By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau’s port was “starved of funds” because the cruise lines had “bullied” successive administrations into levying less than $1 per passenger, an ex-tourism minister has asserted.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, who held that post under the Minnis administration for just under four-and-a-half years, made the revelation as he defended the decision to outsource Prince George Wharf’s management to Global Ports Holding via a 25-year lease and concession,

Writing in a post to “The Bahamas International Think-Tank” What’s App group, which has several hundred participants, he asserted that “not one dollar will come from the Bahamian taxpayer” towards the cruise port’s $289m transformation.

Branding Prince George Wharf “a horrible experience” when he took over as minister of tourism and aviation in May 2017, Mr D’Aguilar argued that a private-public partnership (PPP) - with the Government retaining ownership of the real estate, and the private sector operating it and raising the necessary capital - was the only available model given the cash-strapped Public Treasury.

“The repayment of the $300m investment is to be received from the three to four million cruise passengers that will be stopping at that port,” the former minister wrote in a lengthy posting that was obtained by Tribune Business. “Not one dollar will come from the Bahamian taxpayer

“Each cruise passenger will now be paying $8.50 plus VAT to dock at the Nassau Cruise Port. Amazingly, the Nassau Cruise Port only collected $0.70 (and no VAT) per cruise passenger when it was run by the Government of The Bahamas. 

“No wonder it looked so run down..... The cruise companies had bullied the Government of The Bahamas to keep the rates low and, as such, that facility was starved of funds to maintain a decent standard of operations.”

The former Minnis administration rejected a rival bid by a cruise line consortium to take over and manage Nassau’s cruise port, instead opting for the Global Ports Holding offer. The latter’s $250m Prince George Wharf redevelopment (around $289m if financing costs are included) is due to be completed around April 2022.

The project is being financed via a mix of debt and equity, with Bahamian investors set to have the opportunity to subscribe for a collective $25m equity stake via an initial public offering (IPO) that it is understood will launch imminently prior to Christmas 2021.

Mr D’Aguilar, meanwhile, said his comments were intended to counter views that the cruise port’s development “is bad for Bahamians and bad for downtown”. He admitted that he “pushed hard” for the project to take place given the condition he found Prince George Wharf in when he took office.

“One of the first places I visited was the Welcome Centre (Festival Place) at the Prince George Dock,” he wrote. “It was in horrible condition... so much so that the building had been abandoned and all the vendors were set up outside. 

“In addition, the quality of the experience enjoyed by the 10,000 cruise passengers arriving at the Nassau Cruise Port every day was horrendous. The space was tight, run down, hot and the visitors were being greeted by a barrage of requests from local vendors trying to sell their wares or services.

“Of particular note was the working conditions of the taxis where they were all jam up on the sidewalks and roads surrounding the port entrance and the need, in their mind, to make a hard and aggressive sell just to make a fare. Once again, it was a horrible experience and I felt that changing that as a priority of the Ministry of Tourism.”

Determining to follow the same management/capital raising outsourcing model that was employed for the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), Mr D’Aguilar continued: “We needed hundreds of millions of dollars to fix up and refresh the marine infrastructure (docks and piers) and build a new experience for the over 10,000 cruise passengers that we expected to arrive each day.

“And it was clear, at the outset, that the public purse did not have the funds needed to fix up that port.” As a result, Mr D’Aguilar said the Government developed a model where it would continue to own the port and receive an annual rent, but a private sector partner would be responsible for transforming the facility, financing this process and managing its operations.

He added that the 25-year lease granted to Global Ports Holding was renewable at the Government’s determination, as well as the port operator, with a two-year “wind down” period provided if it was not extended. Doing that to a consortium partially owned by Bahamian retail investors could provide difficult.

In return, Mr D’Aguilar said The Bahamas and its people will receive “a brand new port” that will attract increased numbers of cruise ships and their passengers, enticing more off the vessel and raising per capita spend, while “creating a whole host of business and entrepreneurial opportunities for Bahamians” in downtown Nassau and elsewhere.