By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister says he would like New Providence’s proposed $290m hospital project “to move faster” although talks with the Chinese bank financing it are “moving in a favourable direction”.

Dr Michael Darville, minister of health and wellness, declined to give Tribune Business a timeline for when ground-breaking for the Perpall Tract facility will likely occur but reaffirmed that The Bahamas has been approved for a “concessional loan” that will be offered by the China Export-Import Bank. That is the Chinese state-owned institution that also financed Baha Mar’s development.

“We are in the final stages of discussions with the Export-Import Bank of China,” he confirmed to this newspaper. “I’d like it to move faster, but the discussions are progressing favourably. I’d like the discussions to come to an end shortly. I’d like to break ground on the facility and get it started, but I don’t want to talk about a timeline until the final approval is done.

“I do have money in the Budget to start land preparation, which is the responsibility of the Government. I’d like this to come to an end shortly. We are getting favourable results. I’d like to put on record that we are in communication with the China Export-Import Bank, things are moving in a favourable direction and we’d like it to be completed in the short-term so we can get on with breaking ground and starting this facility for New Providence.”

Dr Darville told Tribune Business last May that the Government was then aiming to “break ground” on New Providence’s new $290m hospital by September 2024 - a deadline that was missed - as the project had already been approved for “concessionary financing” from the Chinese state-owned bank.

He pledged to Tribune Business that the 50-acre facility to be constructed in the Perpall Tract area will be “a Bahamian hospital” after the China Export-Import Bank agreed to fully fund it via a 20-year loan with an interest rate set at just 2 percent.

Acknowledging that a Chinese company will be the lead contractor, and that Chinese labour always follows where Beijing’s capital goes, he nevertheless promised that the Government will seek to ensure Bahamians “get the best end of the stick” and that local workers outnumber their foreign counterparts on the project.

Dr Darville affirmed then that the necessary feasibility and environmental studies have shown the planned hospital location, situated by the traffic light on the road between the ‘six-legged’ JFK Drive roundabout and Saunders Beach roundabout, is the best and most suitable location capable of “holding a multi-storey structure the size of Baha Mar”.

Acknowledging the “political” sensitivities of accepting financing from a Chinese-government owned bank, the minister said The Bahamas had reached out to the US equivalent - the Export-Import Bank of the US - and other government-owned development banks and multilateral institutions but there was little to no “appetite” by others to take the hospital project.

He pointed out that multiple other Caribbean nations, such as Barbados, Trinidad and Guyana, were already exploiting low-cost Chinese loans to finance major healthcare and other infrastructure projects throughout the region so The Bahamas’ decision has not been taken in isolation.

“Everything is coming together very nicely and is actually moving quite rapidly,” Dr Darville told Tribune Business. “First, it was trying to find financing and completion of the feasibility studies and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and going out to market to try and find resources.

“We got approved for the Chinese Concessional Funding Facility probably about a month ago. There is this Chinese concessional loan in the Caribbean where many Caribbean countries are trying to get funding for capital works projects.”

Dr Darville reiterated that the Government had initially gone “out to the markets” in a bid to finance the new hospital via a public-private partnership (PPP) model, where private investors would help to raise the necessary capital and provide expertise to construct the facility, but it was unable to access funding at reasonable interest rates/debt servicing costs.

As a result, The Bahamas switched to seeking financing on a “country-by-country” basis, and Beijing - via the China Export-Import Bank - has proven accommodating. “The Chinese agreed for concessional funding of just under $290m at 2 percent for a 20-year period,” Dr Darville said.

“We did the feasibility study and the EIA, but didn’t want to move on anything until we had a pretty good idea of where the funding was coming from. Now this has come to the forefront, myself, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources are now in a good position to choose the site and also to speak to residents in close proximity to get their input.”

Dr Darville also previously confirmed that 14 acres out of the total 50 are being obtained from Sir Franklyn Wilson and his companies. “We had a negotiation ongoing with him,” Dr Darville said then of talks with the Arawak Homes chair.

“He has agreed in principle that he would allow us to continue the project. Our job is to now finalise the equity: A payment or a land swap. We negotiated that this was the best way to go. He has agreed in principle, and conceded, to allow the project to go forward pending us giving him compensation.”

The new hospital’s total projected cost, $289.399m, was revealed for the first time in documents accompanying the 2023-2024 Budget. Some $2m, and $8m, of that sum was due to be spent on “preparatory works” during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 fiscal years, respectively, with construction projected to ramp up in 2025-2026 with an $160m outlay.