The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor THE Hotel Corporation's chairman has described the revised Heads of Agreement for the I-Group's Mayaguana development as "a tremendous political coup" for the Ingraham administration, saying the original would have "reduced the Bahamas from 700 islands to 699". Disclosing that reaching an agreement with the I-Group, and having the Government sign-off on it, was "touch and go" until recently, attorney Michael Scott said the revised Heads of Agreement effectively reclaimed 75 per cent of the land granted to the developers under the original deal agreed by the Perry Christie-led PLP administration. "I've finally got Mayaguana behind me, and that was in doubt up until a couple of months ago," Mr Scott told Tribune Business. "It was touch and go, but the Government approved and signed the revised, amended Heads of Agreement." The revised deal has already been debated and approved by the Senate, and it now awaits passage through the House of Assembly, something the Government has indicated will happen before the impending general election. Mr Scott said the amendments effectively undid what he argued was a deal equivalent to giving away the entire north New Providence coastline at a 'giveaway' price, with the I-Group getting all the prime Mayaguana beachfront land. "I think it's a tremendous political coup for the Government," Mr Scott told Tribune Business. "Can you imagine taking back three-quarters of the land, which is what we did? The original deal was a disgrace.... If we'd been stuck with that original deal, the 700 islands of the Bahamas would have been reduced to 699. "I think it's a major coup. It also highlights the philosophical differences between the two political parties, particularly on Family Island development and approval of what should take place in the Family Islands." Returning to a theme he has expressed before, Mr Scott argued that the Bahamas should be seeking niche, specialist boutique resorts to grow Family Island economies, as opposed to 'mega resorts' that were out of scale to population numbers and the essential supporting infrastructure. He called for "low density, boutique styles that fit in with the social, economic and cultural milieu of those smaller islands with a smaller and less sophisticated population base". Adding that the Bahamas had to avoid "littering those remote islands with Hyatts and Marriotts", Mr Scott told Tribune Business: "I'm dead set against it. As long as I have a role in the Hotel Corporation, and have a role in tourism development, you can put my view on this in the bank." He suggested that the Government should convert the Hotel Corporation into a Tourism Development Corporation, which would be responsible for monitoring and overseeing all resort projects to ensure developers were meeting their obligations and statutory responsibilities.