In order to generate a stimulus to economic growth, the government will undertake "major" capital works in 2014 via public-private partnerships that will see the private sector put up the financing for the construction and rehabilitation efforts, Prime Minister Perry Christie has announced.
While stating that the government has committed to gradually reducing total spending relative to the size of the economy over the next few years, Christie said that the country cannot afford to "divert our attention from infrastructure needs which are still acute".
Christie made the announcement as part of an extended speech on the outlook for 2014 at the 23rd Annual Bahamas Business Outlook, which took place at the Melia Nassau Beach Resort yesterday.
Christie also pointed to ways in which the government intends to cut back on its spending levels.
Beyond cutbacks to most government agencies' budgets in the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance has begun conducting audits of large ministries and departments to "ferret out wasteful practices" and is undertaking reforms to government procurement procedures that will see more purchases subject to the public tender process.
An added benefit of this effort will be to make the process of acquiring government contracts more "transparent and accessible to small businesses," Christie said.
He pointed to such initiatives as part of the way in which the government will be able to deliver on priorities in the areas of education, health, national security and poverty alleviation, while "becoming more disciplined" fiscally, as it has been called upon to do by the local private sector and internationally agencies.
In an interview with Guardian Business about the proposed capital works, Christie said that the government is looking for "innovative ways" to meet infrastructural needs without adding to government debt.
"We are looking at doing these things in conjunction with the private sector in a joint venture with the government, so the capital is put up for the private sector."
Christie gave the example of plans for at least two major buildings to be constructed on John F. Kennedy Drive on property near to the existing attorney general's office and the Ministry of Works, as well as significant repairs to buildings such as the Rodney Bain building and the Ministry of Tourism as some of the projects set to get underway.
In addition, an affordable housing initiative will be part of the stimulus program, he added.
In his address to the Business Outlook, Christie said that public-private partnerships to rehabilitate "old and dilapidated" government buildings would 'reverse the trend of increasing expenses on rent and restore government buildings to use".
He added that the model is also being adopted in the area of Family Island tourism development and "underlines the outcome that the government expects from the reform of the energy sector in The Bahamas" via the restructuring of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) primarily.
Christie's emphasis on public-private partnerships chimes well with recommendations made recently by entities such as KPMG about how The Bahamas can best go about meeting its infrastructural needs. In September, Simon Townend, partner at KPMG (Bahamas) suggested there may be as much as $2 billion in outstanding infrastructural development needs, telling Guardian Business that this country is "well-positioned" to attract private investors in to help it take care of critical infrastructural demands, such as schools, airports and hospitals.
Doing so could also improve the chances of the government being able to respond to these demands on a more efficient and cost-effective basis, he suggested.

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