By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Davis Administration signed a heads of agreement yesterday with PMR Bahamas for the development of an upscale resort and residential community for Torch Cay on Exuma’s southern tip, with a $170m investment planned.

The eight-to-12-year project is expected to provide hundreds of jobs in both its development and operational phases.

Planned features for the mega resort include a marina, over 160 residential lots, an environmental research facility, an equestrian centre with 25 horse stables, a sustainable farm of over 50 acres, a beach club and spa, and an 18-hole golf course, all on the 707-acre Torch Cay, also known as Hog Cay.

Prime Minister Philip Davis spoke yesterday at the Office of The Prime Minister about the specific impact this project will have on Exuma and the island’s residents.

“A groundbreaking new residential community and the latest of so many exciting developments slated for our splendid and prosperous archipelago, located at the southernmost tip of the Exuma chain. Torch Cay represents a promising journey and 350 annual jobs throughout its two phases construction period, and a further 250, once operational,” Mr Davis said.

 “I cannot wait to see this project and all its facilities come to fruition over the course of the next decade. This distinct forward-thinking community will serve as a valuable economic stimulus for the residents of Exuma and indeed the entire nation,” he said.

 “Valuable jobs will be created, where they are needed most. More visitors will flock to our shores and witness the magnitude of what we have to offer. Local businesses will be bolstered, tax revenue will be generated and increased competition will raise our tourism product to even loftier heights,” he said.

 “Partnerships with the private sector continue to play a key role in national development and Torch Cay is no exception,” he said.

 “My administration means business. And in the midst of the multiple global crises, we are busy ensuring only the most outstanding and responsible enterprises take root. Tourism is the most crucial pillar of Caribbean economies like us. So I welcome the benefits of this multimillion-dollar development that it will bring to our number one industry to the people and reputation of the Bahamas,” Prime Minister Davis said.

 Chester Cooper, Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Investments, also present at the signing added: “This is for me, a personally gratifying day. Thirty years ago, there were more people living in Little Exuma than (there are) living there today. And this development will help us to get the critical mass that we need for the surrounding area.

 “Thirty years ago, there were more students attending the Williamstown Primary School than (are) now attending that school,” Mr Cooper, Exuma and Ragged Island MP, said.

 “Thirty years ago, when I attended the Forbes Hill All Age School, it was actually open, today it’s closed. So you see that there has been much movement. This is going to create jobs. It’s going to create business opportunities. It’s going to allow people to come back to the island of Exuma, Little Exuma in particular, but it’s going to be good for the community and good for the social development of the area,” he said.

 When asked about concessions made to the project developer as private partners for the project, Mr Cooper said: “There hasn’t been any exceptional concessions as it relates to this project. The property has been privately owned. 

“There are standard incentives under the Hotels Encouragement Act, which will apply to this investment as it applies to every other investment. This developer has not asked for anything significant or exceptional outside of what the standard guidelines are under the Hotels Encouragement Act,” Mr Cooper said.

 Jay Penske, principal investor in the development from PMR Bahamas, broke down the timeline of the development project.

 “The start date is now. There’s going to be multiple stages to the project. The goal is to have the marina built in the first three years, the golf course completed in the first 30 months. So that’ll be the full completion of the entire project. But there’ll be stages of multiple milestones much earlier after probably the three-year target is what we’re currently looking at,” Mr Penske said.

 “We’ve seen the projects that have had a lot of talk in the Exumas and Little Exuma that have not gotten off the ground. We want to be one that sets a new standard for this entire area and also that it gets done on a timeframe that gets people working and gets this economy restarted,” he said.

 Mr Penske said that this development will use mostly solar power.

 “It’d be one of the most ambitious solar projects, certainly in the Exumas and also in The Bahamas, generating over four megawatts of solar power. They’ll have standard diesel generators as backup, but the primary focus will be solar power generation and storage,” he said.

 In addition, Philip Simmons, managing partner for PMR Bahamas, said: “The goal is, obviously, to have as many Bahamians in as many positions as possible.”

 He added that preparation for the project started over a year ago.