By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he has directed tourism officials to craft a short-term plan to clean up downtown Nassau as he discussed long-term plans to revitalise Bay Street during his national address last night, saying many Bahamians have complained to him about the appalling state of the area.

Upgrading the Port of Nassau will be central to the government’s efforts.

Dr Minnis said: “A significant development that will help to expand, to grow the economy in New Providence is the proposed public-private partnership for the management, upgrade and expansion of the Port of Nassau, which has gone to tender. The ambitious project aims to provide for the development of expanded berthing capacity, a new arrivals terminal and associated labour front facilities improvements. The major undertaking will tie-in to the long-awaited and ongoing redevelopment of downtown Nassau. In the redevelopment of Prince George Wharf, the government will continue to own the wharf, but the taxpayer dollars will not be used in its transformation.”

The anticipated destruction of the General Post Office building to make way for a new Supreme Court complex will help revitalise downtown, Dr Minnis said. He noted the Central Bank will be constructed on the old Victoria property. Restaurants, shops, convenience stores and other commercial enterprises will be required to facilitate the rejuvenation of the area, the prime minister said.

“In the short and medium-term,” he said, “I have directed the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and minister of works and other agencies to present a plan as soon as possible to begin to immediately beautify and clean up Bay Street. In addition to my personal observances, many Bahamians have reported to me how appalled they are by the state of downtown. I will have more to say on this on another occasion.”

The city of Nassau was once the centre of commerce in the country but has been on the decline since the 1980s. Revitalising downtown has been a longstanding goal of administrations but significant improvement has been slow to arrive. Among other issues, dilapidated buildings drag down Bay Street. Larry Smith, a Tribune columnist who died in 2017, wrote in 2016 that a US-based community developer, the Rouse Company, was hired to draw up suggestions for revitalising Nassau in the 1980s but the key players, notably Normon Solomon, did not have enough political capital to kick start the project. This effort was followed by the creation of the Nassau Tourism Development Board in the late 1990s, Mr Smith said, a body again focused on redeveloping 'historic Nassau.'

According to the Downtown Nassau Partnership, a Nassau Economic Development Commission was formed in 2003 to yet again lay a foundation for the long-term redevelopment of the city. That commission morphed into the Downtown Revitalisation Committee in 2007. That committee became the DNP in 2009.

Last year, DNP Managing Director Ed Fields told The Tribune the organisation’s goals include creating a public transportation shuttle system for downtown, constructing a 12ft wide boardwalk that will run from East Street to Potter’s Cay Dock and transforming Fort Charlotte’s surrounding area and the Fish Fry using a “Central Park-like” concept. He estimated the infrastructure could cost from a quarter to half-a-billion dollars.