Govt should have acquired GB cruise port to speed up RCI deal, says attorney

The government would have been six to eight months ahead of where it is if it had taken control of Grand Bahama’s cruise port through compulsory acquisition, Grand Bahama attorney Carey Leonard said yesterday, contending that negotiations with Hong Kong-based multinational conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Limited over the port have stymied the deals with Royal Caribbean International (RCI).

Leonard, who made the remarks on “Global Paradigm Shift with Michelle Malcolm” on Glory 93.9FM, asserted that if the government had acquired the port near the beginning of the negotiations on the sale of Grand Lucayan resort, which is part of a deal with RCI and the ITM Group – that includes the port – the deal would have been completed by now.

Leonard, who is a former in-house general counsel for the Grand Bahama Port Authority, called the drawn out negotiations with CK Hutchison, RCI and the government “the knife in the heart”.

“We hear the hotel deal hasn’t closed because they haven’t finished their negotiations with Hutchison on the harbor. But they’ve been at it for five years,” said Leonard.

“The government should have acquired the port by compulsory acquisition. We would have then had control, we could have negotiated with Royal Caribbean, finished up the deal and finished the hotel already, which obviously hasn’t happened.”

Leonard added that the government would also have been able to begin fixing Grand Bahama International Airport which it recently acquired from CK Hutchison and the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

The Department of Civil Aviation recently began the request for proposals process for the redevelopment and management of the airport. But Leonard suggested that if the government had begun with acquiring the port, even the airport would be on its way to being improved.

“We could be figuring out how we’re going to get the financing to help run the airport and get it up and running as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Now we’re running around looking for some other private company to help us to raise the money to do the work that we need to do, we should be six to eight months ahead of right now.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/govt-should-have-acquired-gb-cruise-port-to-speed-up-rci-deal-says-attorney/