The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Treasure Cay investor yesterday described the Abaco-based destination as an “economic disaster” due to its painfully slow rebound from the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Dorian.

Bruce Neandross, owner/operator of its Bird Cay Cottages, told Tribune Business that Treasure Cay has been allowed to steadily deteriorate since the 2019 hurricane. He accused both the former Minnis administration and current government of failing to pay sufficient attention to its plight despite repeated cries for help from residents ever since Dorian struck.

He said: “Treasure Cay has been totally decimated. It looks like Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb. There’s nothing left and nothing has happened. We still only have power intermittently, we have no sewer now going for over two years, and I can’t use my house. I can’t flush my toilets.

“The reality is everyone has left us and there’s nothing going on. We can’t resolve the sewer system. We finally got to where eight of us collectively from the Homeowners Association said we would just pay for it ourselves to get it done.

“The locals are broke and there’s nothing going on there because everybody sits and waits. Nobody has any money. This is just such a bad situation; this is the hub of the Abacos, so we have to bring it back,” Mr Neandross, who owns 10 beachfront cottages, continued.

“This is why I say this is the biggest economic disaster in The Bahamas. It’s a joke. I can’t get the Prime Minister to do anything; we can’t get anybody to do anything. Nobody wants to respond. It’s gotten to the point now where none of us know what to do.”

Treasure Cay’s current owners, Robert and Stefan Meister, are currently negotiating to sell the development to Dr Mirko Kovats, the controversial Austrian financier who has a home in Lyford Cay and once attempted to acquire New Providence’s South Ocean property. He is now moving to obtain all necessary permits for a Love Beach development, and is understood to have a sales agreement in place for the Treasure Cay acquisition.

Not all Treasure Cay residents are overjoyed at Dr Kovats’ potential acquisition, and some are pinning their hopes on alternatives. “One investor for the island is Craig Roberts and he has real money; I know him well. The other is a group of philanthropists that really want to bring Treasure Cay back,” Mr Neandross said.

“I’ve reviewed all of their plans. They want to create a middle class within our community for Bahamians to build homes with the Government so we can create a working environment, so we have a community that is supported by the locals.

“We’re going to give up a whole portion of our property for that, and the designs are there and this group is ready to start at $200m. They want to put in a green sewer system, green water, green everything and they’re willing to put the money up, but we can’t get anybody to talk to us. It’s the biggest catastrophe in The Bahamas right now.”

As for initiatives directly in Mr Neandross’ vicinity, he said: “Both projects on either side of me have been bulldozed. The whole marina has been bulldozed. The hotel has been bulldozed, every establishment has been bulldozed.

“There is a place called the Palm Beach Club, owned by Craig Roberts. He has 25 units there and he can’t open up. He’s dying. He can’t close the units and he can’t open them up. He finally opened up the restaurant over the New Year, thank God, but he can’t flush the toilets. So he’s in the same problem we’re in, it’s an economic disaster.”

Mr Neandross continued: “Worse than that, there are over 1,000 locals that live there and they have no work. To the point where I have to spend thousands of dollars just to help people buy groceries. It’s just an economic disaster and nobody wants to report on it, nobody wants to talk about it.

“Think about it, Abaco represents 25 percent to 30 percent of the annual GDP of The Bahamas. I’m a developer and I’ve done hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business, but I’m just stymied by how this is not a business situation and how this is not an economic catastrophe, and how the Government allows us to continue on. It’s going to be five years from now and we are still waiting on something to be done.”