Several popular Bahamian musical artists have signed on to plans by environmental group reEarth for a concert Dec. 2 to oppose plans for an LNG (liquefied natural gas) regasification facility at Ocean Cay in the Bahamas.

AES plans to build two 160,000 cubic-meter LNG storage tanks and an 842 MMcf/d regasification facility on the 90-acre manmade island, located about 65 miles east of Miami (see Daily GPI, July 28). The project also will include the 76-mile Ocean Express Pipeline, which will transport regasified LNG to Fort Lauderdale in southern Florida, where it would interconnect with Florida Gas Transmission (FGT).

The project has been dogged by delays due to protests in the Bahamas and governmental bureaucracies, concert organizers said.

The concert, to begin at 6 p.m. at Arawak Cay, will host Bahamian artists Da Brilanders, Lassie Doe Boys, Tingum Dem Band, Nita Ellis, Novie Pierre, Trez Hepburn. DJ Funky D will be master of ceremonies. The event is being billed as the first protest concert the Bahamas has ever seen and will be free.

“We have been overwhelmed by support and positive energy to hold this event and to bring this collective voice to our government, that we do not want LNG now, or anytime in the future,” said reEarth President Sam Duncombe. “Politicians are here to do what we, the people, tell them to do and not continue to ignore our voice. Our message is loud and clear: No LNG, not now, not ever. This is an opportunity for Bahamians to become aware of this issue, with an event that is fun, using music — the universal language — to bring us all together.”

The protesters said they are calling for a ban on LNG because of its “inherent dangers to the environment of the Bahamas, the terrorist threat it poses and the problems of regulating an industry that bears no relevance to the Bahamas.”

“Florida will not have LNG in its waters, or on its shores, so why should we?” said Duncombe. “All of the same risks that stop Florida from housing LNG in its territories are the same for us here in the Bahamas. We need to preserve our environs for our children, not look at risky ventures that could destabilize our main economies like tourism and fishing for another country’s gain!”

©Copyright 2006Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.