OSWALD BROWN WRITES
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20, 2018 — The government did the right thing by not “giving in” to Sunwing Travel Group’s blackmail. Obviously, the modern-day Shylocks who make decisions in the boardroom of that Canadian company thought they were in a very strong position to get the government to agree to their totally unreasonable dictates to continue to provide the essential airlift to Freeport that is vitally important to the revival of Grand Bahama’s moribund tourism industry.
In a recent press statement, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson quite rightly described the demands as “unreasonable” and “uncompromising”, including “a demand for the government to pay $4 million every year for a fixed seven-year period to provide airlift for four months,” according to a report in the Nassau Guardian.
The government also refused “to agree to Sunwing’s demand to increase the $4 million payment by 10 percent every year,” which Thompson said “could amount to a cost of $1 million for one month and the numbers could possibly mean the government would be in essence paying for the cost of every ticket.”
Clearly, as Mr. Thompson concluded, “No reasonable government could agree to such terms.”
The truth of the matter is that the government essentially was in a “no-win situation” in its negotiations with various entities to keep the Grand Lucayan Resort open after its closure seemed imminent when the Wynn Group of Companies, the Toronto-based Canadian conglomerate, decided that it no longer wanted to purchase it.
According to news reports, the Canadian developer had sought to renegotiate the purchase price down from an initial $65m to $40m, but Cheung Kong (CK) Property Holdings — the entity into which Hutchison Whampoa transferred its real estate assets — refused to accept that offer.
According to The Tribune, “Mr. Wynn said his potential operating partners, AMR Resorts and Sunwing/Memories, had both sought ‘substantial sums’ to defray the cost of building sufficient airlift capacity — something he was unable to accommodate after the Grand Lucayan’s owner declined to accept a lower price.”
Sunwing had operated Memories at the Grand Lucayan and provided airlift for the resort since 2013, but this agreement ended after the resort was heavily damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
In his statement, Thompson said that Sunwing entered discussions with the Minnis administration in May 2017 to operate the Grand Lucayan and provide airlift support; however, as Thompson noted, these discussions “were a part of the now collapsed deal that was being negotiated with Paul Wynn to purchase the resort.”
It was probably at this point that the decision-makers at Sunwing decided to “play hardball” in their negotiations with the government, using their provision of airlift as their major bargaining chip and refused to agree to certain protections for Bahamians.
“Sunwing refused to ensure during the construction phase, a minimum of 400 Bahamians [would] be employed with a ratio of 85 percent Bahamian and 15 percent non-Bahamian,” Thompson said in his statement. “We have more than enough qualified contractors in Grand Bahama to fill their need. Sunwing also refused to ensure that during operations, a minimum ratio of 90 percent Bahamian and 10 percent non-Bahamian [would be maintained]. We have more than enough qualified Bahamians to successfully operate and manage a hotel.”
What’s more, the government did not agree to Sunwing’s demand to be exempted from any local advertising requirements or payment of work permit fees.
What the decision-makers at Sunwing failed to take into consideration was the obvious political ramifications of their hard-ball tactics. Grand Bahama elected Free National Movement (FNM) representatives to all five of their seats in the House of Assembly, and it certainly would been “political suicide” had the government agreed to Sunwing’s outrageous demands, especially at a time when some decisions made by the government are being openly questioned by even committed FNM supporters.
What the government urgently needs to do is to convince the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) to stop essentially being a “bystander” and become more actively involved in finding a solution to the current state of Grand Bahama’s malaise. Surely, the GBPA’s current chairman, Sarah St. George, by virtue of the fact that she is the daughter of the late Edward St. George — one of the principal persons involved in engineering the remarkable success enjoyed by Freeport when it was known as The Magic City, under his leadership – should welcome the opportunity to assist in restoring Freeport to its once glory years
The same is true of Ian Rolle, the very capable and competent President of the GBPA, who has demonstrated that he can indeed contribute greatly to helping resolve some of the problems Freeport is faced with that do not come under the managerial control of the GBPA.
For starters, the Government and the GBPA should make it a top priority to restore the Our Lucaya Marketplace to the status it once held as one of the most exciting entertainment venues in Grand Bahama, especially on weekends. One way of accomplishing this is to introduce a “Battle of the Bands” competition every weekend on Fridays and Saturdays, featuring not only some of the excellent entertainers in Grand Bahama, but also entertainers from New Providence. Funding for this initiative should not be an issue; it should be budgeted as a necessary investment, at least until Our Lucaya Marketplace management can assume responsibility for it.
Additionally, the GBPA should use its influence to lower the landing fee charged at the Grand Bahama International Airport, which at one time was said to be one of the highest in the region, to encourage more airlines to schedule regular flights to Grand Bahama. In the meantime, every effort should be made to make the Our Lucayan Resort more amenable to potential buyers so that there will be enough rooms for the anticipated increased number of visitors.
In tandem with these endeavors, an all-out effort should be undertaken to find a buyer for the casino adjacent to the Our Lucayan Resort to attract additional potential clients for establishments in the Port Lucaya Marketplace.
Hopefully, these suggestions will spur enough interest among those who are in the position help bring about the changes that are necessary to make Freeport once again the exciting place it used to be and Grand Bahama in general a great destination for tourists.
