By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A prominent QC yesterday argued it would be “pure economic insanity” if the government permits a US billionaire philanthropist to develop a free-trade zone on Andros instead of basing his project in Freeport.

Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas will be “reinventing the wheel” if it fails to direct Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong to a city “where everything is set up for him” in terms of the infrastructure required to support his ambitions.

Responding to revelations of the cancer drug inventor’s Andros plans, Mr Smith said: “My view is that it is pure economic insanity for the government to even contemplate this kind of project in other parts of The Bahamas when Freeport is lying fallow and simply needs investment directed its way.

“This is nothing more than political will to make Freeport succeed. Creating this proliferation of competing anchor projects throughout the rest of The Bahamas dilutes Freeport’s economic impact, and creates a governance challenge will greatly impacting the culture, environment and society in these very small islands.

“Freeport is sitting here waiting for just this kind of investment. Please can you direct such a legitimate investor to Freeport where everything is set up for him. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The Government continues to try and reinvent the Freeport wheel elsewhere without success rather than make the existing wheel turn.”

Dr Soon-Shiong, who was said by Forbes to have a net worth of $6.9bn as at March 2020, would appear to be the sort of legitimate, bona fide investor that The Bahamas needs to attract to reignite its economy and employment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and owner and executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers, he also seem to have the financial wherewithal necessary to both acquire the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and fulfill the vision for Freeport that is set out in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

And Freeport, a city created for 300,000 persons, already possesses much of the roads, lands and other infrastructure required by Dr Soon-Shiong for a free trade zone plan based on value-added manufacturing, eco tourism and medical clinic/tourism. Locating to The Bahamas’ second city would likely significantly reduce the infrastructure build-out costs associated with developing in North Andros.

Dr Soon-Shiong’s initial proposal, which has yet to be formally submitted to the Government and its investment agencies, aims to create 750-plus full-time jobs, and 10,000 construction jobs over the build-out. Some $200m-$250m will be invested over the first two phases of a development targeted at the Morgan’s Bluff area in North Andros.

The project is focused on “value-added” manufacturing involving the creation of finished products from aragonite and other Bahamian natural resources, rather than simply exporting the raw material. Besides creating more employment for Bahamians, Dr Soon-Shiong and his team feel this will generate higher margins and bring in greater foreign currency earnings.

Besides an airport and seaport, the project’s other components include eco-tourism and medical tourism based on a medical research centre and clinic. Dr Soon-Shiong, who is based in Los Angeles, is heavily involved in the global healthcare sector through three foundations, visiting professorships at universities and his NantWorks network of health and technology start-ups.

Andros residents yesterday said any investment project of the scale proposed by Dr Soon-Shiong “has to come to the people” and ensure all their concerns are addressed. Captain Randy Butler, Sky Bahamas’ principal and an Andros native, said: “On the face of it, it looks like a land grab.

“Andros needs investment, Andros folks are open to investment, but any project has to come to the people and be satisfied with the role Andros plays in The Bahamas. This is the greatest land mass for farming. Any project will have an environmental impact, and we have to ensure this is mitigated to acceptable levels we can live with. It’s not just North Andros that will be affected; the whole Bahamas will be affected.”

Arguing that Bahamians should hear about such projects from the Government and local MP first, rather than through the media, Captain Butler added that local citizens and residents were “not equal partners” with foreign direct investment (FDI) projects.

“You look at these projects in the Family Islands,” he said. “They get the land, build the hotel and sell it to someone else and move on to the next project. If anybody is going to come and put something on Andros, the island, The Bahamas and the Bahamian people must benefit from it. I believe Andros will do a lot to sustain The Bahamas but we must do it carefully.”

Captain Butler also questioned why Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment and housing, would suggest aragonite mining is not economically viable when Dr Soon-Shiong’s project is heavily based on processing this material into the finished product.