Thursday, December 24, 2009

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Real row over bill By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ inderia@nasguard.com: The Bahamas Real Estate Agency (BREA) head is claiming government has decided to take few of the association's recommendations for the Planning and Subdivisions Bill into consideration, arguing land prices will escalate by 10 percent as a result. It's a statement that has sparked Minister for the Environment Earl Deveaux to respond, saying the government has taken into account not only the suggestions of BREA, but that of other organizations as well. They are changes that will be read in the House of Assembly on Thursday. "It appears that the government has made some changes to the bill," BREA President William Wong told Guardian Business Tuesday, referring to the bill. "The 20 odd recommendations by BREA have been mostly ignored [and] we're disappointed and concerned. "This will make developers take a second look before they do any subdivisions [as well as] it means the price of land in The Bahamas will go up on average of 10 percent." Wong's comments were in response to his early review of the draft presented for the Bill's third reading as it will be presented in Parliament. Deveaux, however, was quick to counter Wong's suggestion that none of BREA's suggestion were included and urged BREA members to wait for its presentation tomorrow. "We're in the third stages and that's when we make recommendations, Wong wouldn't see them prior to the third stage," he explained. "A great number of suggestions have been taken into consideration." The act seeks to improve the structure and administration of the Town Planning Committee and the Department of Physical Planning. Among other things, it would create more stringent guidelines for road creation and town planning and would require developers to have an environmental impact assessment (EIA) done before a development is brought before a special committee for approval. According to Deveaux, "the bill accommodates legitimate concerns of legitimate developers and responds to any number of environmental policy and development issues as a result of the comments we've received." However, BREA has recommended that an EIA only apply in certain cases where developers are looking at a larger scale scope of works. It's quite unnecessary, said Wong, for projects where there will only be around 10 lots. "The bureaucracy is enough now," he said. "Can you imagine all bureaucracy that will come from this." Among the recommendations submitted, BREA is suggesting a phased approach to the Bill, given the Bill at present only requires 20 percent of road construction to be completed two years after an approval for a subdivision is granted before such approval is revoked. The association also urges that terms in the bill be more clearly defined, penalties be included for development without approval and a major public information campaign be undertaken to advise the public of all the policies and changes set forth in this bill. Wednesday December 09, 2009