On Friday, a groundbreaking ceremony will take place at the future site of the long-awaited University of The Bahamas (UOB) Small Island Sustainability Institute, which will offer teaching and research services on fisheries, agriculture and other areas that will help to maintain island sustainability.

The institute will be built next to the COB Culinary & Hospitality Management Institute (CHMI) building. The Freedom Foundation donated $10 million toward the creation of a Small Island Sustainability Program. Chairman of the COB Council Alfred Sears told Guardian Business yesterday that the University of The Bahamas (UOB) will have the potential to solve Bahamian problems.

Sears, a former attorney general and one-time minister of education, said UOB will increase the emphasis on research, because it is important for any major university in the world to focus on the creation of new knowledge. He said UOB will be an institution for research with the ability to decrease government spending on advisory services, which he reiterated cost an estimated $20 million each year.

"It will also bring in a new stream of revenue for the institution, that is research grants. It will also provide the country with advisory services. Right now, The Bahamas spends approximately $20 million every year for foreign consultants to assist the government on various projects," said Sears.

"In The Bahamas, we see UOB having the potential to solve Bahamian problems and to create new knowledge that will benefit The Bahamas and global civilization," said Sears.

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