Danielle Gibson On The Lighthouse Beach Proposed Development

There is a raging war in South Eleuthera of jobs versus the environment. Disney wants to buy from the Cape Eleuthera owners 700 acres of pristine breach to make it cruise port. Some residents want it because they say there is no work. The One Eleuthera Foundation, a non-governmental body that works for the protection of the environment in Eleuthera opposes it.  Vice Chair of the PLP Danielle Gibson who hails from Eleuthera weighs in on the issue from her Face Book page 11 August

The Lighthouse:

The issue is simple. There is a group that is creating havoc at One Eleuthera information meetings because they want to convince the masses that another cruise port is the saviour for our economic situation.  Their aim seems to be to be disruptive and to make people fear One Eleuthera as though they’re some secret organization with ill intentions.  That said One Eleuthera is a Non-Profit Organization.  A board is established to ensure that the people who work in administration used the money for whatever purpose it was intended.  One Eleuthera gets its money from Donations from people all around the world who give to charitable causes. One Eleuthera is offering ordinary Bahamian citizens the opportunity to own this 700+ acres of land and the opportunity to decide how the land is used to create economies that will sustain Eleutherans beyond the season of a cruise ship.  The other group wants another cruise port.  We need jobs yes. But why sacrifice the best of what nature has to offer us when there is another option? Why encourage the type of development that can change our ecosystem? Why settle for minimum wage jobs when we can access money and own businesses? Other cruise ports right in our back yard has given us a blueprint for how cruise ports operate.  They have all sold us dreams of a grand future and economic development.  For as long as they have been operational how they have positively impacted the closest settlements to their front door? How many people have they trained for executive positions? How many scholarships have they given to employees or their children? How have they contributed to improving the infrastructure? Everywhere around the world big companies understand that they have a corporate social responsibility to positively impact their surroundings it makes good business sense.  These types of businesses have proven to us that they are only concerned about the bottom line. What they can get. So they exploit the workers paying them minimum wage expose them to arduous hours and working conditions just for that minimum wage.  After all these years they haven’t even implemented a decent bussing system to get their employees to work.  They are herded on the back of an open truck with no safety equipment. The examples of what we get from cruise ports are right in front of our faces. We can say no and go with another option that preserves our environment celebrate our heritage and provides us with a sustainable economic future.  Why can’t we change the employment landscape and prove to ourselves and each other that we can come together and build businesses together.  The Chinese, Jews, Haitians and white people do it every day.   This can be our day.

Let’s Discuss This….