By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A $5m commercial faming venture that involved a former US ambassador to The Bahamas was yesterday identified as one of three competing investment proposals targeting North Andros.

Documents obtained by Tribune Business name Ned Siegel, an ex-US ambassador to this nation under George W Bush's administration, as a partner in an "American-Bahamian partnership" seeking to lease 25,000 acres of land from the Crown and Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) in the Twin Lakes area on Andros.

Mr Siegel did not return Tribune Business's call seeking comment yesterday, and several sources suggested he may no longer be involved with a project that is thought to have been formally submitted to the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) for the necessary government approvals last year.

It is thought that the project has stalled in the approvals process, with some sources - speaking on condition of anonymity - suggesting the Government would be unlikely to lease such a vast amount of land to any investor. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government's drive for food security may revive interest in it.

The Bahamas Agricultural Resources (BAR) project, detailed in a paper dated from January 2019, lists US father-and-son duo, Benjamin and Jamin Simmons, who have extensive farming interests in Louisiana, the Carolinas, Maryland, Georgia and Uruguay, as principals in the project alongside Mr Siegel. Also named as their "Bahamian partner" is James Edgar Curling, owner of sand miner Tycoon Management.

"Bahamas Agricultural Resources is prepared to invest $5m into this initiative," the document states. "These funds will be used for equipment, supplies, transportation and labour needed for start-up associated with the Andros land-clearing activities, and for the initial and long-term operational expenses.

"It is anticipated that by year five the initial investment will have been recouped and the business will generate a modest profit. Our Bahamian partner, Ed Curling, has the infrastructure to mobilise a segment of the equipment and supplies needed for start-up that are already positioned in The Bahamas.

"This agricultural initiative will require 25,000 acres in total of Crown Land and Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) land...... The core team assembled by the Simmons family are prepared to leverage robust internal financial and human resources which will allow commencement of initial 60 operations within 60 days of project approval and granting of the land leases."

The BAR document revealed that the Simmons duo had been scouting potential farm locations in Andros since 2017.