A music video message has been posted on the YouTube Internet site calling for Bermuda to stop developing its green spaces, such as Southlands, and build instead on derelict former resort sites.

And if the Island wants to make a groundbreaking luxury resort it should do something with the abandoned US military site at Morgan’s Point and bring in the likes of charismatic billionaire developer Donald Trump

The original reggae song “This is Crazy” has been placed on the international YouTube website by someone called “DubCharlie” and features the music of a group calling themselves “The Lizards”.

A deliberate decision has been made to keep the personalities involved in the environmental awareness effort out of the picture so that people focus on the message rather than the messengers.

The video features images of construction sites in Bermuda, interspersed with pictures of golf courses, hotels and the unspoilt wilderness of the Southlands estate in Warwick, which is currently earmarked to be the site of a five-star hotel resort to be run by luxury operator Jumeirah.

In a communiqué to The Royal Gazette, a spokesperson for The Lizards said: “We feel that our very survival is threatened by the erosion of our natural habitat. Global warming and radiation is already taking a toll on ourselves and other species.

“Now we have ‘people/humans’ cutting up more and more open space. We members of The Lizards feel that music can be the conscience of the people.”

The issue of special development orders is also highlighted by the group, who claim: “The people are being told that this will happen and that will happen. Most decisions are made in secret and without proper explanation. The people think that the politicians are crooked and somehow are being paid off?”

And asking that land that has already been used for previous resorts and hotels be re-used rather than fresh stretches of land, The Lizards spokesperson said: “Why can’t the virgin land be protected? If there are already places that once had hotels, like Club Med, Banana Beach, Flamingo Beach, Sonesta Beach, Lantana, just to name a few, the Government should concentrate rebuilding on these already established places.

“To carve up virgin land like Southlands is a crime. My real lizard friends, especially my rare Warwick lizard cousins, are already under threat.

“There is little we powerless lizards can do about it, but the power of the people can change where we are heading. By raising our voices so that the volume is loud the politicians will have to listen. But are they so arrogant that they don’t care what we the people think? It seems that they are. So now is even more vital for the people to understand what is happening to the land. Hence our song ‘This is Crazy’.”

“The US Navy left behind a peninsula that has already been paved over with concrete. Morgan’s Point. This land should be the Mecca for any new tourism product. Star power should be secured in a developer like Donald Trump, and the place should be a jewel of a resort for the whole world to come and visit. Morgan’s Point can accommodate a hotel and villas, marina, golf course, entertainment and casino and enjoy the protection of the sheltered harbour.

“Please leave the undeveloped land alone for us lizards and humans to enjoy.”

The YouTube music video has already been linked to a number of social commentary websites in Bermuda.

It can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1j37HtQ_nQ