The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Bimini businesses and tourism operators yesterday gave a mixed reaction to plans by the island’s largest investor to take over its airport, with some hailing the move but others branding it “apocalyptic”.

Ebbie David, owner/operator of Ebbie’s Bimini Bonefish Club, told Tribune Business it’s a “good deal” that Resorts World Bimini’s owners, the Genting Group and RAV Bahamas, are offering to invest some $40m to redevelop the island’s main gateway and take over its management via a public-private partnership (PPP) with the government.

Revealing that he has been aware of the proposal for several weeks, Mr David, who served on Bimini’s local government board for more than 25 years, said: “The better the airport is, the better for all of us. The government has to give them concessions to do it; it isn’t up to me.”

Lorrick Roberts, general manager of Dolphin Golf Cart Rental, said the proposed airport takeover represents “progress” because “right now the airport that is there, and the building that we have now, was built some time ago. Those people didn’t do a good job with that because it leaks and stuff like that. So to improve the destination of The Bahamas is fine with me”.

He added: “There is no issue for me with the Genting Group managing the airport because right now, even the Airport Authority that runs the airport is no big deal with them, because you go there and you have issues with the airport and you go and complain about it, and nothing is done. So it’s no big deal for me that Genting is taking over the airport.”

Mr Roberts warned, however, that large-scale infrastructure developments could place Bimini’s charm, and the attractions that draw tourists to it, at risk. He said: “While I’m in the tourism business, if there is anything to enhance the tourism product, I’m okay with that.

“But what people don’t understand is that people come to The Bahamas for our culture and the way we live. They don’t come to drive around to see palaces; they come to see colonial-style built houses. They want to see the way we live.”

Nathan Hanna, owner/operator of Nate’s Variety of Bimini Bread and Catering, lamented that Bimini is becoming like other Family Islands which he says have been taken over by foreign interests.

He added: “The government sells us out and we get caged in on one side of the island. This is happening all over The Bahamas. Everyone knows that mangroves are nurseries for the fish all over The Bahamas, and they are just about destroying it. From day one we were complaining about it. When I take a drive up to North Bimini now I cry because I never thought Bimini would have looked like that.

Mr Hanna lamented that the airport expansion will create few jobs for people that need them. He said: “What’s going on up in North Bimini, I don’t know why they didn’t take that to some other island because Bimini didn’t need it.

“We did not need what happened up at Bimini Bay with the casino. All of that other stuff could have gone to another island and given revenue to somewhere else because Bimini is too small to handle what they are doing up there.

“Within the next 20 years, The Bahamas will no longer be the fishing capital. We were always laid back, and if you go to every other Family Island it is the same way. We have our unique way and it’s a crying shame that that is being lost.”

Algernon Cargill, director of aviation, confirmed to Tribune Business on Tuesday that the Minnis Cabinet has given “approval in principle” to enter into negotiations with the Genting Group and Gerardo Capo’s RAV Bahamas, joint owners of Resorts World Bimini, for a PPP that will see the duo “redevelop, manage and operate” the island’s primary aviation gateway.

“That’s at a very preliminary stage,” he told this newspaper of talks that began around two months ago. “The Genting Group and RAV Bahamas are putting together their proposal so we can secure the formal Cabinet approval of the project. They’re looking at investing approximately $40m in the Bimini airport in order to support all the infrastructure on the island.

“We’re very excited about it. This will be a PPP with that group that is similar to other PPPs. The plans are already in the preliminary stage. They’re looking at lengthening the runway and building a brand new terminal.”

The Resorts World Bimini owners are aiming to extend the runway from its present 6,000 feet to 8,000 feet, so that it can easily accommodate commercial passenger aircraft as well as private jets. The aviation director also confirmed that the proposal’s principal attraction for the government is that it will have to provide no financing itself from the cash-strapped Public Treasury.

While unable to specify how many jobs will be created if the $40m project receives the go-ahead from the government, Mr Cargill estimated that 250 posts will be created between construction and full-time operations, with the size of airport proposed requiring at least 50 permanent positions.