Atlantis guests Potter

Paradise Island Bridge: Where richness meets poverty

What baffles me is that travel journalists ignore problems in the tourist industry whereas crumbling infrastructure and disorganisation need to be published. And Fodors will even ban you from a messageboard for instance if you want to bring attention at Nassau airport for security lapses or at Potter´s Cay Dock area for garbage problems.

Fact is that Potter's Cay fishermen and workers toss their garbage, skinned fish parts, etc just in the sea if the free trash bins are overloaded, since not enough space is left in them to deposit Potter's Cay clean. And tourists see garbage laying bare on the docks next to the bins. Unfortunately even eating conch has a risk because they can be contaminated by human waste and pollution if picked off the bottom of Prince Edward's wharf area. Tourists have to criticize that the vendors are not keeping their stalls clean and in addition vagrants are sleeping on stalls not only at night.
Bahamians get angry if tourists ask for investigation in the matter. They even put pressure on journalists or webmasters of various message boards. After Bahamas Consult described the awfull situation in a website and after this story was published by The Nassau Guardian the Bahamas Ministry of Health warned the vendors at Potter´s Cay at the foot of the Paradise Island Bridge: "We cannot and will not allow the degradation of the environment to continue.

We cannot and will not allow human waste, the waste products from cooking (cooking oil), the scraps from the vegetables and all other garbage to be dumped indiscriminately in the harbour in and around the Potters Cay Dock area."
Harald Fuhrmann, managing diector of Bahamas Consult, has the meaning that necessary changes should have come already at least two years ago when the terrible scent started in the Potter´s Cay area and in the shade of the wellknown and multi-billion dollar Atlantis Resort and Casino, which are located just over the bridge. „Tourists pay enough money that they can expect palm trees at Nassau´s beaches or at Paradise Island but they won´t find them. And visitors of Atlantis and Comfort Suites can expect a safe area and clean food at Potter´s Cay but they will feel uncomfortable there“, Bahamas Consult warns.

A concerned Bahamian described the Potter´s Cay conflict as follows:

More importantly, there is no control over access to the port area, which poses security, health, waste-disposal and traffic-congestion issues. The regulatory environment is complex. The Public Markets and Slaughterhouse Act lets the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries designate a site as an official market, supervise it, and license vendors. This law originally applied solely to the old downtown market and abattoir, which later became the straw market. Otherwise, the sale of fish and conch is governed by the Fisheries Resources Act, which bans such sales on New Providence without a government permit, and then only at designated sites (currently Potters Cay, Montagu and the farmer's market on Blue Hill Rd).

The fish and vegetable market at Potters Cay has developed haphazardly since 1964, when the bridge and causeway were built. Regulations allowed the sale of fish from boats docked along the causeway, but banned cleaning or displaying them on the causeway itself. Nevertheless, this strip gradually became the city's main fish and vegetable market, while commercial fishermen sell their catches from the cay.

A serious outbreak of conch poisoning in 1991 led to the closure of Potters Cay. More than 1,000 people were hospitalized after eating conch infected with bacteria picked up from polluted water around the Paradise Island bridge. The outbreak was caused by the dumping of raw sewage into the harbour after an equipment breakdown at the Malcolm's Park deep injection well, which disposes of much of the city's waste. There is an emergency sewage outfall pipe in this area, but consumption of raw conch at Potters Cay continues to be a major attraction for tourists and locals.
The cay itself is densely crowded by commercial fishing vessels, antiquated mailboats and newer inter-island freighters. Delivery trucks vie for space with vendors and families picking up or dropping off passengers or produce.

The produce exchange in the middle of the cay handles wholesale vegetables and fruit shipments from Family Island farmers. On weekends and holidays, the causeway is clogged with partygoers, making access to the cay even more difficult. And on the western end of the cay – past piles of stinking, rotting garbage – is the Bahamas Fast Ferries terminal, which funnels hundreds of tourists a day to the playgrounds of North Eleuthera.

