NASSAU, Bahamas, April 5, 2022 — The Hon. I. Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation, announced the launch by the Government of The Bahamas of Phase I of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme to design, build, finance, operate and maintain several airports throughout The Bahamas.
The Grand Bahama International Airport is first on the agenda, given the demand by airlift operators to return to the island and the urgent need to boost its economic recovery.
The Government of The Bahamas is seeking experienced and qualified private sector partners for the redevelopment of the Grand Bahama International Airport, with the objective of revitalizing Grand Bahama’s economy.
Commenting on the launch of the PPP initiative, Deputy Prime Minister Cooper said, “We want to attract big investors to the island of Grand Bahama and see the second city return to its glory days. In order to do that, we need their first impression of Grand Bahama to be a good one. Redeveloping, maintaining and operating the Grand Bahama International Airport is top priority, and we are proud today to do just that. This public private partnership program is not just to bring in investors, but also to bring hope and financial stability back to the people of Grand Bahama.”
Dr. Kenneth Romer, Acting Director of Aviation at The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation, also expressed hopefulness for the initiative.
“This much anticipated launch of Phase I of The Bahamas Airport PPP Program speaks well of the government’s commitment to addressing and remedying the state of airport infrastructure within our country as a whole” Dr. Romer said. “The Department of Aviation is excited to be leading this initial process, which will restore investor confidence in Grand Bahama and contribute to the strategic plan to aggressively increase airlift and reposition Grand Bahama to regain its overall visitor arrivals market share.”
The Government’s plans to embark on construction and redevelopment of airports throughout our archipelago in collaboration with private sector partnership is aligned with its priority goal of tourism expansion to the Family Islands.
This joint venture between the Government of The Bahamas and the private sector will also allow Bahamians to retain ownership of the airports as the facilities will not be sold, but instead, operations will be leased to successful private partners.
The Department of Aviation is inviting all private sector parties wishing to collaborate with the PPP Program to visit the Department of Aviation’s website: http://www.doabahamas.com and select the link to the PPP. As of Monday, March 28, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EST, interested bidders can upload a copy of the (1) Request for Pre-qualifications (RFpQ) document and (2) Project Information Memorandum (PIM) for the Grand Bahama International Airport. All relevant instructions and submission deadline are included in the RFpQ. Respondents that are shortlisted based on their submissions to the RFpQ will then be allowed to participate in the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.
