An interest group has been formed to seek answers and potentially use legal action to stop Treasure Sands Club from dredging what is being termed an environmentally sensitive and historically important part of Abaco.
The "Abaco Defenders" yesterday announced they had come together following a town meeting held last Friday with the "mission" of obtaining a court injunction to stop dredging and earth moving being carried out by the Treasure Sands Club.
Fiona Bootle, a key member of the group, said that Callenders and Co. attorney and Q.C., Fred Smith has been instructed to move ahead with legal action.
The group claims this stoppage is necessary until the Abaco developer provides "comprehensive studies revealing the scope and impact of the project on environmental, economic, historical and safety issues surrounding the project".
Tim Blakely, vice president of the Treasure Sands Club, which presently operates a high-end restaurant near Treasure Cay, Abaco, is hoping to build a 12-room hotel along with a host of other amenities in the area, which he has previously described as "desperate for development".
As part of this project, his company initiated the dredging of a nearby mangrove creek in October which would allow for access of boats to inland docking facilities adjacent to the oncoming amenities.
In an interview with Guardian Business yesterday, Blakely said his company was facing significant additional costs after being issued with a "cease and desist" order in relation to the dredging activity until the central government can "sort some things out".
He said the company had obtained all approvals necessary from the central government and again accused those who oppose the development as being in "the minority" and driven by "politics".
"We've got a barge and machinery sat there doing nothing."
Blakely also suggested that opinion appears to be "completely split" in the community.
"I am getting overwhelming support for what we are doing now that people can see the beautification going on over there; it is changing a lot of people's opinions. We are very positive, and we are getting a lot of local support, and we are just waiting for everything to be resolved."
Bootle, a local resident and an organizer of Friday's meeting, which is said to have drawn between 30 to 50 people, suggested that dredging work at the site is ongoing, notwithstanding claims to the contrary.
Bootle said she was initially concerned about the environmental damage that the dredging could do to the area, but has more recently been "sickened to [her] stomach" by the understanding - which she claimed was revealed at Friday's town meeting by archaeologist, Bob Carr - that the area was the site of the original Loyalist landing in Abaco.
"We are just upset that no one seems to be taking this seriously; this is our home and history and everything is being destroyed in front of our eyes.
"Really and truly, the reason why we got together and called the meeting is because we seemed like we weren't getting anywhere with government and our local government council can't get anywhere."
In a release issued yesterday, the Abaco Defenders were supported by Stephen Kappeler, general manager of Treasure Cay Resort.
Speaking for Robert Meister, owner of Treasure Cay Resort, Kappeler noted that they are certainly not against the idea of new development.
Instead, he suggested they are worried about how the work is being conducted by the Treasure Sands Club.
In an interview with Guardian Business yesterday, another local resident who declined to be named, said he believes an injunction application could be avoided if the government was to step in and "take some responsible, proactive recourse to what has already been done".
"We can't stress enough that we are all for development, but just feel we need to have some control and say over what happens; it's like the [Resorts World Bimini project], do you want the money today, or the disaster tomorrow? If we could halt the work, let the people have a say in where this is going, I think people would be okay with it."
He expressed particular fears with respect to the impact of the dredging on a nearby major road.
"The fact is this is one road in and out of Treasure Cay. During a hurricane that road is our only access in and out of there. The engineers are saying now they've dredged the water to eight or nine feet deep within 100 feet of the road. When a hurricane comes now, that will undermine that road and that is our only access of the island. There are so many why are they doing this questions, and we feel like someone is overlooking something."
Gary Smith, chief councilor of local government in North Abaco, said at the Friday evening town hall meeting that his requests for information on the development have been "ignored by the developer and by Renardo Curry, the North Abaco member of Parliament."
Blakely said that the group is only doing what approvals given by the central government permit them to.
"We're doing it in a responsible way, and as soon as the central government has worked out things then we'll continue to do what we were doing," he said.
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