The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) has racked up $1 million in receivables trying to keep the International Bazaar afloat. Ian Fair, the chairman of GBPA, said that he is "intimately aware" of the problems faced at the once bustling marketplace. The International Bazaar contains around 50 functioning shops out of a possible 85. "We have a million dollars in receivables to try and keep it going," he told Guardian Business. "We spent that on all sorts of things, like free water and sanitation, placing a moratorium on these payments that we essentially waived to keep it afloat."
That substantial subsidy, however, was not enough to keep the marketplace in the black. President of the International Bazaar, Chris Paine, announced yesterday that its association would disband, putting around 12 Bahamians out of work. The association was tasked with providing maintenance and security for the various owners at the Bazaar, but chronic overdue payments have made it impossible to go on. Owners must now handle their affairs without an association, which could prove difficult considering its past difficulties making payments.
Guardian Business understands that the market will be put up for sale for around $12 million. Fair insisted that the fate of the Royal Oasis and Casino is absolutely essential to the marketplace's success. The resort shut down in 2004 and has been left to languish ever since. Harcourt Development Group, based on Ireland, reportedly has a meeting with Fair next week to discuss the fate of the property Looking away from the "doom and gloom", the GBPA chairman outlined an number of achievements in Grand Bahama and reasons for optimism.
He said during a speech yesterday at the Bahamas Business Outlook that occupancy certificates for new building construction have increased by 6 percent, with a 20 percent rise in the construction value for new occupancies. Cruise arrivals were up in 2012 by 29 percent, although airlift continues to be a challenge, he admitted. Expansion of the Bahamas Oil Refining Company International Limited (BORCO), construction of a $85 million power plant by the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC), and the opening of Circle Mall and a Solomon's supermarket were cited as notable developments for the country's second city.
The summer re-opening of Reef Village at the Grand Lucayan, in cooperation with Canadian-based Sunwing Travel Group, should be a major development in 2013. "This project will have a significant impact on the local economy and will contribute positive results for the hotels and many other sectors such as the airport, restaurants, tour operators, taxi drivers, straw and souvenir vendors, entertainers car rentals and so on," Fair said in his speech yesterday. A water park and stem cell clinic are also expected to be approved and get off the ground in 2013.
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