The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Minister of Tourism has promised that the 140 terminated Treasure Bay Casino employees will receive their severance pay today, and be interviewed for re-hiring early in the New Year.

Obie Wilchcombe told Tribune Business that Grand Bahama’s sole remaining casino was set to be taken over by a group that owned such facilities in Latin America and Spain, although he declined to name them.

Promising to disclose the name once the Gaming Board had finished all its due diligence and approvals, Mr Wilchcombe said the casino was also being refurbished, adding: “We don’t want ho-hum.”

Tribune Business understands that the former Treasure Bay casino staff were becoming extremely frustrated, and nervous, over whether they would receive severance pay and all other benefits due to them following the facility’s December 4 closure.

This newspaper was told that Treasure Bay was only providing its brand name, and possibly management services, and the responsibility for compensating the former employees lay with the Government, which has been financing the payroll for the past two years.

“They will get their severance pay on Monday [today],” Mr Wilchcombe told Tribune Business of the former staff, “and it will cover the period they’ve been with Treasure Bay.

“They’ll then be interviewed early next year for hiring by the casino. It’s going to be refurbished, with more entertainment and amenities in it.”

Asked who would be taking over the casino, Mr Wilchcombe replied: “It’s a group with ownership of casinos in Latin America and Spain. I’ll be able to give you details once it’s [due diligence] all finished.

“We’re just completing it. We wanted to find a good casino operator, bring some entertainment back, give it more amenities. We didn’t want ho-hum.”

Mr Wilchcombe gave no timeline of when the new group would take over the casino’s operations, when it is likely to open, or how many employees will be re-hired.

And many observers and Grand Bahama residents are likely to be extremely sceptical about Mr Wilchcombe’s assurances that a new operator for the Grand Lucayan casino has been found, given that he has made numerous similar pronouncements in the past.

K P Turnquest, the FNM’s deputy leader, last week told Tribune Business that he laid responsibility for Treasure Bay’s closure “squarely at the feet” of the Government, and particularly Mr Wilchcombe, who he said had promised that a solution was at hand at least three times since taking office.

Grand Bahama’s tourism product is arguably at its lowest ebb since the Royal Oasis closure in 2004, with Memories and 1,000 of the Grand Lucayan’s rooms closed, and no indication of when they may re-open.

Mr Wilchcombe said he had discussed the matter with Hutchison Whampoa, the Grand Lucayan’s owner and landlord for Memories, while in Hong Kong recently to conduct due diligence on Baha Mar’s new owner.

The Minister said the Hong Kong-based conglomerate had appointed a project manager to oversee the post-Matthew repairs, but was awaiting settlement of its insurance claim before proceeding, as this would finance the renovations.

Tribune Business was previously told that a $120 million claim had been submitted, and Mr Wilchcombe said Hutchison Whampoa had been expecting to hear from the insurers on Tuesday past.

He also revealed that he was due to meet Hutchison Whampoa over the weekend, in a bid to reduce fees at another of its facilities, Grand Bahama International Airport, in a bid to encourage more airlift and flights to the island.

Promising to reveal results of these discussions this week, Mr Wilchcombe said: “What we’re trying to do is get Hutchison Whampoa to demonstrate renewed interest in Grand Bahama.

“The airlines want to come, but each time they think about landing, it costs more to land in Freeport than anywhere else in the Caribbean. Why not just fly on to Nassau instead.

“A number of things have to happen. The Government and Hutchison Whampoa are working closely together. We have to ensure the product’s competitiveness improves, we ensure more airlift, and for that to happen we have to get prices down. It’s high, and people are not going to go to where the cost is high.”

As for the Grand Lucayan’s sale, Mr Wilchcombe indicated that based on the Government’s knowledge, this still had some distance to travel.

“There is a buyer, somebody identified, a company out of Canada,” the Minister said, not disclosing any names. “They haven’t completed. They had shown interest in a Letter of Intent, but I’m not sure if they’ve exchanged it. The company had called us, and spoken to us.”

Mr Wilchcombe added that his focus was now on Grand Bahama and reviving its hotel and tourism industry, saying New Providence had been “taken care of”, and that the likes of Abaco, Exuma and Bimini “seem to be on the right track”.

Pointing to Grand Bahama’s six golf courses, many of them owned and operated by Hutchison Whampoa, the Minister of Tourism said the island had many of the facilities necessary to succeed.

“Grand Bahama has all the amenities; it’s just getting them to put it together as a package,” Mr Wilchcombe said of Hutchison Whampoa.

On the positive side, Mr Wilchcombe said the Government had held “wonderful discussions” with the Spanish-owned ferry operator, Balearia, while the Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach resort had also re-opened.