands that Albany will make on the system, clearly it is a disaster in the making. Bahamians will end up paying for this excessive demand by a degraded water supply, and high costs to produce water via reverse osmosis or another technology.”

Duncombe added that the proposed development, in its present form, does not adequately protect marine and shoreline natural resources.

She noted that 20 or 30 years ago, the Albany developers could have claimed ignorance to the various abuses of The Bahamas’ environmental and social fabric. However, she said today, that is no longer acceptable.

“Science and fact at every turn has indicated that economic gain does not outweigh the impacts of destruction to the environment. Transferring the natural wealth of our country, our beaches, our forests and our water table, from the public to a few private foreigners should be a thing of the past,” she said.