The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper revealed yesterday that government has narrowed down the list of potential investors for the redevelopment of the Grand Bahama International Airport to two and is hoping to select the “winning bidder” in the next several weeks.

Mr Cooper, who was speaking to reporters yesterday, said while both investors were credible and “funded”, officials also wanted to do due diligence to ensure that the bidder selected has the vision needed to execute the project properly.

“They are credible. They are funded and as you know, we put in place a new board in Freeport, the Freeport Airport Development Board,” the acting prime minister said before going to a Cabinet meeting.

“They are looking at the possibility of entering the PPP (public private partnership) to design, build, finance and manage the Grand Bahama International Airport. This is going to be a world class airport. This process takes time to be done properly and we want to ensure that we select the bidder who has the vision, resources and who understands resiliency, and can execute quickly.”

As for when the bidder will be selected, Mr Cooper said it will be in the next several weeks.

Plans for the redevelopment of the airport were announced after the facility suffered extensive damage caused by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.

Before Dorian, the airport was privately owned and operated by the Freeport Harbour Company, which is part of Hutchison Port Holdings of the Hutchison Whampoa Group.

However, under the Minnis administration, the government purchased it in April 2021 for $1, with plans to redevelop the airport under a PPP. It also paid-out around $1m as its 50 percent share of the redundancy pay and associated benefits received by GBIA staff.

While it is not clear how soon redevelopment works will start after the bidder is selected, Mr Cooper said officials are seeking to complete several repairs in the interim to improve conditions at the Grand Bahama airport.

“There is a design phase. It takes a long time to build an airport. In the meantime, we are doing preliminary repairs, we’re cleaning up the airport. We’ve demolished one of the hangars that’s been an eyesore since Dorian,” he said.

“We’re repairing the other one. We’re repairing the domestic terminal to welcome Sunwing out of Toronto and Montreal and Bahamasair out of Raleigh, North Carolina. So, we’re going to make sure that we give the guests who are arriving a good experience on arrival so we continue to make the preliminary updates as best we can. We are building modular housing for many of the administrative employees who have worked in trailers and used outhouses for two and a half years since Dorian.

“We’re doing something about it. Those modular houses are almost completed. We anticipate that within the next few weeks, they will be occupied by the employees who continue to work under unhealthy conditions at Grand Bahama International Airport.”

Yesterday, Mr Cooper was also asked to respond to growing concerns regarding the Grand Lucayan sale after the government last week granted a third extension to the buyer’s due diligence time.

In a recent press release, the Free National Movement called the decision to extend the closing of Grand Lucayan both “troubling and disheartening” to Grand Bahama residents.

“Well, let me explain what the due diligence process is,” Mr Cooper said. “Now let’s say as much as I can as candidly as I can but please appreciate that this model is under contract. The resort is under contract and this is what we call a due diligence period. During the due diligence period, the buyer would go and do studies and investigations, ask questions and come back and seek to negotiate based on the information they find, the results of their studies, etc.

“We have extended the due diligence period by seven days that ends sometime next week. At that point, we will be able to say more. Appreciate that it’s an active negotiation and active discussion and therefore it’s not in the best interest of the Bahamian people to discuss that publicly at this point.”