By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

SHADOW Minister for Labour Loretta Butler-Turner yesterday expressed “major concern” over Resorts World Bimini’s recent $450m investment to expand its project, claiming that such an expansion “does not help to grow the (local) economy of Bimini”.

Mrs Butler-Turner said none of the reported details surrounding RWB’s near half-billion dollar investment suggests anything indicative of new business ventures for Biminites. Conversely, the Long Island MP said it seems like “everything is being centred around the Resort World development to the exclusion of the locals truly becoming empowered in terms of growing their own businesses”. 

On Friday, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that RWB and BB Entertainment Ltd, the company that owns the Bimini Casino in RWB, had “revised their business plans” from an investment of $150m in the resort project to $600m.

Mr Christie said an additional 100 permanent jobs and up to 60 more construction jobs will be created before the end of the year as a result of the move. 

Yesterday, however, Mrs Butler-Turner questioned the logic behind a $450m investment resulting in just 100 jobs, and claimed Mr Christie was merely “hoodwinking” the Bahamian people with the announcement.

“It seems that everything is being centred around the Resort World development to the exclusion of the locals truly becoming empowered in terms of growing their own businesses,” she said. “This is an outdated model that Christie and those are hoodwinking the Bahamian people with. There is no expansion for the local business people down there. 

“All of the houses and dorms that they are building, nothing hardly is going into the economy because they’re all owned by (RWB). That for me does not help to grow the economy of Bimini. All that does is help to grow the economic bottom line for (RWB’s) development. 

She added: “This government is so myopic. Instead of them trying to expand some of the tourism products to some of the other islands, they’re going to oversaturate Bimini, they’re going to overdevelop Bimini and its going to be something non-recognisable in terms of what is truly Bahamian.”

According to Mr Christie, as part of the revised plan, the developer has also committed to expand Bimini’s airport, construct a new water taxi ferry station, create a masterplan for the development of north and south Bimini, pave King’s Highway and upgrade the Fountain of Youth Spring. 

He said the developer also plans to acquire local fishing boats, construct a deep-water jetty capable of accommodating the Bimini Superfast Ferry and build a 448-unit building to house employees. 

However, Mrs Butler-Turner lamented RWB’s acquisition of local fishing boats, claiming that such a move deprives Bimini’s local economy of the opportunity for expansion.

“That to me is not a good thing,” she said. “They have already pretty much taken over the local cars, and there’s very little opportunity for local taxi men down there to make any money. Now they’re purchasing local fishing boats. I don’t see why it is that the government can enter into such an agreement when that is an area exclusively, exclusively reserved for Bahamians. I have major concerns with that. 

“Why does this resort have to buy local fishing boats? Furthermore they already control the taxi ferry service, which is something Bahamians used to make good money from.

“I think the Prime Minister truly is just regurgitating old information, because there is nothing happening in terms of foreign direct investment in this country at this time.”

She added: “Obviously we are at a very, very high unemployment rate in the Bahamas overall, so anything that is going to bring relief, in terms of jobs for Bahamians is always welcome news. Obviously that is something that I am always looking to expand, because of where we are. 

“However, I say with this particular caveat, that the new deal for Bimini in my opinion, from what I have read in what the Prime Minister said and what is carried in (Saturday’s) newspaper, clearly does not seem like such a new deal from what I am seeing.” 

According to Mr Christie, the government has reportedly granted the developer certain options in the supplemental agreement. 

These, he said, include the lengthening of the Bimini airport runway to 9,000 feet and upgrades to the terminal and flight facilities; the development of a water taxi terminal on the lagoon side of the airport; the construction of an additional hotel with a minimum of 200 rooms; the construction of a landing facility for amphibious aircraft and to build a heliport at the resort. 

Mr Christie also reportedly noted that the government and developer have agreed to resurface several roads on Bimini and will increase the investment in infrastructural upgrades from $10m to $15m. 

At present, 525 Bahamians are employed at the resort, according to Mr Christie. He said that around 200 construction jobs have been created during the various phases.