The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

and YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporters

The North Andros Chamber of Commerce’s president is calling for “full transparency” over the three investment projects targeting the area while warning residents against “rushing to judgment” over their merits.

Darin Bethell, in a statement sent to Tribune Business, said local businesses and residents lacked the necessary details to determine the feasibility of the three proposals and whether any would meet the community’s needs for sustainable jobs and development.

However, he warned Androsians against becoming so resistant to investment and development that “history represents us as the sleeping giant that never progressed”. Pointing out that government spending alone will never be sufficient for the island to realise its potential, he added that it needed “an influx of new money” from quality Bahamian and foreign investors.

Mr Bethell said this was critical to reversing a “30-plus years brain drain” that has seen the brightest Androsians leave their home island, and keep the best talents at home to benefit both the community and its economy.

He spoke out after this newspaper last week revealed that three separate, and wholly different, investment projects have set their sights on Andros. The most eye-catching is the North Andros Green Free Trade Zone being proposed by Los Angeles-based billionaire philanthropist, Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong.

Dr Soon-Shiong, who was said by Forbes to have a net worth of $6.9bn as at March 2020, would appear to be the sort of legitimate, bona fide investor that The Bahamas needs to attract to reignite its economy and employment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and owner and executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers, his initial proposal - which has yet to be formally submitted to the government and its investment agencies - aims to create 750-plus full-time jobs, and 10,000 construction jobs over the build-out.

Some $200m-$250m will be invested over the first two phases of a development targeted at the Morgan’s Bluff area in North Andros. The project is focused on “value-added” manufacturing involving the creation of finished products from aragonite and other Bahamian natural resources, rather than simply exporting the raw material.

Besides an airport and seaport, the project’s other components include eco-tourism and medical tourism based on a medical research centre and clinic. Dr Soon-Shiong, who is based in Los Angeles, is heavily involved in the global healthcare sector through three foundations, visiting professorships at universities and his NantWorks network of health and technology start-ups.

It is also understood that the project has been significantly scaled-down in size compared to the 500,000 acres detailed in the initial proposal, and would require a much smaller footprint - especially since it would only be developed in stages should it receive the go-ahead from the government. Yet Dr Soon-Shiong is not the only one eyeing Andros.

Tribune Business subsequently revealed that Cameron Symonette, the Symonette Group’s chief executive, was one of the principals behind a proposed aggregate mining and land reclamation project that would generate more than 100 jobs - and a total $125m investment - at full build-out.

Bahamas Materials Company Ltd, which presented its project to the North Andros District Council on June 9 as part of an extensive feedback and consultation process, is targeting a $15m-$20m first phase investment and the creation of around 35 full-time jobs as it responds to the government’s call for diversification amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their presentation revealed that Mr Symonette and his prospective partners plan to mine for calcium carbonate (limestone) on a 5,500 acre “brownfield” site featuring the now-unused Water & Sewerage Corporation wellfields in North Andros.

The extracted rock would then be crushed and screened at a purpose-built plant before being exported by sea to either Florida or New Providence for use by the construction industry in a variety of construction applications.

However, the presentation goes beyond mere aggregate mining to explore how the land could be reclaimed, and repurposed, for other productive use such as real estate once all the rock has been extracted. Bahamas Materials Company said its activities will provide the platform for other entrepreneurs/investors to develop utilities, hotels and real estate, while indicating it was open to giving Bahamians ownership in a key subsidiary.

The third and final proposal is that of Bahamas Agricultural Resources (BAR), a farming project that is seeking some 25,000 acres of crown land and Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) land in the Twin Lakes area.

Documents obtained by Tribune Business reveal that, in early 2019, the BAR proposal included former US ambassador to The Bahamas, Ned Siegel, along with Benjamin Simmons and his son, who have extensive farming interests across the US in states such as the Carolinas, Louisiana, Maryland and Georgia. One of their Bahamian partners was James Edgar Curling, principal of sand miner, Tycoon Management.

The chamber’s Mr Bethell, though, called on Androsians to “pump the brakes” on judging any of these projects given that other media (not The Tribune) had seemingly confused the three separate proposals and incorrectly conflated them into one.

“This is not giving Androsians a clear understanding of what it is that is actually being proposed or offered to us, and how it will affect us today and our children later and grandchildren in the future,” he said. “I’m not suggesting the project is a good one or that it’s a bad one; what I’m saying is that it is evident that we don’t have enough information as yet to make a decision.

“Those that are jumping on this are trying to preempt us from finding out what opportunities are ahead for us, and we have to ask ourselves why. Some are even suggesting this project should go to Freeport. What really needs to happen is that we, the people, should get full transparency on the proposals and maybe the investors would want to invest in both Freeport and Andros. I think we have to be careful to pass early judgment and take a side.”

Mr Bethell’s reference to Freeport alludes to comments by Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, who last week argued that it would be “economic insanity to reinvent the wheel” by permitting the creation of a new free trade zone in North Andros instead of directing Dr Soon-Shiong to Freeport where much of the infrastructure he requires is already in place.

The North Andros Chamber chief, meanwhile, said he had previously “led objections” to mining in the area but had since changed his mind after reviewing the proposal and accounting for the changed economic landscape as a result of Water & Sewerage Corporation reducing its reliance on the wellfields.

“This is different and we can’t allow history to represent us as the sleeping giant that never progressed because its people fought against all manner of investment simply out of fear of losing control of something that we never had power over, which is the land here in Andros,” Mr Bethell said.

“The government alone is unable to move our island forward we need private investments, government spending alone won’t do it; we need an influx of new money, foreign direct and domestic investment dollars. We just need to choose the best option to support what we have outlined within the Andros development plan as what we want for this Island in the future.”

Noting that Andros had lost investments to Grand Bahama before, Mr Bethell added: “It would be a shame for us to lose on this here simply out of ignorance or fear. Those before us had the benefits of a false economy - an era where pushing investors away was easy because they benefited from an economy that allowed them to educate their children.

“We do not share that luxury and we have to consider future Androsians. We have had a brain drain in our community over the past 30-plus plus years. We must work towards creating an economy that will keep some of our brighter minds home and attract other great minds from around the country, so let’s not rush to judgment but, rather, examine the opportunities that are before us.”