NASSAU, Bahamas (August 29, 2017) – In his first sit down interview since assuming office, Environment and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira as a guest on Ed Fields Live, Kiss FM 96.1 radio show on Monday evening, described his ministry as very large with a dynamic portfolio and discussed the myriad of challenges and outlined plans for going forward. Minister Ferreira called both environmental rights and affordable housing a subset of basic human rights. Touching on housing he said, “Affordable decent housing gives people a chance to live with a certain amount of dignity in their lives and it gives them a chance at the Bahamian dream which is home ownership.” The biggest challenge for home ownership he pointed to on the island of New Providence was the availability of land to meet the needs of the thousands of applications for homes. The other challenge he said was affordable housing whereby the average Bahamian could afford the home. He said the ministry was faced with the need to introduce new technologies to bring down the price of housing by delivering houses at effective price points while simultaneously adhering to building codes. Said Minister Ferreira, “There are literally thousands of people wanting a home so this desire to have a home is a deep and fundamental desire in the hearts of most Bahamians and my job, our job as a government, is to give effect to those desires and those hopes and dreams.” In addressing the environment, one of the many challenges Minister Ferreira explained was the current state of affairs whereby interlocking issues seemingly on name alone appeared to be under the Ministry of the Environment and Housing, when in fact antiquated regulations prevented directives from his ministry. Minister Ferreira used the real problem of oil seeping into the waters at Clifton Pier Power Station as an example. He explained: “The power station is operated by BPL. The oil comes there, it leaks into the ground. Once it hits the water table that water is actually owned by the Water & Sewage Corporation. It migrates through the rock, hits the ocean. The cleanup at the ocean level is actually the Ministry of Transport. If it hits the seabed then you’re dealing with submerged lands, that’s the Office of the Prime Minister. And if there were any kind of excavation involved to get it, you need an excavation permit, that’s the Ministry of Works, that’s Conservation and Protection of the Physical Landscapes of the Bahamas Act. And if you were to build something to help remediate it or recover it then that’s the Building Controls Officer.” Minister Ferreira emphasized that “nowhere in that scenario is a permit issued from the Ministry of the Environment.” He said, “And so we’re in a situation where we need to bring forth into the 21st century the regulations as it speaks to the day to day operating procedures to guide these things from the Ministry of Environment.” Speaking on the New Providence Landfill, Minister Ferreira said the ministry was in the process of issuing Requests for Proposals once again to bring remediation to the problem as only two groups responded to the initial requests made by the previous administration. He said one of the proposals was a waste energy proposal and the other presented a tipping fee scenario where fees would be charged for use of the landfill. He said the ministry will develop terms of reference for the new RFPs and give people sufficient time to understand the processes, to understand the dynamics of a RFP including a financial component and adequate time to submit a comprehensive proposal that would be similar and not incongruent as the two previously submitted. “And as we said before the residents around the landfill have endured a great deal so there’s some human rights issues there that you need to be sensitive to and on top of all of that the landfill is a national asset whether we accept it as such or not,” said Minister Ferreira. Added Minister Ferreira, “I feel very honoured and privileged to have this opportunity to serve as Minister of Environment and Housing. I am an ecologist and attorney. I have devoted my whole life to these issues.” ###

NASSAU, Bahamas (August 1, 2017) – After several meetings, Environment and Housing Minister, Romauld Ferreira, finalised on Monday a planning team with public and private partners to organise an island wide New Providence cleanup campaign. The Keeping OUR Bahamas Beautiful initiative will be launched on National Heroes Day, Monday, October 9 and will encompass a phased cleanup approach with the island being divided into five zones. The scope of the cleanup will involve removal of derelict vehicles, lot clearances, removal of white waste which are household appliances, and will also incorporate rodent control. “We are determined to educate our people, enforce our laws, and constantly monitor our communities to bring about sustained change in the way our surroundings are maintained,” said Minister Ferreira. The cleanup of New Providence will be supervised by Inspectorate and Solid Waste Management Staff of the Department of Environmental Health Services. “We understand that the aesthetics of litter free communities, clean green spaces and the like  will not occur overnight but we are unwavering in our efforts to make a forceful impact and invite all residents to partner with us in Keeping OUR Bahamas Beautiful” he said. The Ministry of the Environment and Housing in the coming weeks will announce the plans for the launch of the Keeping OUR Bahamas Beautiful campaign. ###

