The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An aggregate mining and land reclamation development, featuring a $15m-$20m first phase investment and creation of 35 jobs, is among three “very different and separate projects” currently targeting North Andros.

Cameron Symonette, The Symonette Group’s chief executive, is one of the principals behind the Bahamas Materials Company Ltd project that was presented to the North Andros District Council on June 9 as part of an extensive feedback and consultation process.

The presentation, a copy of which has been obtained by Tribune Business, reveals that Mr Symonette and his prospective partners plan to mine for calcium carbonate (limestone) on a 5,500 acre “brownfield” site featuring now-unused Water & Sewerage Corporation wellfields in North Andros.

The extracted rock would then be crushed and screened at a purpose-built plant before being exported by sea to either Florida or New Providence for use by the construction industry in a variety of construction applications.

However, the presentation goes beyond mere aggregate mining to explore how the land could be reclaimed, and repurposed, for other productive use such as real estate once all the rock has been extracted.

Bahamas Materials Company is proposing a corporate structure where a subsidiary, Morgan’s Bluff Development Group Ltd, would ultimately take back all the land and offer its shares to Bahamians in a bid to create wealth and ownership opportunities.

Seeking to capitalise on the government’s urgent search for economic diversification amid the devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bahamas Materials Company proposal suggests it could ultimately employ more than 100 Bahamians and take its investment to over $125m at full build-out. Potential production is estimated at 500-700 tons, with all mining carried out onshore at depths of between 60 to 80 feet.

Mr Symonette declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday, but sources familiar with Bahamas Materials Company’s proposal said there were no links or connections to the much-grander North Andros Green Free Trade Zone being proposed by Los Angeles-based billionaire philanthropist, Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong.

And they also revealed that there is another competing proposal on the drawing board for North Andros in the shape of Bahamas Agricultural Resources (BAR), a farming project that is seeking some 25,000 acres of Crown Land and Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) land in the Twin Lakes area.

Documents obtained by Tribune Business reveal that, in early 2019, the BAR proposal included former US ambassador to The Bahamas, Ned Siegel, along with Benjamin Simmons and his son, who have extensive farming interests across the US in states such as the Carolinas, Louisiana, Maryland and Georgia. One of their Bahamian partners was James Edgar Curling, principal of sand miner, Tycoon Management (see other article on Page 1B).

With North Andros suddenly becoming a potential investment “hot spot” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one source confirmed on condition of anonymity: “There are three very different project proposals being developed for North Andros. I’m aware of all three. They are three very separate projects involving different people, and these are things the Government has to consider.”

The Bahamas Materials Company presentation to the North Andros District Council some ten days ago is understood to be part of the group’s efforts to get all its material and documents in order for a formal submission to the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) and other government agencies.

The presentation discloses that Mr Symonette’s partner in the project is Ted Baker, founder and chief executive of US-based Blue Water Industries, a construction materials supplier billed as emerging into “one of the top five privately-held aggregate suppliers” having been founded in 2018.

Mr Baker, whose family have been involved in the aggregates industry since 1929, previously sold another industry venture, Bluegrass Materials Company, to industry giant Martin Marietta for $1.625bn in 2018 after just eight years in existence. He will provide the mining and production expertise, and develop a customer base and market access for the business in Florida.

“It has the financing, it has the expertise, and it has the access to market,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the Bahamas Materials Company plan. “They have a team of people on the ground doing the well testing, land-planners and site planners as well. There’s a recognition that Andros has some natural resources and attractions, and that it’s time to develop that part of The Bahamas and bring sustainable development to the island.”

They added that Bahamas Materials Company was “committed to transparency” with its proposal, and was currently obtaining feedback from Andros residents and officials to ensure its plans matched the community’s needs and how they wanted their island to be developed.

“They’re working on trying to get feedback from the community on what their needs are, and how they would fit sit as an integrated component of the fabric of North Andros,” another contact familiar with the group’s proposal added.

“The project is the culmination of 16 years of research that began in 2004. They’ve been working towards building a project core around an aggregate mining project business in North Andros that has the foundation of community partnership and best-in-class operating practice in this space. It’s not a speculative thing.” T

Tribune Business was told that Bahamas Materials Company’s ambitions have been reignited by the Government’s post-COVID-19 push for greater economic diversification, which had encouraged it to “move the project to an actionable NEC (National Economic Council or Cabinet) submission” after letting it sit dormant from 2016 due to minimal government interest.

Carlos Palacios, the Bahamian environmental engineer, is leading a team featuring Caribbean Coastal Services/BRON to update and complete the necessary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP), building on work carried out in 2001, 2009 and 2016.

To minimise the environmental impact, Bahamas Materials Company will not undertake offshore mining operations to protect both the Joulter Cays MPA (marine protected area) and the endangered species that inhabit it.

Instead, its activities will be confined to a 5,500 acre site centred on now-unused Water & Sewerage Corporation wellfields suffering from salt water intrusion as a result of recent hurricanes. The location is south of Lowe Sound, north of Red Bays Road and east of the Queen’s Highway. The company is pledging that less than 2 percent of pine forests, and under 1 percent of shrubs, will be impacted.

The North Andros District Council presentation promises that the project will “create economic opportunities for Bahamians”, with “35 full-time, well-paying jobs within six months and 70-80 jobs within five years”. Posts will include construction, management and operations, with Bahamas Materials Company also stating its willingness to pay royalties to the Government for use in either the sovereign wealth fund or in the Andros community.

“They’ve started to spend the money on the engineering so they can tell the Government they will legitimately start developing the project within six months of approval,” one source added, suggesting that the development could cover a 25 to 40-year period.

They said the aggregate mining would only cover 2,500-3,000 acres, with up to 2,000 acres available immediately to the Morgan’s Bluff Development Company for other purposes. Mr Symonette and his partners are understood to believe their activities could provide the platform for other entrepreneurs to develop electricity utilities, shipping ports and real estate in North Andros - opportunities they will not seek to own.

While Morgan’s Bluff Development Company would initially be set up and owned by Bahamas Materials Company, sources said the latter ultimately planned to make shares and ownership positions available to the local community and other Bahamians.

“The intent is that the group would be owned by locals and a cross-section of Bahamians so that the project generates wealth rather than just jobs for Bahamians,” one said.