The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Ex-employees of Rick Fox’s climate-resilient construction venture are asserting The Bahamas was “not even in the rear view mirror” after sealing its early 2024 deal with the Government as it “chose not to build” despite assembling multi-million dollar financing.

The former Partanna workers, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business that the carbon-negative concrete innovator did not need to wait on the Davis administration to fulfill its part of the Heads of Agreement as it had enough funding to acquire its own lots and develop the necessary infrastructure after soliciting the required capital from investors.

Mr Fox, the three-time NBA champion who is running as the Free National Movement’s (FNM) candidate in the Garden Hills constituency in tomorrow’s May 12 general election, has frequently accused the Government of not living up to its commitments in Partanna’s January 8, 2024, Heads of Agreement - namely the provision of 30 Crown Land lots for a “pilot project” to develop climate resilient homes, and supporting infrastructure such as utilities and roads.

However, the ex-staff are disputing this by arguing that Partanna had sufficiently deep pockets to proceed without having to wait for the Government as it had raised a combined $27m from a Taiwan-based venture capitalist and his investors, limited partners and family office clients. They instead allege that the company, after obtaining its Bahamas deal, proceeded to seek additional investors in regions such as Dubai and the Middle East rather than deliver on its commitments to this nation.

Partanna’s January 8, 2024, Heads of Agreement, which has been seen by this newspaper, stipulates that apart from the 30-home “pilot project” it was also to construct an up to $25m manufacturing plant on a leased ten-acre site at Arawak Cay that was to be completed over a five-year period through to 2029. However, recent photos and videos taken of the site show it is fenced in with minimal activity occurring, the only structure present being the ‘model home’ that Partanna built.

The Heads of Agreement also grants Partanna, should it fulfill all its obligations, numerous rights and incentives such as designating its site as an “approved sufferance port” - a specialised, licensed area where imported goods can be temporarily stored before clearing Customs. A “bonded warehouse or warehouses” were also part of the deal for the 10-acre Arawak Cay manufacturing site - again to benefit Partanna’s cash flow by allowing it to avoid paying duties instantly on its imports.

Other incentives granted by the Heads of Agreement, which was signed by David Davis, then-permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, included a seabed lease to assist the berthing of commercial vessels; a sand mining licence for the mining of aggregate; dredging the shipping channel and turning basin at Arawak Cay; and the right to construct its own desalination water plant.

The Government, in response to Tribune Business inquiries, dropped a strong hint that it will seek to reclaim the ten-acre Crown Land site on Arawak Cay that it leased to the three-time NBA champion and his company. It said that, while the due $35,000 annual rent plus VAT had been paid for 2023 and 2024 had been paid, no such payment had been received for 2025 and the lease’s clause 4 (1) gives the Government the right to re-enter the property and cancel the lease if rent is more than 90 days past due.

However, a source close to Partanna, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed the Government’s assertions about the past due lease payment. They added that the company is “in good standing”, and reiterated that it is ready to start construction as soon as the Government delivers on the Crown Land and supporting infrastructure, with a mobile plant stationed at the Arawak Cay factory site and “75,000 blocks” ready to go.

“Partanna is in good standing. Lease is paid up to date,” they said in a message to Tribune Business. “Partanna’s agreement is land with infrastructure from the Government. As soon as that is delivered, construction can start. Seventy-five thousand blocks along with a mobile plant are sitting on Arawak Cay next to the model three-bedroom home.”

Mr Fox, when contacted by Tribune Business on Friday for comment, asked this newspaper that night to e-mail him questions as he was caught up in general election campaigning. The detailed questions were duly sent on Saturday morning, with a response deadline of 3pm given. No reply was received, but Tribune Business was told via intermediaries that the FNM’s Garden Hills candidate was still caught up campaigning.

This newspaper, too, understands that Mr Fox’s position continues to be that Partanna’s project is stymied until the Government provides the necessary Crown Land and supporting infrastructure for the 30-home pilot project as this is critical to unlocking the necessary financing.

However, given that he listed a $469.752m net worth in his election declaration, including $432.235m worth of securities investments, there are likely to be questions over why he has not liquidated a portion of this portfolio, or raised a margin loan against it, to finance the $25m Arawak Cay manufacturing facility, which he told this newspaper in January 2023 would have disruptive effect on the construction industry similar to the impact that Tesla has had on the auto market.