Harvesting forests in The Bahamas is feasible and an initiative that is getting the full attention of the Forestry Unit. Christopher Russell, director of the unit which falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of the Environment and Housing, said a sustained operation is key for harvesting from forests in the country. He said that during the 1950s the Owings Illinois of The Bahamas Ltd. was licensed to harvest pine trees located on the Pine Islands – New Providence, Abaco, Andros and Grand Bahama and that the harvested pine were used in the United States for the pulp and paper industry in Jacksonville, Florida. Russell said the present pine forest “is a forest that has come back from that activity.” “The idea was to harvest all the pine trees and leave five trees per acre to reseed the forest so all the pine forests you see today, they are not original forests they are like secondary forest and they’ve come back from their parents.” He said the process was not a sustained operation based on sustained yield which he said is the cornerstone for forest management. Sustained yield he explained ensures that the forest is not depleted as harvesting occurs but that regrowth is continuous. “In order for forests to be sustained indefinitely, whenever you’re harvesting you have to find out what is the annual increment and that increment will be removed from the forest and taken in terms of harvesting. So that didn’t happen in the case of Owings.” He said trees have a periodic annual increment whereby they begin as seedlings and grow rapidly, initially in height. “At some point they reach their maximum height growth and then they start putting on diameter,” he said, “So every year trees grow, put on diameter, that increase in diameter is called an increment.” He said, “So you have to find out what is your increment from trees on an annual basis and so that increment is what you would remove from the forest based on certain forest management prescriptions.” Russell said sustained yield begins with resource assessments. He said resource assessments entail staff of the Forestry Unit establishing permanent sample points in the forests by affixing witness posts to a number of trees and using GPS coordinates for locations when data collection is needed. “We would go to this area within a certain radius in the point center and we would flag, identify, measure everything – measure every single tree their height and everything else,” he said. “We would also get information on biodiversity from these areas and then we can therefore quantify what we call the growing stock meaning what is actually the standing volume of trees within the entire forest area using statistical sampling techniques.” Once this groundwork is done, Russell said the next step is to determine what trees should be removed. He said if parts of a forest have too many trees per acre standing then that forest would be classified as dense. If commercial timber production is recommended then “we have to prescribe a certain methodology or technique to coordinate this forest area and selectively take out x amount of trees.” “Let’s say this area has 500 trees per acre it’s too many trees and we want to bring it down to say 200 trees per acre the most, based on data collection, then we have to find the right methodology to take out those competing trees and then maintain the trees that we want to stay,” he said. “So once we have assessed the resource we know what we have standing, we know what is the annual increment from that forest. Therefore, we can decide what percentage of those trees we can take out in terms of volume,” said Russell. He said that one third of the standing volume is usually removed but again noted that the removal of trees has to be based on data collection from the resource assessment. At the end of the day, you take out that volume and then you wait a few more years and you see a difference in those trees,” said Russell, “At some point those old trees will be taken out again but you have to make sure the forest is regenerating again before you move the final crop.” Russell said that whenever any company submits a proposal to remove trees the company’s working plan is reviewed to see if it meets the requirements of the Forestry Unit which is legitimized by the Forestry Act 2010. “If it doesn’t meet our requirements then you are automatically rejected. Your business plan is tailor-made to what we feel is in the best interests of the forest resources and what the forest resources can maintain over a period of time.”

More than $1.3 million was spent by the former administration on the Clifton Remediation Project with nearly $1.7 million now needed to correct the problem(s) at the Pier. “Under the previous administration, and as of March 17, 2017, the government spent $1,302, 247.44 on the Clifton Remediation Project,” said Hon. Romauld Ferreira, Minister of the Environment and Housing. “The contracts with CH2M Hill will cost an additional $1,490,311.00 when completed and this does not include the additional $125,000 the company is asking for in its proposed management proposal and the $65,000 for its participation in constructing a wall.” Minister Ferreira was giving his contribution to the 2017/18 Budget Debate at the House of Assembly. He said that Bahamas Power and Light (formerly BEC) will be requested to share the cost of the remediation. Minister Ferreira said CH2M Hill was engaged in a contract with the previous administration and a preliminary report was issued in June 2016. “The report identified BEC as the only source for oil leaking into the marine environment,” he said. For several years citizens and visitors to the marine environment at Clifton Pier and the underwater sculpture gardens at Albany, lodged complaints to the government regarding the presence of oil in the immediate surroundings. Then near the end of 2013 there were accounts of large amounts of oil in the marine environment which led to the ministry engaging G&N to install containment booms along the cliffs at Clifton. The Environment Minister said correcting the problem by installation of the booms was only partially successful due to inclement weather and inexperience. He said discussions then ensued between the previous administration and Caribbean Systems International to stop the seepage of oil. CSI proposed excavating five feet below the water table to construct a wall to the surface of the land area. Minister Ferreira said the proposal was not accepted because the area has subterranean caves which would prevent the construction of the wall. As a result, he said stakeholders in the area including various oil company executives and BEC executives met to discuss short and long-term solutions. A short term measure was to purchase additional booms which were later installed by BEC personnel. He explained that Morgan Oil Marine, a company in Grand Bahama submitted a proposal to remove the oil from the subsurface and barge it. He said permission to relocate the barge was not granted due to age of barge and it having a single hull. As it stands, Minister Ferreira said CH2M Hill was re-engaged by the previous administration and submitted a management proposal for four contracts to conduct additional investigative work to the tune of an estimated $125,000. He said the bridge contracts were signed for the following: Marine Tier 1 Ecological evaluation assessment Off-site sampling and product finger printing assessment Remediation system design proposal Site characterisation proposal   Minister Ferreira said a preliminary report on the off-site sampling was received by the Ministry of the Environment and Housing on April 25. He also noted that a fourth proposal from CH2M Hill for the construction of a wall on the seaside cliff and a conceptual design for non-aqueous phase management behind the new pier structure was submitted. He said that both submissions were forwarded to the Ministry of Works and Urban Development as a new wall and pier will change the dynamics of the work. He added that once analytical work is finished the company will be able to determine the source(s) and “I shall give a report to the Bahamian people as soon as the report has been submitted to the government.”            

