By YOURI KEMP
Tribune Business
Reporter
ykemp@tribunemedia.net
ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday said the $800m investment project targeted at South Abaco will be a “God-send” for the area’s residents.
Daphne Degregory- Miaoulis told Tribune Business that the Town Hall meeting with Kakona’s developer and government officials produced a “good turnout” with attendees receptive to the project and voicing little to no reservations.
“If they do everything that they say they’re going to do, then I think it’ll be great,” Mrs Degregory-Miaoulis said. “I think that it’s fantastic that they’re going to repair and restore the lighthouse because it is very valuable.
“They say they’re definitely environmentally conscious or, in other words, any development is going to affect the environment but they are doing what they can to not damage the environment unnecessarily.”
She added: “This project is a God-send, and I’m hopeful that if they remain open and their disclosure is accurate, and people are able to monitor their environmental pledges; if they have environmental monitors involved along the way like the National Trust, then I’m remaining hopeful about it.”
The Sandy Point and Crossing Rocks area in south Abaco needs the improved infrastructure that a development such as Kakona can deliver, but residents also need to benefit from the acquisition and transfer of vital skills so they can sustain the project long-term.
Mrs Degregory- Miaoulis said: “The south needs development, young people need jobs. I would like to see that, obviously.
“We have a limited amount of available skilled labour, but I would like to see where they engage locals first wherever possible, or where they have to import help or hire non-locals that they also bring young local men or women in where they can sort of train them.”
The Chamber chief warned, however, that while $800m may sound like a sizable investment, from what the developers are projecting it might not go as far as envisioned. “They can spend a lot of money in construction, and then building, especially with the cost of building today. It’s very high,” she added.
“I don’t know what portion of the $800m is going to be used in actually changing the environment, or the landmass. I don’t know. But the restoration of the lighthouse would be important, and we would have to have more in-depth information on how that $800m would be spent. But the cost of building a first-class resort is more than what it used to be.”
The restoration of the Hole in the Wall Lighthouse is importance to south Abaco residents because they want to turn into a full-time tourist attraction while maintaining it as a functioning lighthouse.
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