By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRESS secretary Clint Watson said Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis’ earlier position on Royal Caribbean International’s proposed Royal Beach Club project when he was in opposition was “based on what the circumstances were at the time”, claiming Mr Davis changed his mind after the cruise line revised its initial development plans.

Mr Watson said the revised proposal was smaller in scale compared to the original plan and also did not include “a significant amount” of Crown land.

Mr Davis told reporters on Wednesday his administration approved the project partly because tourists need more attractions.

“There is about four acres of Crown land that is connected to the revised project, and that four acres was granted in May of 2021 prior to this administration taking office,” Mr Watson said during the weekly press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

 “It is also important to note that RCI has committed to creating some entrepreneurial opportunities for Bahamians, including the ferry service fully operated by Bahamians and owned by Bahamians.

 “These were additional (requests) that were specifically included, but the government wanted to ensure the human Bahamian stakeholder and ownership in this and also Bahamians to be able to invest up to 49 percent in this project.”

 On Tuesday night, Tourism Minister Chester Cooper announced in a statement that the Davis administration had approved the Paradise Island based project and that it believes it has resolved all “previous objections” to RCI’s plans by ensuring more Bahamian involvement “at all phases” of its construction and operation.

 The move was a reversal from what Mr Davis reportedly declared in 2020 while in opposition, when he said that a PLP government would cancel any lease granted to RCI for Crown land to develop a beach club on the western tip of Paradise Island.

 The pledge drew criticism from the Minnis administration, which was in power at the time.

 However, after the Progressive Liberal Party won the 2021 general election, officials said Mr Davis was seeking a compromise in the Crown land row.

 When asked about the reason behind the government changing its earlier position, Mr Watson claimed that the proposal presented back then was different, which he suggested was less favourable.

 “So, when you look at what the Prime Minister Davis in opposition would have said, it was based on what the circumstances at the time were presented,” the press secretary added.

 “That has changed. This is not the same proposal. This is a different proposal which does not include the disputed land. It is a completely different proposal, a scaled back proposal on land that they would’ve purchased and, of course, the three to four acres of Crown land that had been granted by the prior administration so it was based on that and the decision was made to move forward.”

 This comes as RCI is expected to break ground on its $110m beach club project “almost immediately,” according to Prime Minister Davis on Wednesday.

 Both the cruise line and the government had been embroiled in a long-running battle, including in the Supreme Court, with Bahamian entrepreneur Toby Smith who has asserted he has a binding lease for at least two Crown land acres that Royal Caribbean is seeking to use in its project.

 However, on February 16, Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder rejected the entrepreneur’s claim that his lease agreement is valid.

 In his statement on Tuesday, Mr Cooper said, “It is important to note that the land currently proposed under the project has not been subject to any dispute or litigation.”

 He also said the government also plans to convert this asset into an ownership stake in the development that would be held by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, now known as the National Investment Fund.