By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
AFTER several months of deliberation, the government has selected the winning bidder for the redevelopment of the Grand Bahama International Airport.
Tourism, Aviation and Investments Minister Chester Cooper made the announcement to reporters before yesterday’s Cabinet meeting. However, he declined to say who was selected for the job.
“I’m not in a position to make a statement at the moment,” he said. “We are doing some final housekeeping on the process. It’s being finalised. We know who the winning bidder is, but I can’t tell you yet.”
Plans for the redevelopment of the airport were announced after the facility suffered extensive damage caused by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.
Before Dorian, the airport was privately owned and operated by the Freeport Harbour Company, which is part of Hutchison Port Holdings of the Hutchison Whampoa Group.
However, under the Minnis administration, the government purchased it in April 2021 with plans to redevelop the airport under a PPP.
Since assuming office last year, the Davis administration has looked at several potential investors for the redevelopment of the airport, while also completing several repairs in the interim to improve the site’s conditions.
Asked when the government hopes to announce the name of the selected bidder, Mr Cooper replied “soon.”
“If I had it my way it would be next week,” he added. “But, like I said, we were waiting for some final responses. It’s got to be strong, and you’re going to be pleased.”
As it relates to the Grand Lucayan resort, Mr Cooper said he had no additional information in that regard.
However, he was able to give an update on the British Colonial Hilton, explaining that renovations were still ongoing to the property.
The hotel closed its doors earlier this year because of low occupancy and poor financial performance, mainly due to the pandemic.
“The property has not been sold,” Mr Cooper said. “The developers, the owners who we all know, is the China construction company, (they) continue the improvement of the resort and no doubt they will have something directly to say about what their ongoing plan is.
“Suffice to say, we hope that the inventory comes back to the market real soon, because we certainly do need that inventory for the increased demand that we’re seeing.”
Asked about the hotel’s sale process, Mr Cooper told reporters that only the owners could speak to the matter.
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