Sir Baltron Bethel recently told an infrastructure funding conference in Jamaica that the relationship between the Genting Group - a Malaysian conglomerate - and the Bahamas government had resulted in a $600 million-and-counting investment in the Resorts World Bimini property and its surrounding community.
Bethel, who believes public-private partnerships (PPPs) are "a necessity for The Bahamas", said that the relationship between Genting and The Bahamas had also influenced the ways the country disposes of public utilities. An audit by Genting Energy, he said, played a significant role in the decision to see the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) in the hands of private management. As for Genting, the company gets easy access to the South Florida market, which by some accounts is expected to receive more than 100 million visitors next year.
Resorts World Bimini (RWB) is the reincarnation of Bimini Bay, a mixed-use resort, residential and marina property that was initially developed by RAV Bahamas, headed by Gerardo Capo.
Sir Baltron reported that three years ago, the government approved a joint venture partnership between RAV and Genting, which he called the world's largest destination resort operator. The partnership was formed for the purpose of further development and operation of the holdings under the Resorts World gaming resort and leisure travel brand of the Genting Group. Genting holds 78 percent of the partnership, and the remainder is held by RAV Bahamas.
"Prior to the joint venture, Bimini's lackluster tourism performance mirrored the subpar quality of its hospitality products and public infrastructure. The Bimini Bay resort was unprofitable, mainly due to a lack of adequate transportation, accessibility, marketing and branding," Sir Baltron said.
"Strategic to its success, therefore, would be the enhancement of infrastructure, product offerings and skills training, the creation of additional facilities and the development of low-cost, efficient and high quality, year-round transportation, particularly between Florida and Bimini."
He said a plan to achieve these goals was considered between the private sector partners and the government.
"This resulted in the entering into between the parties of a heads of agreement which included a PPP between the government and the developers. Within two years, the developers have invested over $600 million in Resorts World Bimini, public infrastructure and community projects," Sir Baltron said.
Those investments include the addition of a 325-room luxury marina hotel, to be managed under the Hilton brand, supplementing 480 studio apartments and one- to four-bedroom villas; a world-class casino; restaurants and other amenities; the Bimini Superfast ferry; the acquisition of aircraft dedicated to transportation to Bimini and the construction of a deepwater pier and terminal. In addition, Sir Baltron cited the expansion and upgrade of the Bimini airport runway and terminal, resurfacing of public roadways, upgrading of other infrastructure and completion of various community projects, plus the funding of a master plan for the overall long-term and orderly development of North and South Bimini and the funding of local ground and marine transportation equipment.
"The developers are also providing employee housing within the project and working cooperatively with the government and the local community on plans for the creation of additional housing and public facilities within a fast-growing community.
"The government extended the normal concessions granted to resort developers. The public works are funded by the developers and will be repaid by the government by deductions from casino taxes over an extended period. The economic impact from the project has been very significant. Annual visitors to Bimini have increased in two years from 20,000 to 100,000 with as many as half a million projected annually within the next four years," he reported.
Sir Baltron talked about the jobs created in connection with the resort and the expansion of entrepreneurial opportunities.
"Separately, as part of the overall relationships between the government and the Genting Group, Genting Energy conducted, bore the cost of and advised on energy and water needs throughout The Bahamas, together with recommendations on how to address them in a manner to improve the efficiency and costs. This exercise has resulted in the action which is now being taken which will see, by the end of this year, a significant reduction in the cost of electricity in The Bahamas and improved efficiency as our public utilities, very largely, will be in the hands of private management," he said.
RWB President Edward Farrell pointed out that the company's development on Bimini is part of an overall strategy to tap into the North American market.
"We didn't just wake up one day and say 'we need to have a casino in Bimini'. We have casinos in New York, we're developing Las Vegas and a couple of other developments around North America, and Bimini fits very well in its proximity to South Florida. Florida had 94 million visitors last year... They're going to cross 100 million visitors sometime probably within 2016 - as far as pace - and that doesn't even count the people within Florida that travel and vacation within the state. So we like The Bahamas, we certainly like the proximity of Bimini to South Florida. And in terms of projects that we've been able to get done, where we've had the most success is where our goals have been in alignment, when our goals actually help the goals of The Bahamas.
"So where we needed roads, and the people of Bimini needed roads, that was an easy sell between us and the government to get that done. In terms of increasing airports, permitting our jetty, beyond the projects that we directly contributed money to, there's also the cooperation between us and government that's also taking place as well, in terms of assistance in getting us on track to get projects done in a timely manner."
Farrell said the $30 billion company's investment in the RWB project is well over $450 million, the investment in public projects is between $10 million to $15 million. That, he said, is an ongoing conversation with the government.
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