The government has been advised by the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) that it should develop a set policy on the development of over-water bungalows in The Bahamas, days after the government approved the Leaf Cay resort, the first such project of its kind in The Bahamas.
Leaf Cay's principal, Peter Vazquez, has suggested that by bringing the over-water bungalow concept - previously seen primarily in the Pacific, a significantly farther flight for U.S. tourists - to The Bahamas, this country will benefit from a surge in tourism of a kind it has never seen before.
Eric Carey, executive director of the BNT, told Guardian Business in an interview that he does not see the over-water bungalows which are planned for the $50 million Leaf Cay resort in the Exuma islands having a particularly detrimental environmental impact. However, Carey has urged the government to exercise caution in how quickly and on what conditions the over-water bungalow concept is extended throughout The Bahamas.
"I think it's something we should explore - approve one or two and see how it works, see how we can monitor and manage that, and make sure its something we want nationally before we go ahead and approve that.
"There are these places in the Pacific where they are more well known, and they are pretty successful low impact resorts. High-end in a lot of cases. The issue becomes one of quality control for me, rather than an environmental issue. We certainly don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry who want to put up a water bungalow to do so, and so what I advised the minister is that we should develop guidelines for these."
Last week, Guardian Business revealed exclusively the government's decision to provide approval in principle to yacht charter company owner Vazquez and his wife Kim, along with their business partner Roger Cardinale, to build the Leaf Cay resort.
The resort, a private 13.1-acre island, will be turned into a commercial resort where 16 over-water bungalows, seven private villas, eight two-unit townhome villas and five "tree top bungalows" will be available to guests, along with a 30-slip marina and fuel dock, a restaurant and bar, an infinity pool, tennis courts and an over-water spa.
The plan is to sell the villas but enter them back into a rental pool.
Cardinale is the president of the international division of CEC Entertainment, which develops, operates and franchises the Chuck E. Cheese's family entertainment center brand.
Carey said that the BNT was not formally consulted by the government, but BNT officials were asked by key members of the government for their opinion on the project.
"Our feeling about it from an environmental perspective was that the bungalows are no more of an impact than a marina, less in a lot of respects, as with a marina often there's dredging involved. With over-water bungalows you drive pilings, there are the same or less sewage issues, they do not have a fuel component, etc.
"We would want to make sure that there is proper collection and retrieval of sewage from the lines, that it goes into a closed system and gets treated on the land, and you can do that in the same way you would do a pump out for boats, so in my opinion I don't think the impact is any more significant than for a marina."
Welcome addition
Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, told Guardian Business the government saw the Leaf Cay resort project as a "welcome addition to our tourism product".
"The Bahamas has been a globally competitive tourism business and we want to look at things that would distinguish The Bahamas differently than some of our regional competitors."
However, George Smith, former MP for Exuma, said he is not impressed with the government's decision to approve the over-water bungalows for Leaf Cay, adding that he was concerned about how the bungalows would fare during a hurricane.
"We are now doing something that seems to be popular somewhere in the Indian Ocean but there's very little land in that part of the world, we don't have any shortage of cays in which you can do these things. Just because it works in Bora Bora, or because something may work in New York, it may be terribly out of place in The Bahamas."
He added that as far as he is aware the Leaf Cay proposal is "not popular" among those who frequent nearby Staniel Cay, although he did not elaborate on this.
Meanwhile, Smith expressed concern that Vazquez is being given an opportunity that would not have been afforded to a Bahamian.
Vazquez told Guardian Business that while The Bahamas is hurricane prone, the over-water bungalows will be designed and built in a way which takes this into account, using concrete rather than wooden pilings, and concrete roof trusses.
"These are rated up to a category three type of hurricane protection, they are not common run-of-the-mill over-water bungalows. Plus, the bungalows are contained on the north side of Leaf Cay, which has 360-degree protection by Harvey Cay, Staniel Cay, Big Majors and Sampson Cay to the east. It also has extremely shallow water, so there will be no build up of any waves."

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