May 10, 2021

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opponents of Disney’s Lighthouse Point development maintain that the company’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) has “major deficiencies”, stating that this nation deserves a full assessment of whether or not the project is a good deal for the Bahamian people.

The Stop Disney – Last Chance for Lighthouse Point Campaign — which consists of reEarth, the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation (BREEF), Save the Bays, Waterkeeper Bahamas, Waterkeeper Alliance and Friends of the Earth US — has submitted is own review of Disney’s 551-page EIA for its proposed cruise ship port at Lighthouse Point on Eleuthera in The Bahamas.

May 10, 2021

The Stop Disney – Last Chance for Lighthouse Point Campaign publicly released its review of Disney Cruise Line’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its proposed cruise ship port at Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, which states that Disney neglected to include several key components regarding the economic impact of its project, climate change risks, and risk mitigation for COVID-19 and future pandemics.

The Stop Disney campaign, which comprises reEarth, BREEF, Save the Bays, Waterkeepers Bahamas, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Friends of the Earth US, has led the charge in attempting to get Disney to reconsider the size of its project or possibly scrap the project altogether.

May 10, 2021

CAT ISLAND, BAHAMAS — The Cat Island Conservation Institute (CICI) is urging the government to hold off on approving Disney’s Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, project for one year until the company completes a community environmental impact assessment (CEIA).

A letter from CICI member Nikita Shiel-Rolle, otherwise known as Eagleray Empress, was submitted to the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection on Friday, May 7 — the same day public feedback for Disney’s 500-page environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the proposed project closed.

May 7, 2021

I would like to address several matters, as the deadline nears for public comments on the Disney Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for their proposed cruise port at Lighthouse Point in Eleuthera.

Lighthouse Point is one of the most beautiful and pristine areas in the world. It is recognized by Bahamians, non-Bahamians, environmentalists and travel organizations worldwide as a place to visit and admire. The proposed Disney development will not result in environmental or economic stability for Eleuthera or The Bahamas.

May 4, 2021

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — With the deadline approaching for feedback on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of Disney’s controversial Lighthouse Point project, environmentalists are urging the public at large to voice their comments before time runs out.

The long-awaited EIA was released in March.

April 26, 2021

These activists are speaking out against Disney’s plans to build a cruise ship port in the middle of a proposed marine protected area in the Bahamas.

April 21, 2021

A well-known Eleuthera school’s founder is urging Disney to help The Bahamas escape “neocolonial tourism” by converting its Lighthouse Point cruise destination into a sustainable “land and sea park”.

#Christopher Maxey, the Cape Eleuthera-based Island School’s founder, acknowledged in an April 6, 2021, letter to Walt Disney Company’s new chairman, Robert Chapek, that he was making “a bold and presumptuous request”.

April 19, 2021

Experts employed by the environmental groups that want Disney Cruise Line (DCL) to revamp its Lighthouse Point project on Eleuthera claimed on Thursday that Disney’s more than 500-page environmental impact assessment (EIA) does not meet US and international standards as a comprehensive document, further claiming that the document goes against Disney’s own corporate sustainability goals.

April 14, 2021

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local environmental groups have organized their own extended public consultation on Disney’s Lighthouse Point environmental impact assessment (EIA), with one well-known environmentalist telling Eyewitness News there was “a lot absent” from it.

Sam Duncombe, reEarth president, told Eyewitness News: “There is a lot absent in the EIA. It’s unfortunate that Disney seems to think this is an acceptable document.

April 14, 2021

The environmental groups fighting to stop Disney Cruise Line’s development of Lighthouse Point have announced the first of three “extended” public consultations that will dissect Disney’s environmental impact assessment (EIA), the groups stated in a joint press release.

The first consultation, scheduled for Thursday, will include the expert opinions of Dr. Greg Miller, executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel and Dinah Bear, former chief counsel of the US President’s Council on Environmental Quality.

April 12, 2021

Environmentalists yesterday urged the government not to rush its review of Disney Cruise Line’s (DCL) environmental impact assessment, as they push one last effort to dissuade the government from approving the $400 million cruise port development project.

DCL and the government held a virtual public meeting on the company’s extensive 500-plus page EIA, which was released last month for the project at the southernmost point of Eleuthera.

March 30, 2021

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A local environmentalist decried plans for several cruise lines to homeport in this jurisdiction as “the most depressing news in a long time”, urging this nation to undertake a serious review of whether the cruise is “worth our while”.

Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told Parliament earlier this month that three cruise companies have expressed interest in making Nassau their home port, noting that the economic implications of such a development would be significant.

March 30, 2021

We are writing to request an extension of the public consultation process and additional information regarding the timeline for Disney Cruise Line’s draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed cruise ship port at Lighthouse Point in Southern Eleuthera.

We did not receive a response to our October 27, 2020 letter, in which we provided a suggested timeline for the public consultation process prior to the release of Disney’s draft EIA.

March 30, 2021

Environmentalists opposed to Disney Cruise Line’s development of a cruise port at Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, have called on Minister of the Environment and Housing Romauld Ferreira to extend the public review period for Disney’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), contending that 30 days is not enough to properly review and comment on the 550-page document.

In a letter to Ferreira last week, the environmentalists asked for a 90-day review period instead of the month given and have urged the government to release the details of a planned April 8 meeting to discuss the EIA.

March 23, 2021

Harbour Island’s tourism industry “has made a compelling case” for why it should not become a cruise destination, a Cabinet minister has admitted.

#Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business he will now “convey that message” to Crystal Cruises and “explore the possibilities” of it switching to an alternative destination on its weekly seven-night Bahamas cruises that are scheduled to begin on July 3.

March 16, 2021

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamian environmental groups said yesterday they are starting a thorough technical review of Disney’s recently released 500-page environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its proposed Lighthouse Point development.

Environmental groups said in a statement yesterday that last October, they wrote to Disney and the minister of the environment calling for a commitment to a 90-day public consultation period to ensure an informed decision on the project.

March 16, 2021

The environmental groups bent on stopping Disney Cruise Line’s development of Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera announced in a press statement yesterday that they will carry out a thorough review of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) recently released by Disney.

The environmental groups which make up the “Stop Disney – Last Chance for Lighthouse Point” coalition, stated it would determine if a cruise port at Lighthouse Point would be a good move for Eleuthera and The Bahamas.

November 3, 2020

Environmentalists are calling for the release of the economic impact assessment (EIA) of Disney Cruise Line’s (DCL) multimillion-dollar Light House Point cruise port development in southern Eleuthera.

Disney Cruise Line submitted its EIA to the government in December 2019.

Since then the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) – formerly the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology Commission – noted that it was under review and once complete it would be made available to the public.

October 13, 2020

Activists have warned that the watering down of performance bond obligations imposed on developers in new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations could render such security "meaningless".

#A coalition of Bahamian environmental groups, in an October 9, 2020, letter to the Prime Minister, argued that capping such bonds at a sum equivalent to five percent of a development's value would provide insufficient funds to cover any damage caused by a "high risk" project that involved relatively minimal investment.

October 10, 2020

We are writing to respectfully submit for your consideration the attached detailed comments provided by the above-named organizations in relation to the 2020 Draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations that were recently tabled in the House of Assembly.

September 30, 2020

As Disney Cruise Line continues to make slow progress on its second “private island” destination, there is a growing opposition working to get their voices heard and stop the development.

A petition has been filed on Change.org. Titled “STOP – Last Chance to Save Lighthouse Point,” it is asking the Walt Disney Company to choose another place in the Bahamas to dock their ships. And it already has almost 320,000 signatures.

September 25, 2020

Disney Cruise Line will soon have a second private destination for its passengers to explore. But as the creation of what will be called Lighthouse Point works to get underway, Disney is first set to release an assessment of how this new project will affect the environment.

September 25, 2020

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the multimillion-dollar Lighthouse Point cruise port development is expected to be released to the public “in a matter of weeks”, said Director of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection Rochelle Newbold yesterday.

During a Ministry of Environment press conference, Newbold said officials are still in the process of finalizing the document.

“Once that document is completed, it will be out online for the public to review and to give comment on,” she said.

September 20, 2020

The cruise industry has been dealt a report card by environmental group Friends of the Earth that a parent might not want to tack on a refrigerator door, but the cruise industry is pushing back.

“I’d say (the cruise industry as a whole is) failing or close to it,” Marcie Keever, oceans and vessels program director for Friends of the Earth, who wrote the report, told USA Today Tuesday.

September 3, 2020

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamian environmental groups have joined the Global Cruise Activist Network, a worldwide group of citizen activists who are demanding the cruise industry doesn’t rush back to business-as-usual once ships set sail again.

July 28, 2020

Bahamian environmental activists yesterday urged Disney Cruise Line to update studies for its Lighthouse Point proposal to account for the impacts of COVID-19 and climate change.

