The Government is working with the Commonwealth Secretariat to finalise a new fiscal regime for the mining of sand, aragonite and other Bahamian natural resources, the Minister of the Environment and Housing said yesterday.

Kenred Dorsett, while the House of Assembly on the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill, said: “The Commonwealth Secretariat is in town, and we are seeking to finalise the new fiscal and legislative regime for mining in the country; for instance,  the use of sand, aragonite and other natural resources.

“For us, 2016 becomes a  year where under the Global Environment Facility we are focused on an access benefit sharing programme. What we have realised is that many people come here, they dive into our waters, extract marine species; different species and then they go off to their countries and the next thing you know, the entire pharmaceutical  and cosmetic world are using things indigenous to the Bahamas for their products - for which we receive no compensation.

“There is a programme now being advanced which will assist us in creating not only the framework but getting a better understanding of what we have,” added Mr Dorsett.

As for the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, Mr Dorsett said it would be established to mainly save and invest surplus funds gained from oil exploration, natural gas, minerals and other natural resources.

Sovereign wealth funds, such as Singapore’s Temasek, have been established by many Middle Eastern and Asian nations as vehicles to hold multi-billion dollars worth of assets and revenues, which are generated from sectors such as oil. These funds are then invested in productive areas of the global economy.

Mr Dorsett said the Bahamas’ sovereign wealth fund regime has been benchmarked against the likes of Norway, which has the largest fund in the world, totalling some $882 billion.

“Many countries around the world have established sovereign wealth funds. These mechanisms are used to secure currency for many different reasons,” said Mr Dorsett.

“In the Caribbean presently, Trinidad and Tobago has a sovereign wealth fund and their fund is currently worth $5 billion.”