The Boston-based I-Group has already spent $43 million on the Mayaguana development, according to the amended agreement, which has been tabled in the House of Assembly.
Parliamentarians yesterday debated the amended agreement for the deal, which would cement the government's bid to reclaim nearly 6,000 acres of public land.
Referring to the original deal which provided for the transfer of nearly 10,000 acres of land to a joint venture company the Christie administration formed with the American investors, Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing said the Ingraham administration is effectively reversing the "historic wrong".
The amended agreement provides for the government to get back 5,825 of the 9,999 acres of land provided for in the 2006 agreement.
Laing pointed out that the government made a number of changes to the original Mayaguana deal.
"We clawed back that concession provision that made the I-Group a mini Freeport in which they would have had the right to license businesses and do those types of things," Laing said. "So we would have had a Mayaguana kind of port authority.
"We have removed that out of this agreement. It is now the case that not only have we gotten back for the benefit of the people of Mayaguana and the people of The Bahamas substantial acres of land, but we have also done so while we at the very same time clawed back a number of concessions which the group enjoyed under its original deal."
In addition to the investments that have already been made, the developer will also be expected to invest in or find other developers to invest in the Mayaguana Airport Project; a boutique hotel; boutique lodge resort, and a housing subdivision to include a minimum of 500 homes site lots within the development area.
The developer will also be responsible for some or all of the associated roadways, electricity, water, wastewater treatment and telephone/cable infrastructure serving the home site, the agreement states.
A marina and related projects will also be developed at Abraham's Bay.
Laing noted that once the developers cross each threshold, they have the option of acquiring additional land. The developers will get just over 2,000 acres of land to start with.
Laing said if the airport project commences within six months of the agreement, the developers could acquire 360 acres of land. If the developer commences the boutique lodge resort within three years of the project commencement date, it would have the option to acquire 500 acres of land.
He said in total the developers have the option to acquire back 2,913 acres of land in a series of nine options that are all contingent on whether the developer stays on schedule in terms of construction.
"Notwithstanding that they have the ability to acquire the same 2,913 acres of land in terms of quantity, they do not have the same ability to acquire the same 2,913 acres of land in terms of quality," Laing explained.
"There are some portions of the original land that have been taken off the table. If we allowed them to acquire all of those lands under the original agreement, essentially we would ring fence the residents of Mayaguana in to just the interior of the island."
Laing noted that the new deal also removes the condition that allowed the developers access to environmentally sensitive land.

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