Hopefully not a matter of time

Someone needs to bring some kind or order and security to this mess for the sake of the health and safety of our citizens and visitors. Fortunatelly Mr. Ron Pinder, Parlamentary Secretary at Ministry of Health explained: "For many reasons the infrastructure needs and the regulatory and safety framework for such development were not given the desired attention. Although water, sinks and faucets were installed, major components such as sewerage connection, additionally strategically placed restrooms facilities and electricity were not put in place.“ Mr. Pinder noted that the situation has resulted in some environmental degradation on land and sea, structural breaches, fire and safety and operational deficiencies. "Deficient hygienic practices like improper hand washing, not thoroughly washing prepared conch in clean, fresh running

water have synergistically combined with all of the environmental, sanitation and structural issues to heavily contribute to many out-breaks of conch poisoning."
Bahamas Consult does not mind if Atlantis will have finally 3500 rooms. We hardly recommend bookings for those Atlantis towers anyhow. But we are much more concerned that Nassau/Paradise Island are beginning to suffer from the effects of overpopulation. Managing Director Harald Fuhrmann: „It would be fine, if the cleaning over at Potter´s Cay could start latest at the same time when Atlantis resort will start with the expansion up to 3500 rooms too. We are shure that the necessary changes will come, it is hopefully not only a matter of time“. Tourists at Atlantis and Comfort Suites would appreciate that.

Higher risk of conch poisoning in the summer

Tourists should not buy conch just on the side of the street out of the back of vehicles or at street conch stands. This without doubt heightens the risk for conch poisoning to consumers. Tourists have to know that ALL conch vendors must wash all conch in cleanand fresh running water only. Conchs should not be stored in buckets of water, which is also used to wash the conch before serving. This is harzardous to one's health.

Harald Fuhrmann, managing director of Bahamas Consult claims that tourists should be better warned of the consumption of barracuda. Every Bahamian knows that a person takes the risk when he/she decides to eat barracuda, because the fish is known to be poisonous at times (The risk might depend on the age of a barracuda). Unfortunatelly there have been reported cases of people getting poisoned too when they eat grouper fingers, or what was supposed to have been grouper. Bahamas Consult warns for poor handling of food. Tourists need to know that specially the summer heat leaves room for spoilage and foods not stored properly can produce various types of bacterias. At Potter´s Cay at the foot of the Paradise Island Bridge in Nassau nobody takes care that vendors use clean cutting boards. Just in times with the scare of SARS on the rise, even more pressure is being placed on those who prepare food. Tourists should be also better informed of the danger the bacteria poses to their livelihood. Bahamas Consult is concerned about the increase in the number of food poisonings from late 2002.

While no conch poisoning was ever fatal, health officials are asking the public to choose prevention rather than cure. The Ministry of Health has asked recently that all food handlers:

> Frequently wash their hands with soap and running water, especially after using the bathroom and
before preparing any conch dish.
> Wash all conch in clean fresh running water.
> Do not use sea water to wash conch.
> The practice of washing conch in standing buckets of water must cease.
> Washing procedure should be sufficient to remove all slime from the meat of the conch.
> Cutting board and knives and any surface that comes into contact with the conch should be
washed, sanitized and rinsed in fresh water after each use.
> Raw and cooked conch should not be handled at the same time.
> Prepared conch should not be left out in the open for extended periods of time.

The vendors were reminded that because The Bahamas is a tourism based economy, they are responsible to the visitors as well as the locals who consume their conch.

Read about special thoughts of a passenger on a flight from Miami to Nassau. Bahamas Consult has the meaning more people should think about this: ....conch poisoning....like clock work every year this problem breaks out...seems like as soon as the weather gets warm and the rains come the conch goes poison.

Then I thought about this: One cruise liner was accused of dumping 40 tonnes of raw sewerage in one cruise.....(raw sewerage not like raw conch....but raw like untreated) into the ocean..... Imagine that human waste.....solid, liquid and in between dumped into the ocean and consumed by fish conch, lobster, crab.....and much more finding its way onto shoals and reefs to contaminate these once pure creations with the misbehavior of man..... How much of this waste found its way onto beaches to lather unsuspecting bathers in feces as they take what they think is a healthy swim in the ocean? Or how much attaches itself to the ships hull to be released in Prince George's harbor to eventually find itself to Potter´s Cay and to Montagu (fish markets) and to Arawak Cay.....and onto conch.....and other seafood served at these places.....
I had a friend that worked at a marina on Paradise Island and he said it was not uncommon to walk the docks in the early morning and see human feces, used condoms and other things undescribable, floating among the ships and pleasure crafts.

When was the last time anyone heard of a boat captain, or boat owner being charged in the Bahamas, with indescriminate dumping?

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