[Coral-List] Imminent threat to Guana Cay reefs
Thomas Goreau
goreau at bestweb.net
Thu Apr 26 17:50:20 EDT 2007
Dear friends of coral reefs,
A few days ago I posted a link on the list server to photos of the
destruction of Great Guana Cay, Bahamas. The residents have filed an
appeal for an injunction against this development, which would place
golf courses, marinas, hotels, and sewage generating homes right next
to some of the best surviving reef in the the Bahamas.
Yesterday a Nassau court said they would refuse to issue an
injunction unless the local residents came up with $100,000 by May 10th.
Below is the link to the article in today's Nassau Guardian
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national_local/298235231094548.php
The reason this is so urgent is that the local residents have been
turned down by local courts every single time they have gone to them,
but they have won every single appeal they have made to independent
judges at the Privy Council in London, the last court of appeal.
These injunctions have always been overturned afterwards on flimsy
and dubious grounds by local judges. If SGCR can raise the funds for
a new injunction, they will get one last chance to go back to the
Privy Council. They are convinced that they will win their case if
they can get to present it to impartial judges. The lawyer for SGCR
is working for free, the enormous sums the Bahamian court is
demanding is to pay the developers lawyers! This seems like a
travesty of justice.
We would like to ask all concerned readers of the list server who
wish to assist SGCR in this urgent last minute effort to go to the
Save Guana Cay Reef web site,
http://www.saveguanacayreef.com/
Best wishes,
Tom
Thomas J. Goreau, PhD
President
Global Coral Reef Alliance
37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge MA 02139
617-864-4226
goreau at bestweb.net
http://www.globalcoral.org
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