Hutchison Whampoa (HW) stuck it good to Minnis by making Bahamian taxpayers buy the Grand Lucayan Hotel for a ridiculously high price because HW's refusal to fix it up and re-open it in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. And now they are doing exactly the same thing with respect to Grand Bahama International Airport in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. Minnis must have dunce cap on his head as far as HW and the government of Red China are concerned. They can't believe their luck in getting our country's lead dolt to bail them out by increasing our already unsustainable national debt and the horrendous tax burden now on the backs of the vast majority of Bahamians.

Buy the airport! The government should take over the second largest airport in the Bahamas.

And not pay a damn dime for it!

I agree Debbie, take the airport from them. What is wrong with the government, tell both the port and hutchinlson you got one week to get repairs/rebuild going or walk away from the property. We Bahamians are being held hostage in our own country. WTF

The problem is that the previous GB airport was destroyed after flooding from two back to back hurricanes. They built the new one a stones throw from the old one but elevated the foundation. There was still flooding in the new airport during Dorian. A flooded runway and airport makes it difficult to get supplies into the island in the immediate aftermath of a major storm.

The government should abandon the current location of the airport (because it is in a flood prone area) and build a new airport at a much higher elevation to minimize wasting funds renovating the airport after every major hurricane and to ensure they can respond quickly by getting supplies and support into the island after a major storm.

… lived there for almost 20 years. Experienced most of the major hurricanes there. Witnessed firsthand the damage at the old airport. Never said it floods during a "normal rain storm". When people are critically injured after a major hurricane and the Rand is out of service, 48 hrs is too long to wait to have an airport open for emergency flights etc!

Taking the GBIA from the shareholders by any means including 'eminent domain' would be a blood bath, Hutch will fight it tooth and nail, having far deeper pockets than the Government. The resulting brawl will do irreparable damage to the reputation of the Bahamas in the world investor view. Look at Hutch's annual report, the Bahamas barely makes a mention, however you are kidding yourself if you think they are simply going to walk away.
Also the idea of moving the GBIA to higher ground sounds easy but is beyond the reach of the government finances. You are looking at acquisition of land, infrastructure, etc., and a 4-5 year program. As 40+% of the island flooded where do you find a couple of hundred acres above the 'new' flood plain. You really need to work with what you have and try to make it as flood resistant as possible. Also the terminal built in 2002 was elevated based on historic data is this now obsolete? Is Dorian with its 20'+ surge the new norm. If so then 40+% of the island should be off limits for building
A suggestion, the Dutch have been living and building airports below sea level successfully since the 1950’s, an expert opinion/ recommendation from them would be money well spent.

Two points:

1) the Bahamas does not have river dikes (like the Dutch) to prevent flooding,
2) flooding in the Netherlands is NOT caused by storm surge.

The Dutch coastal defenses were the result of a major flood caused by a heavy storm that occurred on the night of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday, 1 February 1953. The floods were a combination of a high spring tide and a severe windstorm over the North Sea caused a storm tide. Realizing that such infrequent events could reoccur, the Netherlands, carried out major studies on strengthening of coastal defenses. The Netherlands developed the Delta Works, an extensive system coastal storm surge barriers. All I am saying is that it is worth getting some experts to give an opinion.

Either way it doesn't happen over night, it will be a long drawn out process during which no one is rebuilding the GBIA.

with what? Do you think I want to pay an increase in VAT again? I do not want my children's children to pay it of either. Spend what you can afford to spend and stop spending our money like it is your personal account.

The bottom line is it is going to cost $40M to rebuild the existing and $80M to move to a new site. Nothing is going to happen until the funds are found for this and additional $$$ for the purchase of the assets if the Govt. goes down that path.

Frankly, all we need to do is accept the deal put on the table by the U.S. government to deal with the entire lot of you forever more. ROWL