The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business 
Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS Agricultural & Industrial Corporation is aiming to transform Andros (BAIC) into the “agricultural hub” of not only the Bahamas but the wider Caribbean region.

BAIC chairman Arnold Forbes, who recently led a delegation to Cuba, told Tribune Business that five agricultural specialists from Havana were set to come to the Bahamas in early January to lend advice on starting farms.

“We are having five specialists from the Cuban government come down to give us some advice on the way forward on starting farms. We are also contemplating building an agricultural school in Andros, and they’re going to assist us as well,” Mr Forbes said.

“They will be here around January 15, so that they can go into the area, take soil samples, tell us what we can do with the land and advise us on how we can get a school up and running.”

He added: “We want agriculture to be the other leg that supports tourism and banking, to some extent. We can do it. We have the land to do it, we have the water to do it and we want to make Andros the agricultural hub not only for the Bahamas but hopefully for the Caribbean region.

“We are looking at starting an agricultural school in conjunction with COB and the Ministry of Agriculture on Andros.

“Along with that will be a 200-acre demonstration farm where we will have practical sessions to take students into the field, show them how to maintain farms, the latest techniques, and all of that ties in with the specialists we are bringing in as well.”

Regarding plans to construct BAIC’s new headquarters at the the Soldier Road Industrial Park, Mr Forbes told Tribune Business: “We have selected a group of contractors, and I’m thinking that by the second week of December we will have a contractor ready to go and, hopefully, at that time we can have a ground breaking.

“We are projecting to invest around $2 million into the project. It will be a state-of-the-art building, solar powered. We want to set an example for government buildings in the future so we can move away from the use of fossil fuels.

“This would save our government and the Corporation in excess of $50,0000-$60,000 in electricity costs when we convert this building to solar.

“We are looking at setting the pace and leading by example.”

Mr Forbes added that BAIC had reached a position on how it would tackle the arrears of tenants in the Industrial Park.

“We are only waiting on Cabinet, which has the final say as to the way forward regarding the arrears, but we are urging them to pay because the park cannot run properly if we cannot get people to pay their rent,” he said.

“We are encouraging those tenants in the Park to start paying their rent. We are looking at the arrears and a way to effectively deal with them so that all parties can stay in business.”