Chinese Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) (Bahamas) Manager Felix Chang estimated that the company has spent about $1.6 million to be ready to begin construction of a world-class port facility in North Abaco, and, in a speech seemingly calculated mainly to allay fears, disclosed that the company intended to cap its Chinese labor component at about a dozen.
The port development company has been banned by the World Bank Group (WBG) from participating in WBG-funded projects until 2017, according to reports as recent as this month. The WBG ban does not appear to affect the project in The Bahamas.
The port being constructed in Coopers Town will be funded jointly by the Bahamian and Chinese governments. It is to be an inland port with a 20-slip marina to handle international and domestic operations. It will have bulk material storage, roll-on/roll-off ramps, a warehouse facility, a landing craft warehouse and an administration building containing government offices.
Chang said the port, CHEC's first project in The Bahamas, will "truly revitalize the area and provide new means of opportunity for the community and The Bahamas at large".
The company broke ground on the multimillion-dollar project in June, after holding a jobs fair in May.
"As a matter of practice," Chang said, "China Harbour is a company known for utilizing the skills of the locals in the surrounding community as much as possible."
Chang said the full complement of staff needed to construct the facility at its peak will total about 100 workers -- with 70 through 80 of the staff made up of Bahamians and the remainder made up of Chinese nationals.
"Starting as early as October 1, significant site clearance will begin. This means that over the next several weeks, as we finalize our requirements, we will be conducting final interviews with those candidates who have been shortlisted for positions. However, just to start the project, we are going to need a dozen operators working full time with the team we already have on-site."
Earlier, Guardian Business reported that CHEC was awaiting government permits prior to construction beginning on the project. No further word has been given.
Chang said the company's work schedule will require them to hire an additional grouping of workers in the first quarter of 2015, with the end of the second quarter of 2015 having more than one dozen workers added to the total labor complement.
"For the Chinese labor component, we are going to cap it to around one dozen workers," he said. "So by the end of September, the Chinese labor vs. the local labor component will be 1:1. At the end of December it will be 1:2; by the end of March the ratio will be 1:3, and going into summer of 2015 the staff ratio will be one Chinese worker for every four Bahamian employees."
CHEC also plans to subcontract the asphalt paving, the landscaping and the interior finishing to local companies.
"Over the course of the next two years, we will also have great need for construction equipment rentals. From this point on, we will not be bringing in any new heavy construction equipment from anywhere else in the world. We are committed to using the local resources available to complete this project on time and on budget," Chang said.
He also committed the company to regular town hall meetings throughout the length of the project to keep members of the community updated on all that is happening around them.
"We can assure you that the necessary environment impact assessment and environmental management plan will be followed as we begin work on the port," he said, adding that the temporary workers camp on-site is using solar panel lights to introduce a more green approach to constructing the port.
"We hope to leave a lighter environmental footprint by using high efficiency air conditioning on-site, solar panel street lights and low flow plumbing fixtures to reduce water consumption. We will also be using the remains from the excavation process as material for the paving of the roads."

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