A leading Bahamian businessman has questioned the government's decision to heavily invest in the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), arguing that it is not a "prudent" use of funds, given the country's "horrible fiscal situation".
In an interview with Guardian Business, Superwash President and former Director of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) Dionisio D'Aguilar stated that the North Andros agricultural facility should be a low priority for the government, given the country's constant power concerns.
"We're in a horrible fiscal situation right now, so is [BAMSI] really a prudent use of government money? The timing is wrong," stated D'Aguilar. "We've got so many other pressing concerns. Our electricity infrastructure is a disaster. Why aren't we putting resources into ensuring that we have power 24 hours a day, seven days a week?"
D'Aguilar, a vocal critic of BEC due to its continued inability to provide reliable power, slammed BEC's proposed reform approach last week, which would create a new company wholly owned by BEC with two divisions: one for transmission and distribution and another for generation.
Although D'Aguilar supports agricultural development in the country, he questioned whether The Bahamas has the capacity or resources to compete with regional agriculture competition, noting that similar initiatives to boost local produce in the past have largely failed.
"Why are we building something in Andros that is going to affect so few, whereas the fact that we don't have power every day affects everyone? Something needs to be drastically done.
"To go and take $50 to100 million to pump into Andros right now, with the power going off every day in New Providence, I think there's a better use for those funds," said D'Aguilar.
While the government initially issued $20 million in contracts to begin the construction of BAMSI's first phase in February, Prime Minister Perry Christie has suggested that the government would eventually invest approximately $100 million in the project.
The facility, which was originally slated to open at the beginning of September, has been impacted by delays over construction concerns.
Livingston Forbes, chief architect in the Ministry of Works, confirmed last week that BAMSI's major facilities are nearly 70 percent complete. However, Forbes did not expect the institute's lecture halls to be completed until early 2015.
However, Minister of Agriculture V. Alfred Gray dismissed doubts over the project's future, claiming that the government had invested nearly $50 million into the project to date.
"We have spent almost $50 million already and we have just begun...and so those who would like to see it fail, tell them keeping looking," stated Gray.
Both Gray and Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) Executive Chairman Arnold Forbes have stressed that the project remains within its budget, despite the construction delays.

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