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Minnis: Entice Bahamians, not China, to fund $268m hospital • Former PM: ‘We must encourage our own’ AN EX-PRIME minister yesterday argued the Govern- • Calls for $3bn surplus ment should have exploited $3bn-plus in surplus banking liquidity exploitation system assets to entice Bahamian investors to finance New Providence’s new hospital • PMH’s extra 50% bed rather than the Chinese state, need known from ‘08 asserting: “The time has come By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
to encourage our own”. Dr Hubert Minnis, speaking in the wake of debate on the Parliamentary resolution authorising the Government to borrow $201.2m from the Beijing-owned China Export-Import Bank to fund the project, challenged why the Davis administration had decided not to seek the financing from local banks and institutional investors instead. With $3.117bn in excess liquid assets, representing funding available for lending/ borrowing purposes, clogging the Bahamian commercial banking system at end-October 2025, the Killarney MP said there was more than sufficient capital available for
DR HUBERT MINNIS
DR MICHAEL DARVILLE
banks - as well as the likes of pension funds, investment funds and insurance companies - to deploy in financing
the new 50-acre hospital to be located at Perpall Tract. “I’m arguing that the time has come,” Dr Minnis told
this newspaper, while reiterating his fears that the new hospital will become “a white elephant”. He added: “We have got $3bn in liquidity. The time has come to encourage investment in our country by our own. Why can’t the Government utilise that? “We have pension money, insurance money, investors who want to invest. Create opportunities for investors and our own to make investments.” Dr Minnis said Bahamian capital, via the Bahamas Investment Fund’s initial public offering (IPO), had helped to finance the Nassau Cruise Port redevelopment and argued that it could have played a similar role for New Providence’s second hospital. However, it is unclear whether Bahamian capital could have financed all, or much of, the new hospital’s total projected $267m cost let alone the equal of the China Export-Import Bank’s 70 percent contribution towards this. Both sums significantly exceed previous record raises
TWO Opposition MPs yesterday challenged the $1.6m purchase price for a land parcel that is vital to “unlock” Baha Mar’s $350m expansion, with one asserting: “Don’t let the boys with the mega bucks rob us.” Dr Hubert Minnis, the former prime minister, and Iram Lewis, the independent MP, both used the House of Assembly debate on the
resolution to approve the Treasurer and government’s sale of the 2.077-acre parcel to the Cable Beach mega resort developer to argue that public land was being disposed of for at least around 50 percent of its true value. The Killarney MP asserted that the parcel’s worth was really in the $3m-$4m range, which would be at minimum around double what Baha Mar is paying for it, and he subsequently urged the Government to adopt a policy where Crown Land not be
Bahamians ‘being driven out of financial services’ By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net THE Attorney General yesterday agreed that The Bahamas must find a “fair balance” between skilled expatriate labour and locals after Bahamian attendees at a Securities Commission seminar complained they “are being driven out of the financial services industry”. Ryan Pinder KC addressed concerns over the number of work permits being issued during a question and answer sessio at the Securities Commission’s international priorities and initiatives 2025 conference.
RYAN PINDER KC He responded after one attendee asserted that many Bahamian professionals have either turned to different industries or taken their talents outside of the
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‘Treat Bahamians like expats to entice them to Out Islands’ By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR Baha Mar executive yesterday warned that attracting skilled workers to the Family Islands may require treating Bahamian employees like expatriates, offering benefits and incentives traditionally reserved for foreign staff to lure them to high-demand tourism roles. Robert Sands, the resort’s senior vice-president of government affairs, told the Bahama Out Islands
Promotion Board’s annual general meeting (AGM) that, as a result of the growing workforce development challenge post-COVID, many experienced hoteliers have chosen to become entrepreneurs or pursue year-round work elsewhere, leaving a gap in seasonal tourism positions. He said rising housing costs, limited services and logistical challenges make it difficult to draw talent back to the Family Islands, requiring creative solutions
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sold to foreign developers and only leased to them if essential for job-creating expansion that boosts economic activity. Mr Lewis, meanwhile, argued that per acre prices for “prime commercial land” in that high-end part of western New Providence were at least around $1m. “We need to know on behalf of the Bahamian people that we are getting fair market value,” he added. He was followed by Dr Minnis, who urged the Government: “Do not give
Baha Mar: Ex-PM to ‘hold feet to fire’ on residents’ fears • Minnis voices concerns on 2.077-acre usage • Mega resort confident ‘no issue’ on mitigation • Parcel’s sale key to unlock $350m expansion By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net
our land away for $1.6m. It’s worth $3m-$4m.” The ex-prime minister argued that land and real estate prices, especially in western New Providence, have increased substantially since his administration agreed to sell the 2.077 acre parcel - located on the southern side of West Bay Street - to Baha Mar in 2019 as part of a revised Heads of Agreement. “Let me give you an example: That land has gone up
A FORMER prime minister yesterday pledged he and nearby residents will hold ROBERT SANDS Baha Mar and the Government’s “feet to the fire” over noise and health fears stemming from the mega resort’s likely use of two-plus acres that will “unlock” its $350m expansion project. Dr Hubert Minnis, the area’s MP, told Tribune Business that Westward Villas residents harbour “serious concerns” over various types of pollution they believe will be caused by the Cable Beach mega resort locating back-up generation facilities and other electrical equipment on a 2.077-acre parcel it is acquiring from the Government for $1.6m. However, Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, said the developer is “not concerned that will be an issue” and pointed out that its recently-issued planning approvals signalled the Town Planning Committee is satisfied there will be no noise or fume-related impacts. He reiterated the promises made by Baha Mar executives at the recent Town Planning
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‘Don’t permit the big boys with mega bucks to rob us’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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