up routine of Chinese commands over
loudspeakers. Reportedly at last count over
3000 Chinese were on site - being paid, fed
and housed within the confines, ensuring
no money leaks out into the local economy.
The Bahamians there are furious, they were
promised economic windfalls, booked out
rental accommodation for workers and great
prosperity, but just a small portion of those
promises have eventuated. Yes you read it
right, there were very few jobs and hardly any
local contractors were used. Most materials
and equipment arrived from China just prior
to commencement.
If the state government ‘calls in’ the
broadwater proposal, then regular local
procurement policies, consortium promises
and union influence will not apply, leaving an
open slate for the developers to make sure
this is a foreign work site if they so choose.
If you ever want a job around this proposal,
we recommend you head straight to the local
TAFE and take classes in Mandarin.
ENVIRONMENT
The consortium has made some logic-defying
claims in this department, but before we
address them we must note that to date they
have refused to release any environmental
studies or reports, and in fact have refused to
answer hundreds of concerns and questions
relating to the critical aspects of the
environment in the area. According to local
experts, the seaway and Wavebreak support
over 450 species of marine life including
multiple threatened and endangered species,
a critical population of migratory birds, and
is a now well established humpback whale
resting spot for mothers and calves returning
to Antarctica.
ASF is telling the government it is creating
some kind of ‘environmental eco park’ and
that its development will actually ‘enhance’
the ecology and create ‘new dive sites’ - that
nature will ‘thrive’. Seriously though, there is
a reason the Deputy Premier noted earlier
this year that he had some grave concerns
about the consortium’s proposal in terms of
the environment - it is simply because when
you turn a pristine marine habitat into a
major shipping port and high density city, the
environment is devastated every single time.
Nowhere in the history of mankind has a major
estuarine shipping port that is continuously
dredged, attached to superyacht marinas
and a skyscraper city, EVER maintained a
vibrant and expansive marine ecology and
environment. Churning 28,000 horsepower
bow thrusters, 15 years of major construction
along with a gargantuan dredging program
will inevitably see the area destroyed
permanently. In the
partial report made
public by ASF regarding
the very limited ship
simulations that they
commissioned AECOM
to do, they refer to Fort
Lau derdale in Florida
as the best example
of a geographically
similar location. If they
are willing to agree
that the FL terminal is
geographically similar
(with the exception
that Fort Lauderdale
has just a fraction of
the swell, tides, winds
and seas that we
experience here), then
they must also concede
that Fort Lauderdale
has been turned into
an
environmental
wasteland
compared
with our seaway.
The actual terminal is
set to be built on top
of the critical seagrass