#The groups behind the Stop Disney - Last Chance for Lighthouse Point campaign, in a July 23 letter to senior Disney executives, said The Bahamas must avoid being tempted into rushing ahead with investment projects due to the “significant pressure” for an economic and jobs recovery post-COVID-19.

October 23, 2018

I am a 16-year-old female born and raised in Eleuthera. Since I was born I have always had a high level of respect and appreciation for the environment.

#Growing up and having to see the drastic changes before my eyes was heart-breaking. Beaches that were once pristine are over-crowded and polluted. Coral reefs close to shore so healthy, vibrant and populated, are now dead, bleached and abandoned. Everything that makes Eleuthera this beautiful and tropical island is being stripped away and creating a hole in what once was a sustainable community.

August 28, 2019

Disney Cruise Lines has received permission from the Government of the Bahamas to push ahead with plans for a massive cruise ship port at the heritage site in South Eleuthera called Lighthouse Point. Conservation groups are calling the plan disastrous, causing irreparable harm to the pristine environment. Last Chance for Lighthouse Point hopes to spare the local treasure from Disney’s multi-billion dollar influence. Sharks are caught in the middle.

August 27, 2019

Disney has announced that the company has purchased a second private island in the Bahamas, additionally revealing exciting new details about their fifth, themed cruise ship that are in the works.

During the all-important annual D23 Expo in Anaheim over the weekend, reps for the entertainment giant revealed the news of the second, official tropical destination for Disney Cruise Line (DCL,) Disney Parks Blog reported.

August 26, 2019

Environmentalists yesterday continued to call for a win-win solution to Disney Cruise Line’s Lighthouse Point development as they carried on their protest of the project with a mobile billboard at Disney’s D23 Expo in California, heralding their “Stop Disney – Last Chance for Lighthouse Point” campaign.

August 26, 2019

THE Stop Disney - Last Chance for Lighthouse Point campaign took its crusade a bit further, bringing a mobile billboard to The Walt Disney Company’s D23 event on the weekend in Anaheim, CA.

The billboard was meant to draw attention to the “growing global opposition to Disney’s current plans to develop a massive cruise ship port” at Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, organisers of the campaign said in a press released.

August 26, 2019

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — As environmentalists continue to urge Disney Cruise Lines to find an alternative site for its cruise port development in South Eleuthera, the ‘Stop Disney – Last Chance for Lighthouse Point’ campaign parked a mobile billboard at Disney’s D23 event in California over the weekend.

August 08, 2019

In a statement yesterday, environmental groups said Disney Cruise Line Island Development’s June 12letter was a dismissive response to the detailed letter sent by the groups on the inadequacy of Disney’s environmental review.

In that letter, Disney reiterated that the company will only move forward with the development if it could in an environmentally responsible manner.

Yesterday, environmentalists said Disney still hasn’t replied to the specific questions in the stop Disney- Last Chance campaign’s petition.

July 30, 2019

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Environmentalists have again called on Disney Cruise Lines to select an alternative site for its development and cruise port and work with local stakeholders to find a “win-win” situation that would see the developers move the project from Lighthouse Beach in South Eleuthera.

The environmental groups have opposed the development and urged for the government and Disney to secure the site and come up with more sustainable economic opportunities for the communities in South Eleuthera.

July 29, 2019

The petition against the development of a Disney Cruise Lines port at Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera has garnered over 30,000 signatures.

The “Stop Disney - Last Chance for Lighthouse Point” campaign yesterday said this massive support is evidence of “growing global opposition” to Disney’s plans for the development of a “massive cruise port” at the iconic site located at the southern tip of Eleuthera.

July 29, 2019

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Renowned Fort Lauderdale-based spearfishing company Headhunter has echoed the call of local and international environmentalists who have made a last-ditched effort to avert Disney’s Cruise Lines’ plans to develop the Lighthouse Point in South Eleuthera.

In an email blast to customers, Headhunter President Brad Thornbrough expressed grave concern about one of the “most beautiful places I have seen on this planet” being developed into a cruise ship terminal.

July 27, 2019

We've talked to Brooke Muggia, an environmental activist working to protect Lighthouse Point. Here's what you should know about the campaign...

Could you introduce yourself in a few words, and tell us more about your personal interest in the environment and the oceans?

My name is Brooke Muggia. I’m a mother of four, Co-Founder of ProjectMe, and an environmental activist. For the past 13 years, I have had the opportunity to travel to many environmentally-vital oceanic areas around the world…