The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Exumians want “to be more than employees” in the numerous multi-million dollar investment projects than can “transform” the island’s economy.

Pedro Rolle, the Exuma Chamber of Commerce’s president, told Tribune Business that Bahamians needed to “own the tools” of the island’s economy and partner - in an organised manner - with the numerous development projects unveiled by the Prime Minister in last week’s Budget.

Apart from the John McGarvey-led investor group at February Point, Perry Christie also touted the potential acquisition of Crab Cay from its current owners, the North Carolina-based Murphy family, by the Five Oceans investment group.

And he also promoted the $100 million investment planned by the new owners of Children’s Bay Cay and William’s Cay, plus Exuma Resort Developers’ 25-key Whale Tail Resort on Norman’s Cay.

Mr Rolle, while welcoming the increased investment inflows into Exuma, said it was vital to position Bahamians and their businesses to maximise the spin-off potential from these projects.

“These projects bring added employment and increase the economic vitality of the island,” he told Tribune Business. “One of the things we will push for as a matter of principle is that we have greater involvement, and better co-ordination, between investors and investor groups and the local community.

“It gives us an opportunity to prepare the local business persons, say to them these are the things coming on stream, prepare yourselves, get the necessary skills and establish a business, so we can have a long-term, sustainable economy.”

Emphasising that Exumians wanted to be more than just employees, Mr Rolle added: “When we had the big boom with Emerald Bay and it closed down, it really impacted the local economy in a big way as we did not have these companies established and offering services.

“All it [the Four Seasons Emerald Bay] was, was employment. We need to be more than employees. We need to be providers and own the tools of the economy.

“We just need to push now. It’s a challenge we face locally; it’s not the Government or the developers. We need to prepare ourselves to offer services and relate to these companies at a local level.”

Mr Rolle welcomed the investment projects unveiled by the Prime Minister as potentially having “a transformative effect” on Exuma.

“This offers the opportunity to transform the local economy,” he said. “That’s not always a good thing if transformation goes too quickly. If we organise it and plan it, it makes a huge difference to the local economy.”

Mr Rolle said if all the projects unveiled by the Prime Minister came to fruition, it would attract Bahamians to leave New Providence and return to Exuma for work and to live.

He told Tribune Business that their arrival would help to diversify the island’s economy, as it would no longer be solely reliant on Sandals Emerald Bay as the ‘anchor project’.

“We’re not dependent on one entity to provide the lifeblood for the economy,” Mr Rolle said. “If the same thing happened now, that Sandals had closed two to three years ago, there would have been a devastating impact on the local economy. It’s a good thing we have different projects coming on stream at the same time.”

Tribune Business understands that Five Oceans’ acquisition of the Murphys’ Exuma interests, which include the Augusta Bay Hotel in Georgetown, has yet to complete. The deal is still being worked out by the buyer, whose chief executive is Garry Gyselen.

This newspaper understands that Five Oceans, which is eyeing a mixed-use residential, resort and manor community, along the lines of the Murphys’ original plans, may be proposing an investment as great as $1.2 billion.

Tribune Business sources have also suggested there are potentially great synergies, including joint ventures, in play with nearby February Point.

Mr Christie, meanwhile, last week touted the Children’s Bay project as planning the ‘jewel of the Bahamas’, creating “a one-of-a-kind island experience” via “an ultra high end resort for ultra high net worth individuals”.

The Prime Minister said the project could become “a defining one for the Exuma Cays”.