Dear editor,
Thank you for the opportunity to send this open letter to lay out some simple questions. These are not just for our government, but for the community members trying to resolve the issues and conflicts between development pressure, public interest and government processes.
A line must be drawn. The first question is "who draws the line?" When a development lays claim to a Bahamian beach (for example), who draws the line where that claim can be made? Is the line the property boundaries held by the Department of Lands and Surveys, the developer’s estimation of their desired footprint or is it drawn by the gentlemen that have to plant fence posts in shifting sands on a high energy beach? Public discourse already shows that the vendors who have used the beach for decades do not have a say. So, who does?

The next question is "where should that line be drawn?" Does the line follow the boundaries of customary use and the pathways our forebears have walked to ensure continuity of culture and generational wealth? Is the line drawn along the outside of the developers desire, leaving Bahamians access to the remainder? Are the lines determined by who can erect a fence or gate and who holds the keys? The "gatekeepers to Paradise", if I may. Do the lines follow the natural boundaries that God, nature and common sense have identified where our human activities make sense on one side or the other and a metal chain link fence in saltwater would be inherently stupid? Do our lines delimit the edge of kindness where people in power determine who can earn a living or a livelihood and who is trapped beyond the fence to drown in a rising ocean?

The final question is "who holds the line?" Who stands by the decision in the next election? Who enforces it now and in the future? Who leans and pushes against it from either side? When the fence is washed into the sea, whose reputation and purse strings are tangled in the remains? Who will stand by their decisions and the permits they applied for, the Environmental Documents they published and signed off on? Will they hold the line in court? Who will pull the fence out of the ocean? Who will pick the dead animals out of the fence?

People are animals as well. Death is a line that can be drawn in legislation and policy. The fences are both real and imagined. The time and tide will wash away the line in the sand, but Bahamians will remember. We are asking and answering these questions.

Ancilleno Davis, PhD
Principal/ CEO
@SciPerspective