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                                  June 27, 2017   NASSAU, Bahamas (June 27, 2017) – Environment and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira recently visited the New Providence Landfill on Harold Road. Minister Ferreira noted that in assuming office he recognised that the landfill would be one of his most pressing matters to address. Minister Ferreira’s impromptu visit was to conduct a ground truthing exercise of the area. “I wanted to make a firsthand assessment of the state of the landfill after having read all of the technical reports and request for proposals (RFP’s) and to prioritize our short term and long-term measures,” said Minister Ferreira. The Environment and Housing Minister noted that the terms and names at the landfill and cells described in reports were not congruent with the same terms referred to by the Department of Environmental Health Services and “we want an element of consistency and adequate manpower and equipment moving forward.” Minister Ferreira also used the opportunity to personally thank DEHS personnel for their services and risking their lives to extinguish the extensive fire which started in March of this year at the site. ###

It’s often hard to start from scratch. Laying the foundation is sometimes wearisome and not without setbacks – but the benefits of doing it right the first time outweighs the hassle of unnecessary problems in the future. Just ask Christopher Russell, a 34 year veteran in forestry and current Forestry Unit Director.   He will tell you that he’s up to the challenge of establishing national forest estates in The Bahamas. With the latest forestry legislation, Russell and his team are meticulously going step-by- step through each procedural forest prescription, all determined to properly develop the forest resources in The Bahamas with sustained yield being the cornerstone upon which they manage. Russell said there are four steps – identification, declaration, presentation and having the lands vested. “What we have to do to achieve managing our forests based on sustained yield concepts, is to first identify appropriate areas in the country and declare them national forests,” he said. The identification process he said would involve ground proofing exercises to identify encroachments on forest areas to prevent land conflict issues from arising once national forest estates are established. “We are going about that process now of identifying areas of forests in the country initially on the Pine Islands [Abaco, Andros, Grand Bahama and New Providence] on crown land that meet certain criteria in terms of them being best suited for forestry development, including commercial and recreational activities and for conservation purposes.” Once the areas of forests are identified they next have to be declared and presented by law as national forests. According to Russell the Forestry Unit has produced the maps to show where the proposed boundaries should be for the national forests. He compared the legal process of getting the areas legally defined to that of land purchases. “When you’re purchasing a piece of land and you have to have a conveyance document showing the descriptions of boundaries, the same must apply here and has to be verified by the Lands and Surveys Department, as they’re the ones who are supposed to be describing these boundaries on our behalf” he said. Following these steps Mr. Russell said the Minister responsible for crown lands will in turn have the lands vested through a resolution of Parliament, after which “we have control to go ahead and carry out our various activities on these lands”. “So there’s a process to get us to the point where we have these national forests declared and then they will be gazetted and everybody will know where these areas are,” he said. Russell said a public awareness campaign will occur next as the campaign will be instrumental in providing residents and members of the public with vital information on lands that are identified as National Forest Estates and the laws that pertain to such areas. The director said once the areas are identified, declared and presented by law as national forests and public awareness of these areas have taken place, then management plans for the areas will be developed. He said the foundation for Management Plans was laid in 1986 during an initial attempt to declare national forest estates and get the Forestry Act enacted. “It didn’t happen then but we did a management plan so that’s our foundation document because it does describe how to manage our forests,” said Russell. He said each area has unique attributes and the management plan will provide directives on how to best manage the areas. “In terms of areas that have certain commercial production forestry, certain areas that we ought to conserve for preservation, wetland areas that have to be protected as well, the mangrove systems we identify, certain areas of mangrove systems such as broadleaf forests we all have to look at. “Once we know what we have on the ground we can prepare appropriate plans and strategies to manage these forests areas, build capacity within the country and be a model for the rest of the Caribbean,” said Russell. He said there has to be a buy-in of all the relevant stakeholders acknowledging that he and his team have already met with these stakeholders. Russell said the government is committed to establishing national forest estates and completing this exercise, which was already presented to the United Nations. “We are mandated by law to do it and we have obligations and conventions to do this and also with the Paris Agreement which we recently signed with respect to climate change, forestry is one of our major mitigation efforts.”        