And the Government, in its replies to Tribune Business, said it had offered Partanna “the immediate availability of 30 lots in the Sands Cove Subdivision, Abaco” for its pilot project on October 22, 2025, but no response was received. The Heads of Agreement stipulates that the ‘pilot project’, separate from the Arawak Cay plant, was to create jobs for “at least 100 Bahamians” with 80 percent minimum of the workforce to be local.

One former Partanna worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most of the staff listed on the company’s website have left the business. Explaining why they joined, they said: “I was blown away by the vision frankly. The story told about Partanna was that it was a kind of insurance policy for the Caribbean. We had an area that was completely exposed to the worst effects of climate change. There was this breathtaking technology that stood up in seawater as well as extracted carbon dioxide.

“Rick’s incredible in terms of story-telling. I fell for it it hook, line and sinker. I believed in the vision. I was told this is all about making the Caribbean safe with a new technology. The first year with Partanna went well. I thought Rick was a very unusual person and incredibly intense. The first year, we got the company well-funded, we were hiring. I thought we were moving in the right direction, but 2024 came and it became clear The Bahamas was not even the rear view mirror.”

They explained that Partanna had obtained its initial financing from Matt Cheng, the Taiwanese investor behind Cherubic Ventures, plus investors in his funds, family office clients and limited partners. “Through Matt, $27m came into the company,” the ex-staffer said. “What I can say confidently: Why did Partanna not build any homes? It was a choice.

“Partanna had always said The Bahamas did not have time. The need for homes was immediate. It was a question of survival. At that point it was well financed. Partanna has the ability to purchase its own lots and chose not to build homes.” They alleged that, instead, the company embarked on a worldwide push to attract even more investors, including from the Middle East and even Africa, and appeared to turn its back on following through - and delivering on - its Bahamas commitments.

The former employee said staff were always kept away from government talks, which were handled by Mr Fox, but were repeatedly told “the Government is refusing to give us the land” as the reason why no construction was happening. “If it’s all the Government, and the Government not giving us the land, if we come out and tell the world we are creating this company because The Bahamas is going under water, and we have to do something, why don’t we build?” they challenged.

They suggested that the constant travelling appeared to deplete Partanna’s financial resources. This was backed by another former Partanna employee, who said: “It was pretty clear that they ran out of money. There were lots of Heads of Agreements, but there was never any plan to follow up. All that was stage one. It seemed to me that these being signed.. the sense I got was the stuff you see online, investments here, Heads of Agreement there, that was just to build a positive picture to get to the next investors rather than let the company execute on its plan.

“It was always due to the Bahamas government, which had not given us the land yet. It was always made clear to me that the responsibility sat with the Bahamas government to make it happen, and they weren’t fulfilling their obligations, so we were stuck in a bind. What we were doing was good, and I always believed in the mission, but it was now do we get there.”

The Government, in a statement, said it was unaware whether Partanna had submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP), plus lodged an environmental bond and obtained certificates of environmental clearance (CEC) from the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) as required by the Heads of Agreement at each stage of the Arawak Cay factory’s construction.

It added that none of the incentives contained in the Heads of Agreement have been initiated, adding: “The rights have not been triggered, and separate applications are required for a sand mining licence, sufferance port, seabed lease, dredging and bonded warehouse…. A Crown lease was made on October 12, 2022, for a term of 25 years in respect of ten acres situated on Arawak Cay from July 1, 2022.”

The Heads of Agreement stipulates that Partanna can renew the Arawak Cay Crown Land lease for two further 20-year terms, giving it in effect 65 years in total. A deal was also struck between the Government and Partanna over the share of carbon credits generated by the pilot project, which also allowed the company a 30 percent profit margin on construction costs.

Once construction on the Arawak Cay facility began, Partanna was to receive the right to design and develop “at least 250 homes in The Bahamas per year up to 1,000 homes per year”.

Partanna’s concrete employs recycled steel slag and brine. Its binding components are designed to absorb carbon dioxide as they cure in production, and continue to do so throughout their lifecycle. The company says a 1,250 square foot home constructed by itself, and employing its concrete product, removes 22.5 tons of carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere while a standard home of the same size actually emits 70.2 tons. Mr Fox formed Partanna in partnership with architect Sam Marshall.