The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas should lease Crown Land to foreign direct investment projects (FDI) rather than sell it, a private sector executive said yesterday, to ensure prime property is not left dormant if the development fails.

Gowon Bowe, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman, suggested that developers be required to meet certain milestones before they are allowed to access various concessions.

While addressing the Rotary Club of West Nassau, he said: “When we give concessions in the form of land, those are things that we can’t take back.

“We should start thinking about other territories  around the world and look at leasing versus actual fee simple transactions. For every Albany, every Atlantis, we have a  Ginn, a Harcourt in Grand Bahama, where the land sits idle and does not get developed. We have a difficulty doing anything with it because the ownership is in the hands of foreigners.”

Mr Bowe added: “When you look at the Quieting of Titles Act, it was always intended that when persons moved away we had the ability to reclaim land so it would not stay unproductive.

“We have to start giving thought to that. What are we going to do with these future developments, and in terms  of ensuring that the land stays available for development.

“We have seen some of the challenges with Bank of the Bahamas, where Crown Land has become the topic in the news. We are looking at the value of the land relative to what has been conceded in these  agreements. We have investors and foreigners who take our land and leverage it to borrow money to carry out investments. If we are going to leverage our land, I think that we, the people, should benefit.”

Mr Bowe said the Government should set certain targets for investors to reach before being able to access various concessions.

“Before we grant huge concessions we should be taking the mindset that there have to be milestones achieved before each level of concessions get kicked in,” Mr Bowe added:

“We’re living on 20th century legislation when we are trying to participate in 21st world finance, development and investor dollars, and we have to start thinking about how we move our legislation to align itself  with what these persons on the outside would expect to see.”