Bynoe declares full support for new marina

The $250 million marina which opened on last Monday on the Grenadine island of Canouan has the full support of Terry Bynoe, a leading activist on that island.

Bynoe, who was born and raised on Canouan, has been at the forefront of protests since 1999 for unfettered public access by land to all beaches on the island.

In August 2000, he found himself in a physical altercation with security personnel on the property of Canouan Resorts Development (CRD) Ltd, as he sought to access Godahl Beach, which resulted in him being charged with unlawful entry and assault.

Almost 17 years later, Bynoe is still a thorn in the side of developers, with the newly developed beach at L’Anse Guyac being the subject of his attention these days.

He has been detained by the police on numerous occasions.

Speaking on Monday, minutes after Irish financier Dermot Desmond and Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves officially declared the Glossy Bay Marina open, Bynoe said that he has no problem whatsoever with the Glossy Bay Marina project.

“We support all development, once it is in the interest of natives and citizens. We welcome them; we have no problem at all with investment. We make changes in life as time goes on, so we welcome this investment,” Bynoe told the SEARCHLIGHT, minutes after he had a private conversation with Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves at Shenanigans Beach Bar, which is part of the new marina.

“I supported Glossy Bay when it started, because it really takes place on a small amount of lands and it is really a huge investment and we welcome it very much,” said Bynoe.

When asked who had invited him to the opening ceremony, Bynoe said that when things of this nature take place in Canoaun, people invite themselves.

“I was told about it by the construction manager a few weeks ago, so I decided to show my face,” he said.

He said in his private discussion with the Prime Minister, they spoke about the comments Gonsalves made during the opening ceremony.

In relation to the ongoing agitation in relation to road access to L’Anse Guyac Beach, Bynoe said that is a work in progress. He said that on Sunday, April 9, he and Debbie Foyle, another activist, had held talks with the investors and those talks will continue.

“Some papers are to be drafted to see if we can work together on the points raised in the meeting.”

Bynoe did not go into detail about what was discussed, but a source familiar with the discussion told SEARCHLIGHT that during that April 9 meeting, the developers offered to make three golf carts available to locals, which they could use to drive themselves to the beach, once they show identification at the check-point and obey all the rules of the resort.

During the Prime Minister’s remarks at the opening ceremony, he called for the investors and the islanders to work hand in hand.

“When you have modern economic enterprise coming in, like what you have in the north and in the south, there is going to be the need for attitudes to be altered to change, for traditionalism to come to terms more efficaciously with modernity, and I want to say to the investors that they must be sensitive to these matters, including the values of the traditional community and certain common sets of rights,” said Gonsalves.

He said that the changes which take place in communities and the extent of the investment which has taken place in Canouan since 1991 (some 25 years ago), is a short time in the life of a community.

In 1989, some 1,200 of the 1,800 acres which make up Canouan were sold by the James Mitchell led Government to investors.

“Our people are very good-natured people and in this small geographical space we have to live and let live and I want to urge that. It is not again a complicated business; it requires an understanding and compromises on all our part,” Gonsalves said.

On Monday, an official of the resort told SEARCHLIGHT that no problems are experienced with anyone on Canouan, except for Bynoe and a “handful” of other persons who are “bent on stirring up trouble for personal reasons.”