The Environment and Housing Minister presented short, medium and long-term measures to address the problems at the New Providence Landfill during his contribution to the 2017/18 Budget Debate at the House of Assembly on Thursday. Minister Romauld Ferreira noted that in assuming office he recognised that the landfill would be one of his most pressing matters to address. For years successive governments have failed to properly manage and create an effective fully engineered landfill. On March 5, a massive bush fire that began behind a local business spreading to the periphery of the landfill and quickly advancing to neighboring communities resulted in the evacuations of nearby residents. The fire burned for nearly month. A subsequent preliminary report from the Pan American Health Organization indicated serious health impacts on residents in the area. In the interim, Minister Ferreira said a communication programme focusing on health implications from the fires at the landfill would commence. He said refresher training courses in the handling of hazardous waste and use of personal protective equipment would be offered for workers from the Department of Environmental Health Services attached to the landfill who were all previously trained under the Solid Waste Management Project. The Environment and Housing Minister revealed that enhanced and constant monitoring would take place along with the provision for pay loaders and protective equipment for first responders to prevent fires and fight any ensuing fires. Further, Minister Ferreira said the landfill in Grand Bahama and other landfills will be studied to create a feasible plan for the New Providence Landfill. “Once this plan has been agreed, a new request for proposal (RFP) for the management of the landfill will be issued,” he said. Minister Ferreira said the RFP will take into account policies and regulations for non-recyclable, non-decomposable and hazardous waste all focused on proper engineering of the New Providence Landfill. He said medium term goals entail emergency plans being formulated in consultation with the wider community and a national public awareness campaign in conjunction with the Water and Sewerage Corporation to discourage the use of private wells. Regarding long-term goals, Minister Ferreira announced that the government of The Bahamas would correct the septage and sludge handling facility located next to the landfill and install ambient air monitoring to better assess the impact of the environment and human health. Minister Ferreira pledged that once the RFP process is completed he would inform Bahamian citizens of the results.      

In his contribution to the 2017/2018 Budget Debate, the Hon. Romauld Ferreira, Minister of the Environment and Housing revealed new plans for home constructions including information on the government’s proposed rent-to-own programme. Minister Ferreira also announced that over $300,000 were earmarked for repairs of government rental units. “During this budget cycle the Department of Housing will complete 300 homes in the Carmichael Village Sub-division,” said Minister Ferreira, “Two million dollars will be expended to cover the costs of the same development.” He said the housing project will be completed under the government’s private venture with 72 homes being completed in the new Carmichael West Sub-division. He announced the Department’s scheme to build 10 low to mid income family residential homes in the Fox Hill area and that plans were underway to develop nearly six acres of land off Faith Avenue also into low and middle income residential subdivisions including two additional blocks of government rental units. “Presently, there is $345,391.79 of committed funds for the repair of rental units,” revealed Minister Ferreira. With regard to the rent-to-own programme, Minister Ferreira described the programme as meaningful, allowing occupants to simultaneously rent the home with rent payments being applied to the purchase price of the home. The rent-to-own homes will be constructed on land opposite the Coca Cola Plant off Sir Milo Butler Highway. “It is our view at the Ministry of the Environment and Housing that such a programme will go a long way to broaden the base of those in poverty,” added Minister Ferreira.

The Permanent Secretary (Acting), Department Heads and all staff at the Ministry of the Environment and Housing extend a warm welcome to our new Minister, Romauld Ferreira. Minister Ferreira, an attorney by profession who specialises in Environmental Law, arrived shortly after eight o’clock today for his first day on the job. He was greeted by Mr. David Cates, Permanent Secretary (Acting) and staff before heading to Cabinet to start his first full day in office. Welcome Minister Ferreira!