By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

EVEN though Kylin International plans to commence major multi-million development projects in Antigua and the Turks and Caicos, Ken Russell says the $6.3bn Blackwood Pointe project for East Grand Bahama is moving in a positive direction again and things are back on track with the Bahamas government.

Developer Lawrence McDonough and Mr Russell met the Prime Minister over the weekend to clear up any “doubts and misunderstanding” involving the project. “We ran into the Prime Minister Perry Christie in Antigua where he and Mr McDonough had some conversation, and he invited us back to his office to talk again,” he said.

While in Grand Bahama last week, Mr Christie told the media that government was not prepared to approve the project in East Grand Bahama until they were satisfied that the developers had all the financing in place for it.

The application has been before the government for over a year and there was speculation that Kylin International would abandon its plan for Grand Bahama to focus on other major developments in the Caribbean.

The international development group is soon to start major developments in Antigua, and are undergoing due diligence in the Turks and Caicos for a major housing project. “We still are very interested in proceeding with the project in East Grand Bahama,” Mr Russell confirmed yesterday.

“Over the past several weeks, we thought since it was taking a while to get to approval/completion here we would start our additional projects. We have always planned that we would end up doing several projects in the Caribbean, and we decided to go to Turks and Caicos and Antigua and start there.

“In the Turks and Caicos we are going through the diligence stage now, and in Antigua we have a project we are mobilising now, but our hearts were still in GB,” Mr Russell said.

On Saturday, Mr McDonough and Mr Russell met with the Prime Minister. “We removed all doubts and misunderstanding between us and we are now back on stride again, getting it sorted out. We believe in a very short time we would be able to announce the start of project in Grand Bahama,” said the former cabinet minister.

“We still have to provide evidence that financing is there and that it is blocked in for the project, but that is easy now compared to what they wanted us to do the first time, and I think our lawyers and Office of the Prime Minister are working on finalising the arrangement for that to take place.

“That is not a long process – it is a matter of a couple days and after that government will make the decision. I believe the decision will be a positive one because it is not my project, its God’s project. It is coming to make sure GB and the Bahamas gets back on top of the world.”

The Blackwood Pointe project is a mega-resort project that rivals Baha Mar in New Providence. It consists of six hotels and a casino. It also calls for an airport, harbour, schools, hospital, sewerage treatment facility and power plant.

Mr Russell, who is a native of East Grand Bahama, said the project would provide thousands of jobs for Bahamians. “It would mean a brand new day for Grand Bahama and the Bahamas. There are less than 1,000 people in East Grand Bahama, and we are talking about 8,000 employed during the construction and about 10,000 employed after construction is finished.”

Mr Russell said the project would also attract manufacturing companies to Grand Bahama. He noted that they have already received interest from three or four manufacturing companies that are ready to come in.

They have plans for an airport in East Grand Bahama, with a major airline providing services from South and Central America, Mexico, Europe and the United States.

“We also hope that our hub would end up serving New Providence because we plan to have three or four very large jets a week from several cities in China,” he added. “We believe that the number of people we will bring to Grand Bahama by our efforts would not only fill all the hotels in GB, but also two major hotels in New Providence.”

The project is one that Mr Russell had endorsed while he was a cabinet minister in the FNM government — and which led to his firing.

“I am very happy and relieved that the people of the Bahamas can judge who is working in their best interest. I always said from day one, if I got fired for trying to help the people in GB they could fire me every day for that.”

Mr Russell indicated that he is not interested in politics right now. “I will do my best all the time to help GB. I am not interested in politics at this time. I do not know what will happen in years from now, but right now, I am not interested. I am only interested in getting something going for GB.”

He said that Mr McDonough and his wife, who are the principals, are totally committed to the Blackwood Pointe project, as well as the others in the Caribbean. Mr Russell said the project in East Grand Bahama would not be another Ginn. “We are not looking for money, we have the money,” he said.