By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

Grand Bahama International Airport will be purchased at a cost of under $1m by the Airport Authority, it was announced yesterday.

Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told Parliament that while the Authority is purchasing the airport at a price of “one dollar,” the authority will also assume a portion of staff related costs. These costs, he said, were not expected to exceed $1m.

However, Mr D’Aguilar told Members of Parliament a new airport will cost between $40m and $50m to be constructed.

Government will seek to enter into a public private partnership to assist in the rebuilding effort, Mr D’Aguilar said.

His announcement was welcomed by government MPs, but was met with criticism by former Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin.

Not only did the Englerston MP demand that details of the impending purchase be laid on the table of the House of Assembly, but she said the minister should have revealed what motivated owners, Hutchinson Whampoa, to agree to sell the facility.

Mrs Hanna Martin further hit out at foreign companies who have received concessions but have not lived up to their obligations.

“After the passage of Hurricane Dorian, on September 1, 2020, Hutchinson expressed that they had had enough of operating that airport and simply wanted to sell it and be done with it,” Mr D’Aguilar said as mover of the Airport Authority Amendment Bill, 2021.

“Intense discussions ensued between the government and Hutchinson, resulting in a heads of terms which lays out the terms under which the government will purchase, and the Freeport Harbour Company will sell, the Grand Bahama International Airport.

“The Bahamian taxpayer and especially the taxpayers in Grand Bahama want to know the amount that their government has agreed to pay for that airport. Well, the purchase price is one dollar. One dollar plus the assumption of a portion of staff related costs which should not exceed one million dollars.”

He continued: “So, the Airport Authority is purchasing almost 2,500 acres of land, an 11,000-foot-long runway that was recently resurfaced, taxiways, ramps, etc, all for under a million dollars.

“Once the purchase of the Grand Bahama International Airport has been completed, the lawyers are currently doing the title searches, the relationship between a Bahamas government owned asset and the Port Authority being finalised, the asset will be transferred to the Airport Authority who will create a special purpose vehicle to operate and redevelop the airport, very similar to what was set up at the Lynden Pindling International Airport.

“So, in Nassau, the airport is owned by the Airport Authority, a 100 percent government owned entity, and redeveloped and now managed by NAD, the Nassau Airport Development Company another 100 percent government owned entity.

“Once the transaction in Freeport is completed, the airport will be owned by the Airport Authority and redeveloped and managed by a SPV, similar in construct and purpose to NAD. That SPV will be charged with redeveloping, rebuilding, and making a new airport in Freeport far more resilient against significant weather events, such as, hurricanes.”

He added: “You look at the finances of the country and you wonder to yourself where we gonna get this $40m to $50m to bring this critical airport in Grand Bahama. This is a major issue. The people of Grand Bahama are looking for a new airport. The finances of the government are extremely challenged as the pandemic and hurricane have created these large deficits which we all agree are unsustainable.”

Following the minister’s contribution to the amendment, Mrs Hanna Martin said Bahamians deserved to know the details of the Heads of Agreement.

The MP said the debt burden was expected to rise with the purchase of the airport, adding no more than one dollar should be paid to acquire it.

Mrs Hanna Martin said: “I heard the minister speak about a Heads of Agreement or something. Why he didn’t lay it? Why hasn’t this minister laid the Heads of Agreement for this airport? Why hasn’t he done it?

“He want(s) (to) tell you it’s a dollar because he want(s) to send you down that road. But there is another road and we would like to know what has been agreed with Hutchinson Whampoa with this administration for the sale of that airport for a dollar.

“This government has not disclosed to the Bahamian people what they have agreed in relation to that airport. When Hutchinson came to The Bahamas in 1995 its principle objective was the Freeport Harbour, a strategic addition to its multi-million dollar global shipping company. But because The Bahamas government wanted other things they got incredible concessions, which included that airport and the hotel.

“The Freeport international airport and the construction of the Our Lucaya hotel were made part of the deal to obtain the prize. What you have allowed, you have allowed a foreign investor to take all the cream and leave us with the burden in this country and I believe there is even more burden because you’ve not laid that Heads of Agreement in this Parliament.

“We do not know what you have agreed to further burden the Bahamian people. Grand Bahama is worse off than it was in 1995. Once the acquisition of the Freeport international airport is passed in the Parliament, Hutchinson would have successfully offloaded/dumped two economically challenging entities expected to grow and prosper under the hands of the giant. Hutchinson wanted out and waited for the moment,” she said. 

She further pointed to the $65m sale of the Grand Lucayan Hotel, saying the government has had to spend millions of dollars in operational costs and severance pay since purchasing the hotel in 2018.