Giving Away Aragonite

The mineral aragonite is said to be in abundance in The Bahamas. The question is what is it worth and though it has been mined for years, since at least 1964 when an artificial cay was created called Ocean Cay to be the staging area for its mining and export, there has been a controversy over whether The Bahamas is getting what it should from it.  Those who mine it say yes and that people think that the resource is more valuable than it is.  The Bahamas Government under the PLP had a study done by the Commonwealth Secretariat before it lost office to determine what the answer to the many questions on aragonite are.  The Minister for the Environment Romauld “Romi” Ferreira who is superintendent of the licensing arrangements made a stir last when he appeared to say that the mineral was only worth 2.5 million dollars.  It appears that he misspoke and that should have been 2.5 million dollars per licence is what the Secretariat’s report said could be obtained. Even that caused an uproar.  The FNM cannot get a  good headline to save their lives.  Good for them.