Disney family member joins call for Disney to do better in the Bahamas as elections loom
As the Bahamas gears up to elect a new government on September 16, calls to stop the 400-million US dollar project of the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) in the Bahamas have also begun to get louder.
Most recently, a Disney family member has expressed his support to the Stop Disney – Last Chance for Lighthouse Point Campaign, which has been rallying to protect the island’s precious marine wildlife reservoir in Eleuthera.
In a statement released by the campaign, Tim Disney, an artist and entrepreneur, described it “heartbreaking” to see how DCL is tarnishing the legacy of his grandfather, Walt Disney, who had been a patron of the best nature documentaries there is.
“Walt Disney Studios, co-founded by my grandfather, produced some of the first and best nature documentaries,” Tim Disney said. “As a child I watched my father work on many of them. I am proud of that legacy and acknowledge the company’s generally good record of environmental responsibility over the years.”
“Thus, it is heartbreaking to witness Disney Cruise Lines’ failure to honor this legacy in regard to its proposed cruise ship port at Lighthouse Point in Eleuthera,” he continued.
Disney also pointed out that the conglomerate “enjoys, and profits from, a special position of trust in the culture,” and therefore, it also comes with “an obligation to demonstrate leadership on this most important issue.”
“I join the call on Disney’s leaders to reconsider their behavior in The Bahamas, and here in the United States, and to ask themselves if a few percentage points of personal and corporate tax rates are worth sabotaging our best and maybe last chance to seriously address the present calamity of climate change,” Disney said.
The DCL plans to construct a an onshore resort and a half-mile-long pier at Lighthouse Point, the southernmost tip of Eleuthera.
Eleuthera is known for its biologically rich waters that it was even formally proposed as a Marine Protected Area.
The campaign is urging the next Bahamian government “to undertake a formal reevaluation” on the DCL plans at Lighthouse Point and for DCL to “supplement its March 2021 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with additional disclosure of information, analyses, and consultations.”