The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) is “exploring options” as to how The Bahamas can “monetise” 3.2m cubic yards of Hurricane Dorian debris, its deputy chair said yesterday.

Algernon Cargill, in an Abaco Business outlook presentation that switched between his role at the DRA and position as director of aviation, revealed that the public sector body was examining how it can generate revenue when the waste is removed from Abaco.

The debris is currently sitting at sites in Green Turtle Cay, Spring City, Treasure Cay and Elbow Cay, and he explained: “We have to look at ways to monetise the debris and remove it from Abaco....

“We’re exploring options to eliminate the debris, and are looking at ideas to monetise the debris working with international agencies to remove it from Abaco and earn revenue from what is shipped off. The goal is to transition to normality as quickly as possible.”

On the aviation side, Mr Cargill said the Government-owned Airport Authority will shortly have to take “a business decision” as to whether the Sandy Point air strip in south Abaco remains open “in the short-term”.

He revealed: “Sandy Point is only an air strip. We are reviewing whether this air strip remains active in the short-term. There are lots of activities at the Sandy Point airport that the Airport Authority has no control over, so a business decision has to be taken as to whether that air strip remains open.

“It costs the Government thousands of dollars to maintain it, and zero dollars of revenue come in.” Nevertheless, Mr Cargill said the Government had ordered new solar runway lights for the Sandy Point air strip that are due to be installed before year-end, given the facility’s importance for local residents, businesses and on “humanitarian” grounds.

Elsewhere, Mr Cargill said some $10m had been reserved from a $150m facility being put together by Bahamas-based RF Bank & Trust to finance further repairs at the Leonard Thompson International Airport in Marsh Harbour.

He added that the Government had already spent a collective $2m on repairs, but more was required for the Customs building, fire crash rescue and the tower. “We want to set the right tone for arriving visitors to Abaco. Airports are the first impression and also the last impression,” Mr Cargill said.

Meanwhile, Treasure Cay’s airport building has been “completely razed” after being destroyed by Hurricane Dorian. The aviation chief said it will be “rebuilt on a smaller scale” using a fixed-base operation (FBO) type design of the kind found at Jet Aviation or Odyssey in Nassau. A $1.8m budget for the project has been provided via a commitment from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 

On the DRA front, Mr Cargill said it had spent “almost $10m” on Dorian debris management and a further $7.3m on “community clean-up”. Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), Mr Cargill added, has spent $62m to-date on repairing its Abaco infrastructure with 63.4 percent of pre-Dorian customers now reconnected.

“Those not reconnected are home owners who have not returned, and persons who have not received the Ministry of Works certificate that their building is safe to receive energy,” he explained.

As for the DRA’s small home repair programme, he added that it has approved 1,216 homeowners on Abaco and the cays to receive $5.8m worth of purchase orders for materials with which to reconstruct their properties. A further $2.04m is due to be spent.

Mr Cargill also spoke about the public-private partnerships (PPPs) to upgrade Grand Bahama and several Family Island airports, noting that 154 attendees were present for the initial launch and requests from another 20 parties were received subsequently.

He added that the Department of Aviation still hoped to launch the bidder pre-qualification phase “before October/November this year”, with the actual bid going out to tender in the fourth quarter and a “binding offer for the airports in the PPP package” in the 2022 first quarter.

However, no mention was made of the fact the airport PPPs are under review by the newly-elected Davis administration - something that has been confirmed by Mr Cargill himself, as well as deputy prime minister, Chester Cooper.