Sands questions benefit of PPPs for FI airport projects

Past President of the Bahamian Contractors’ Association (BCA) Leonard Sands said he’s concerned by the government’s decision to cut capital spending on Family Island airports and called for more clarity on how the proposed public-private partnerships (PPPs) to complete the works would actually be an economic benefit to the respective communities.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced last week that the government would have to cut funding for the Exuma International Airport, the Long Island International Airport, the North Eleuthera International Airport, and upgrades to the Leonard M. Thompson International Airport in Marsh Harbour, Abaco given the current state of public finances.

But Sands questioned why the government would cut funding for Family Island projects when the out islands are the most lucrative tourist attraction during this COVID-19 pandemic, because of their remoteness.

“I’m a bit concerned about the government’s position. While I understand it, I think that it’s a catch-22. They’re in a bad spot because obviously we’ve borrowed again to offset the challenges we had from the hurricane and COVID-19, we’ve put a lot of money into supporting through national insurance the programs for persons who have lost their income. We get all of that. But you need to have significant capital works projects happening in and around the Family Islands. Airlift to the islands is critical. I don’t know how we could still not see the funding of international airports, whether it’s reconstruction or renovations, as being significant and you shelve that,” he told Guardian Business.

“I do not know if that’s the best thing because if you can get the islands getting more and more economic benefits and not necessarily from the government, then you lessen the burden on the government. I want more independent airlift, I want more flights coming in. As long as protocols are in place, allow tourism to happen on those islands, because let’s face it, if I’m from New York or from Wisconsin, I’m going to want to go to Cat Island.

“What is the number of COVID-related cases on that island? Three? So, to me, it’s a place I want to go to vacation. I don’t know if I want to go to Nassau or Freeport; I want to go to Exuma. We have to really think about what we want to do about capital expenditure in and around the Family Island seaports and airports, to ensure that they have a good opportunity to benefit from airlift and tourists bringing in those much-needed tourist dollars.”

During his New Year national address last Thursday, Minnis said the government is looking at PPPs to provide the funding for the promised infrastructure.

Director of Aviation Algernon Cargill said yesterday that the government would be “imminently” issuing a request for proposals (RFP) globally to find partners to fund the projects.

Sands said he doubts Bahamians would benefit much from any foreign partners.

“There are some PPP projects that I don’t think work. For example, you say you’re going to do a solarization project, it’s a company out of the United States, they bring in their team and they get a couple laborers on the ground to do a $50 million project. What is the real economic benefit to the local community or Bahamians in general? After that, they get what they get and leave,” he said.

“I think we have to be careful when we talk about public-private partnership, because in all instances, it has not proven to be successful. In a management context, we can look at the Nassau Airport Development Company; that worked.

“But in construction, to just farm out the economic benefits is not usually the way I’d like to see it continue going. So, we have to be careful, we need more details. What does that really mean?”

Officials have pegged the total cost for the airport projects on Abaco, Long Island, North Eleuthera and Exuma to be approximately $150 million.

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