The Government of The Bahamas iscommitted to the sustainable, ongoing development of Mayaguana, and isconsidering strategies that will generate more activity to ensure thatcommerce that can support the local community well into the future isestablished, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investmentsand Aviation, the Hon. I. Chester Cooper told residents.

One aspect of that Plan, Mr. Cooper said, is the potential of Mayguana tobecome the shipping hub for the southern Bahamas.

“One thing we noted in our Blueprint for Change is that Mayaguana can bethe shipping hub for the southern Bahamas,” Mr. Cooper said whileaddressing residents, Local Government Officials, members of the island’sDisaster Consultative Committee and other stakeholders during a tour ofthe island to personally assess any damages that may have occurred as aresult of the impacts of Tropical Storm-Force conditions associated withHurricane Fiona. The island received minimal damage. Forecasters at theBahamas Department of Meteorology had forecast that the island wouldreceive minimal Tropical Storm-force conditions associated with thepassage of Hurricane Fiona.

“We can take advantage of the deep water and the shipping lanes at thisstrategic location between Europe and the Latin American/Caribbeanregion. We do a lot of maritime logistics business in Grand Bahama. Wecan learn from what’s being done there and certainly we can developaround that, a shipping hub here in Mayaguana. This is our vision forMayagauana.”

Acting Prime Minister Cooper, whose portfolio as Deputy Prime Ministerincludes investments, said the Government is also reviewing strategies asto how it can attract more investments into the island. He said: “In themeantime, the government will fulfil its commitment with respect to thebasic levels of infrastructure to make Mayaguana even more attractive fornew investors coming to the Island. Suffice it to say, we want to ensure thatwe attract investors to Mayaguana who share the vision and the urgency todo some significant projects here in Mayaguana and that is something thatwe are going to continue to wish to do.

“One of the things that we recognize in the area of investments in thegovernment as a whole, is that having many islands across The Bahamas,we certainly try to attract as many investors as we can to help us to buildand develop The Bahamas for the benefit of the Bahamian people, for thebenefit of the residents.”

Mr. Cooper said one of the many advantages the Davis Administrationoffers the country at the Executive Level (Cabinet), is the fact that PrimeMinister Davis (the Hon. Philip E. Davis, K.C. – Cat Island), himself (Exuma),and Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairswith responsibility for Local Government, the Hon. Clay Sweeting(Eleuthera), are from Family Islands and therefore understand life in theFamily Islands.

“Coming from a small community in Exuma myself, with a populationsmaller than what we have in some parts of Mayaguana, I can tell you thatwe love our ancestral homes. We are not going anywhere, and we count onthe government to create opportunities to ensure that our children comeback home, that our children who are there remain home, and that we canhave a good quality of life and a better quality of life for them,” the ActingPrime Minister said.

“We understand the struggle. Our Prime Minister is from Cat Island, I’mfrom Exuma, the Minister responsible for Family Island Affairs is a FamilyIsland man as well and therefore we understand the struggle. We know theneeds, and we are committed to ensuring that the government continuesto put its shoulders to the wheel to cause action to happen for thebetterment of the Bahamian people.”

Acting Prime Minister Cooper said the government will do all that it can toaddress the island’s needs with regards to the dock in Betsy Bay and theAirport.

“We came, we saw, we acknowledge the need. The Ministry of Works’Senior Engineer is here. He will take back his report, we will discuss it withthe Minister responsible and we will do all that we can to restore the dock.In these islands roads ad docks are critical infrastructure and we will makeevery effort as quickly as we can to restore the facility and even make itbetter,” the Acting Prime Minister said.

“Let me also say in relation to the Airport which falls within my remit (asMinister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation) -- I can say to the people ofMayaguana, that we are going to be looking very closely at building a smallterminal here much like what we did in Ragged Island to ensure that (you)have the same level of comfort for air travel as we have in other FamilyIslands. I think that is a model that we can duplicate. It was indeeddistressing what we saw there and we are going to do something about it,”Acting Prime Minister Cooper added.