By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

COTTON Bay Holdings Limited will partner with the Ritz Carlton Reserve brand in a $200m project in South Eleuthera that will employ 300 people during construction and 200 people during operation, according to officials.

A new Heads of Agreement for the project was signed at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

The project will feature 60 villas and about 90 rooms, according to Daniel Zuleta, a representative of Cotton Bay Holdings. The project will involve the redevelopment of properties in Eleuthera and will be completed within 48 months, Mr Zuleta said.

Minister of Tourism and Investments Chester Cooper said: “This is an important occasion for the people of South Eleuthera. We anticipate that this project will do wonders for the economy, the landscape of Eleuthera and, of course, the people of Eleuthera in terms of not just jobs but potential entrepreneurial opportunities.”

 Cotton Bay officials have been trying to secure the project forward for years, with Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis saying the journey to yesterday had been arduous.

 “As you know times (have) changed,” Mr Cooper said when asked about why the journey took so long. “The development has gone through a period of metamorphosis. As you would recall we indicated earlier that the first signing was done under the Christie administration.

 “We look to the future. We are confident that the investors and their partners are now ready to proceed and we are confident that this time is the charm. We do not want to spend too much time reflecting on the past. We do know that the environment now is ripe for investments. We do know that the people of South Eleuthera are embracing this project. We wanted to ensure harmonious development with the people of South Eleuthera, ensuring there was beach access, for instance opportunity for Bahamians…”

 Officials did not release the Heads of Agreement to the press and it is not clear when or whether the document will be made available to the public.

 Mr Cooper, nonetheless, said the government has created a new compliance unit to ensure compliance with agreements. He said he believes the Cotton Bay agreement will empower locals.

 “One of the things we’re going to be doing in Bahamas Invest is to implement a compliance unit to really look at all the Heads of Agreements that we have signed previously to ensure that there has been compliance with all of the terms and agreements,” he said.

 “As we move forward that same unit will look at the new Heads of Agreements to really ensure that we are all living up to our obligations. In all of our Heads of Agreement over successive generations, there is language to ensure that Bahamians benefit. We want to ensure that that continues. We want to ensure an equitable level of Bahamian employment versus work permits and we want to ensure there is an integration of the development into the community in terms of using local artisans, infusing art and culture, Bahamian entertainment as best as possible and causing there to be entrepreneurial advancement.”