The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Work bidded out to Bahamian contractors has already exceeded the $400 million commitment Baha Mar made to the Government, a senior executive said yesterday, with building work “only half-way through”.

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of governmental and external affairs, told Tribune Business that the Cable Beach developer had sent $412 million worth of contracts out to bid by Bahamian contractors as at end-April 2013.

Some $229 million of this figure has already been awarded, with Mr Sands saying the contracts had been granted for “multiple works, civil, the whole lot”.

The $2.6 billion Baha Mar construction project is still some 19 months away from full completion, and Mr Sands told Tribune Business: “We have bidded out close to $412 million, and have awarded approximately $229 million, to Bahamian contractors.

“At this point in time, we have actually exceeded that [$400 million commitment given to the former Ingraham administration], and we’re only half-way through the construction period.”

The Baha Mar executive added: “It certainly reaffirms our commitment, and it also shows we have lived up to our commitment regarding the $400 million, which was originally $200 million.

“That is how we should be judged in terms of living up to creating this volume of work for local Bahamian contractors.”

Baha Mar had initially committed to awarding some $200 million in contracts for the Cable Beach redevelopment project to Bahamian contractors, plus create 2,000 local construction jobs.

Former Prime Minister Ingraham managed to secure a commitment from Baha Mar’s major partner, the Chinese government, when he visited Beijing to double these figures to $400 million and 4,000 respectively, conscious of the need to ensure that Bahamians were not shut out from the largest single-phase foreign direct investment (FDI) project in the country’s history.

Mr Sands, meanwhile, told Tribune Business that when it came to Bahamian construction employment, “job creation is close to 1,900 as of the end of April”.

That leaves another 2,100 to go by the time construction work reaches its December 2014 climax, with Mr Sands yesterday reaffirming that deadline remains the goal, with the project still on target.

Responding to assertions by former Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) president, Pat Strachan, that the Baha Mar project had done little for Cable Beach real estate prices and rental rates, Mr Sands told Tribune Business: “Our position is that we think the Baha Mar project has been significantly impactful on the Bahamian economy, and on GDP in particular for 2011 and 2012.

“If you review a number of financial institution reports, from the Central Bank of the Bahamas, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, they will show that without the infusion of Baha Mar, GDP growth would have been much less in those two years.”

The Baha Mar executive continued: “We believe that Baha Mar accounts for a significant part of the GDP stabilisation and growth in the last three years.

“The important thing for us, as we continue to build towards opening, in the first full year of stabilisation you’ll see us accounting for a significant part of GDP in 2015. That will be in excess of 10 per cent. We’re going to do our part.”