The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The minister of tourism yesterday defended the Nassau cruise port bidding process, and selection of Global Ports Holding, as “incredibly transparent”.

Dionisio D’Aguilar said: “Obviously I think we have been incredibly transparent. We had an RFP process, a proposal was put forth, we had an evaluation committee, they evaluated the process and then they made their presentation to Cabinet.

“We’ve sort of made the decision that Global Ports is the one we think is the best partner to partner with. Now, we enter into negotiations. We haven’t created any concrete deal yet, but we have selected them as the ones with which we are going to negotiate. We think their proposal was by far the best, and the most transformative and iconic.”

The minister continued: “I want to emphasise we are not selling the Prince George Dock. We are entering into an agreement where a substantial amount of investment is going to be made into the Prince George Dock and, in return, the organisation that will make this investment will operate and manage it for a 25-year period.

“We would love that the Bahamian people could write a cheque for $250m and bring about this transformation, which we all agree needs to be done. We don’t have $250m, and the only way we can get $250m is either to borrow it, which is a big ‘no-no’, or to increase taxes, which is another big ‘no-no’. We are taking what we think is the best approach; to approach the private sector, Bahamians, for the entity to be majority Bahamian-owned.”

Mr D’Aguilar suggested there was probably $7bn to $10bn “sitting in banks getting zero percent”. “We can say: Are you prepared to invest in a transaction with a credible port operator? They operate 16 ports around the world, and come together to bring about a transformation and to provide our foreign visitors with a far better experience than they are having now. To me, that sounds like a good deal.”

As to when the Nassau cruise port’s overhaul will be finished, Mr D’Aguilar said: “We will enter into negotiations, and then once the negotiations are concluded - I don’t how long these negotiations will take - but hopefully in a very short period we will bring about a substantial investment.

“They’re telling us 24 to 30 months. You’ve got to do environmental impact studies. I know you all like dates and you’ll like timelines, but these projects have lots of twists and turns. It takes as long as it takes.”