Glimpse at ground zero

Mon, Sep 12th 2011, 10:50 AM

Frederick Butler is standing knee-deep in topsoil. Around him, dozens of Bahamian workers in hard hats are landscaping under the hot September sun. Giant trucks lumber through the construction site, kicking up great clouds of dust.  The roar of bulldozers hangs thick in the air.

Butler clips a walkie-talkie to his jeans and wipes his dripping brow – the sweat that is making Baha Mar a reality.

“It’s a beautiful project,” Butler said.  “I have never seen anything like this in my life.  The roadwork is amazing … the speed, the quality … I am very happy to have this experience.”

Across from Breezes and The Bahamas Development Bank, Butler and his team are preparing a section of the new Bay Street West, which will eventually loop in a semi-circle around the $2.6 billion Baha Mar development.

Raised in Nassau, Butler started off as an excavator with Bahamas Marine Construction in 1991. Today, he is a supervisor helping to build the biggest project of its kind in the western hemisphere.

A white SUV materializes out of a cloud of dust.  It stops and the rear window rolls down.  James Mosko, the owner of Bahamas Marine Construction, surveys the scene with an air of pride.  “We see a lot of Bahamians out here kicking butt,” Mosko said.

“In terms of the project, we are happy with the progress and we’re actually a little ahead of schedule. It’s nice to see it all coming together, and meanwhile, a lot of people are progressing as well.”

As the SUV drives off, Robert Sands, the Senior Vice President of Administrative and External Affairs, invites Guardian Business into a vehicle of our own, and we continue our tour of the massive construction site.

“Most people, I think, don’t understand the amount of work going on,” Sands said, wearing a hard hat, florescent vest and a pair of black shades.

“I think they would be surprised with the quality and quantity of work that has been done in a very brief time period, with minimal disruption to the public.”

With the new road now in place, crews have already begun the clean up and landscaping ahead of its opening in November.

Rows of palm trees are being planted, followed by watering trucks to give them that first drink.  Grass, signs and lampposts are on the way.

Sands points to a path running along the new Bay Street West.

“You see that pink trial?” he said.

“One of the best things about Bay Street before was Bahamians could come out, walk, relax or exercise.  We have

duplicated that.”

Well, not exactly.  Motoring down the new thoroughfare, Sands describes the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course to our left, with sprawling fairways and glistening ponds.

On our right, the four new hotels – the Grand Hyatt, the Rosewood, the Casino hotel and Mondrian – will soon rise up among shops, beaches and pools. It immediately becomes clear, just only eight months into development, that Baha Mar is coming to life. Amid the buzz of activity, the December 2014 opening seems just around the corner.

Sands approaches a roundabout and turns left onto “Corridor Seven”, a new four-lane street that takes us all the way to JFK Drive.  This portion of the tour is a bit bumpier, as road turns into dirt and gravel.  Navigating mounds of piled earth, long metal and plastic tubing lines the makeshift street. Giant slabs of concrete are stacked one on top of the other like playing cards.

When we see JFK drive, Sands pulls a three-point turn and we head back to the new West Bay Street. From here, up on a hill, we stop and spend a moment imagining the view that thousands Bahamians will soon have each day on the way to work, the restaurant or the beach.

“Now, just imagine the golf course around you and Baha Mar in the distance.  Up head, at the roundabout, you will be able to go straight over a water bridge that rises toward the Hyatt and Casino Hotel. It is going to be incredible.”

Of course, that part of the development doesn’t exist yet. Instead, we make a left off Corridor Seven and continue along Bay Street West, looping around until we arrive at the new Commercial Village.

Hundreds of Bahamians are busily bringing this portion of the project to fruition.  The Commonwealth Bank appears mostly done, with its roof receiving a fresh coat of white paint as we drive by.  The Police and Fire Station are still in scaffolding, although Fidelity and Scotia Bank seem well advanced. With our semi-circle loop complete, Sands drives back the way we came, but we have time for one more stop – the man camp.

We end up on another bumpy road, and pass through a metal gate.  The foundations are complete and the steel structures are being placed right on top.
A Chinese worker carrying a clipboard passes by the car. Lynn is written on his white hard hat, but that’s just the English name he uses on site. His real name, he said, is Dai Li Ming. He explained that he’s the engineer in charge of the man camp. They are currently finishing the buildings that will house more than 4,000 Chinese workers.

At the moment, Ming and a handful of his colleagues are the face of The China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which is building the resort. This time next year, an army of workers will march to the construction each day as the hotels and superstructures take shape.

“Before I came here, I did many projects,” he said.

“In my country, we have many large developments.  This job is also great.”

Ming added that he used to work in Beijing, but grew up in Shanghai.  He’s enjoying his time in The Bahamas, but admitted that he also misses his family, and particularly his girlfriend.

“There are so many moving parts here,” Sands said, as we drove to the Wyndham Hotel and Casino. “The building schedule is a book. Just imagine, all of this will be pool and beach.”

That won’t happen for another few years. But for those who live and breathe Baha Mar, the future is now.

China convenes with Caribbean at forum.

The Vice Premier Wang Qishan arrived in The Bahamas last weekend, and proceeded to Trinidad and Tobago where the local government and the People’s Republic of China co-hosted the 3rd China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum (CCETCF).

Robert Sands, the Senior Vice President of Administrative and External Affairs for Baha Mar, joined the conference on Sunday as part of The Bahamas delegation.   Although the Baha Mar project remains foremost in their minds, China and The Bahamas knows that it will only be the beginning of an important international relationship.

“China is keen to demonstrate to the world they are capable, professional and world class when dealing with a major endeavor of this nature,” Sands told Guardian Business.  “From that perspective, The Bahamas is well positioned to be the beneficiary to what is happening in China and what they bring to the new world economic order.”

In written statement to The Guardian ahead of the CCETCF, Hu Shan, the Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, said he attaches “great importance to developing practical cooperative relations”.

Upon Vice Premier Wang Qishan’s arrival in The Bahamas, he bestowed a US$300,000 grant, in cash, to assist in the recovery effort after Hurricane Irene.
He also witnessed the signing of an economic and technical cooperation agreement between the two countries

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