The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

One of the International Bazaar’s 13 owners yesterday said it is awaiting an update on efforts to sell the property from the Government’s attorney, and added: “We’ve lost millions of dollars in that investment.”

Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union’s (BHCAWU) president, indicated to Tribune Business that the Government’s bid to purchase the International Bazaar may not be as far advanced as Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, signalled at last week’s Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference.

While the minister asserted that “purchase agreements have been made with... the Bazaar owners”, the hotel union has to-date just signed a Letter of Intent (LOI). And Mr Woods said he is now waiting for a reply to his request for an update on the property’s proposed sale to the Government from the latter’s legal representative Chris Gouthro, an attorney with Gouthro & Company.

“It’s amazing you would ask this question,” the BHCAWU president replied when contacted by this newspaper. “I just sent an e-mail to Mr Gouthro on Thursday or Friday asking the same question: Where it [the deal] is. I just sent him an e-mail asking if there was any update on it but he’s not replied as yet.

“The only thing they did, which was last year, was send us a Letter of Intent for us to look at and sign. We’ve done. He [Mr Gouthro] said at that point the majority of owners have signed with the exception of one or two that had not. Now I’ve just sent a communication to find out where it’s at.”

Mrs Moxey, in her Business Outlook address, gave the impression that the Government’s acquisition of the International Bazaar for the proposed African-Caribbean products marketplace was further advanced than the scenario detailed by Mr Woods. 

While conceding that there has been a “slight delay” due to debts owed by the Bazaar’s existing 13-strong ownership to the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), she said: “The acquisition of the International Bazaar and Royal Oasis tower and casino properties, as well as the reopening of the West Sunrise Highway, is central to this development and is currently in progress.

“Purchase agreements have been made with both the Bazaar owners and Harcourt Development, and we are ready to go. Our friends at the Grand Bahama Port Authority have indicated that there are long outstanding receivables of the previous owners that must be settled, which has caused a slight delay.

“This acquisition has been budgeted for in the 2024/2025 Budget of the Government, and we are hopeful that we can move forward as quickly as possible for this game changing development for our island.” Some $1m was allocated in the 2024-2025 Budget for the Royal Oasis purchase, and a further $1m for the West Sunrise Highway, but the International Bazaar was not specifically identified.

Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most of the International Bazaar owners - who also include the likes of John Bull and the Chee-A-Tow family - have voiced a willingness to sell if the price, terms and conditions are right but any deal has progressed little beyond that.

And Mr Gouthro has informed them that any costs incurred by the GBPA in demolishing the remaining buildings will be deducted from the purchase price the owners receive to cover this expense. Mr Woods effectively confirmed this yesterday, when he said: “We agreed with them that they could go ahead and demolish the buildings, and whatever the cost was we would pay for it when the property was sold.

“This was the easiest transaction for us. We didn’t want to invest the little we have in something down there. That’s pretty much it for us. We’ve lost millions of dollars in that investment by way of rental income, hurricanes and the like and we’re just trying to keep it going.

“For us, we’re eager to get out of it and get anything we can get to at least do more things for our membership. It was a good investment at the time, but the environment deteriorated around it causing the investment itself to deteriorate. We’re got to get out,” Mr Woods continued.

“We had a former vice-president in Freeport who said we need to get out of it at bird speed. How can we put a dollar value on what we’ve lost in terms of being able to recoup it? Whatever we’ve lost down there, we will not recoup it.

“What we want to do is be able to tell the membership: This is what we invested. This is what we lost in it. This is what we were able to recover. It will not bring it to full value but this is what we got back for the members. That’s the point of being a good steward: You get the best you can under the circumstances.”

Mr Woods said he had “heard” the Bazaar site was given an appraisal value of around $3m. He added that both himself and the union were concerned to see the International Bazaar site transformed into a revived destination that would benefit both the Freeport community and tourism product. “Bring some life to that community,” he added. “All the life is now up at Port Lucaya.

“There are feeder businesses that would like the support from it. There’s still some straw vendors there. They would have something to boost their income from being around it. It would be the ultimate thing for them and those hoping that the Government will look out for them. I heard them in the media really crying out because nothing is happening and they need something to be done to bring life to that area down there.”

Mr Woods, though, acknowledged that ensuring all Bazaar owners are of one accord over any sale may prove challenging. “A dollar to me may not be a dollar to you,” he added. “That’s where the persons responsible for brokering the deal have to sharpen their negotiating skills and get a happy medium where they bring it to resolution.”

The International Bazaar, which has steadily deteriorated ever since the Royal Oasis resort that supplied a significant proportion of its customer base closed in 2004, suffered further blows as a result of two fires that further devastated what remained of many buildings.

Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, in 2023 said of the Government’s Afro-Caribbean Marketplace plans: “Not only will the marketplace promote and distribute African and Caribbean products, but it will also offer a taste of Africa and the Caribbean, making it an appealing tourist attraction.

“In the marketplace, we envision seamless connectivity for trade between Africa and the Caribbean through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with the Caribbean as the sixth region, and the added advantage of a 230-square-mile free-trade zone offering tax concessions on Grand Bahama.”

Using Grand Bahama’s proximity to the US, the marketplace would provide strategic opportunities for value-added manufacturing, transshipment, distribution and logistics. “This vision, however, goes beyond mere trade,” Mrs Moxey said.

“It represents the culmination of a world-class experience, showcasing the rich cultures of Africa and the Caribbean. The African-Caribbean Marketplace will become the home of ‘All things African and Caribbean’. It will feature a ‘Bahamas Bazaar’ representing each inhabited island of The Bahamas.

“With its conceptual design, including an amphitheatre, featuring a performance arts theatre, African and Caribbean-flavoured concessions and unique architecture reflecting the authenticity of our cultures, we aim to create a space that resonates with the spirit of Africa and the Caribbean.”