The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said developing a plan to rebuild Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA) will be among the Davis administration’s top priorities for the island.

Ginger Moxey, newly-appointed minister for Grand Bahama, told reporters: “I know that the Government assumed responsibility for it, and they also took on a lot of the severance pay [on behalf of] a private developer. So all of that we have to address, but the first thing is developing a plan for the airport.”

Declining to say if the Government will develop this plan itself, or contract an outside consultancy firm to do so, Ms Moxey added: “I can’t say right now. We’re just getting into it. We actually have to assess the situation as soon as we can.”

Tribune Business reported earlier this year that a $200m investment is required for the “comprehensive redevelopment” of Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA, which lost more than $13m in the two-and-a-half years before the Government acquired it earlier this year.

The Minnis administration moved to put Grand Bahama International Airport out to tender via a private-public partnership (PPP) process, which aimed to secure private sector capital and expertise to redevelop and manage the facility. That process had only just begun when the general election was called, and it is unclear whether the Davis administration will proceed on the same terms and conditions.

The former administration sought to place much of the focus on the airport’s $1 purchase price, but many observers believe its owners, Hutchison Whampoa and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), have effectively been allowed to abandon their developmental obligations to Freeport under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement by offloading a loss-making asset on to taxpayers while retaining all the profitable ones.

The Government also agreed to “reimburse” Hutchison Whampoa for half the costs it incurred in paying due severance and other benefits to the airport’s 60-70 staff, a sum subsequently pegged at $1m. And there have been suggestions that the airport’s Dorian insurance claim payout may have been as high as $25m, a sum that the former owners have been allowed to keep rather than invest in the rebuilding.

Ms Moxey, though, indicated that the Government will have other priorities besides the airport. She said: “The first thing we really have to get a handle on is the Rand Memorial Hospital, and the many COVID-19 cases, given the fact that we cannot accommodate the cases that we have.”

She added that “a lot of people are hurting” and in need of relief because there are no jobs, but promised to “hit the ground running”. Ms Moxey said: “We have to assess the situation, but we’re going to bring relief to those that need it the most, and people that are hurting.”

The Grand Lucayan’s sale has been deadlocked due to the stalemate in negotiations between Hutchison Whampoa and the Royal Caribbean/ITM joint venture over the redevelopment of Freeport Harbour as part of the project.

Ms Moxey said: “The Grand Lucayan was a major employer on the island, and we have to see how we can make that work. But I understand that there’s a lot of work that actually needs to be done to that resort.

“There’s a lot of money that’s already gone into it. The Government is still paying on a lot of sums of money, but we’re really not doing well with that, so we’re going to have to look at the situation as soon as I get in office.

“The major thing right now is people don’t have jobs, and many of them are going to bed hungry. So the key right now is going in and assessing the situation, but also bringing some immediate relief.”

Considering the damage Grand Bahama sustained from Hurricane Dorian in 2019, with many businesses and homes still not rebuilt, Ms Moxey said she is not sure how her ministry will work with the Disaster Relief Authority (DRA) set up by the previous administration but will just “assess the situation” when she gets in office.