Nearly 180 express interest in Family Island airport PPP

The Department of Aviation will, in the coming weeks, whittle down to at least five or six of 180 persons who have expressed interest in partnering with the government for the redevelopment and management of Family Island airports, Director of Aviation Algernon Cargill said yesterday.

He added that the request for proposal prequalification (RFP) would be issued before the end of this week as the department moves full steam ahead on beginning the bidding process by November.

“We had about 180 people who participated with a lot of people showing interest in the project,” he told Guardian Business.

“So, in order that we can ensure that we are negotiating only with qualified individuals, we have a team together, and we are now issuing a request for prequalification for all potential partners.

“Unless potential partners are prequalified, they would not be allowed to receive the RFP. We will be seeking now to prequalify all potential partners and those are the ones we will issue the actual RFP document to.”

The government is seeking companies interested in upgrading and managing Family Island airports for up to 30 years in a public/private partnership (PPP).

There are two bundles, potential bidders can participate in any of the two bundles or both.

Bundle one involves the rebuilding and management of Grand Bahama International Airport, which was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and has been estimated to cost upward of $200 million to rebuild.

Bundle two includes Leonard Thompson International Airport in Abaco, Exuma International Airport, North Eleuthera International Airport, Long Island International Airport in Deadman’s Cay, Great Harbour Cay Airport and San Salvador International Airport.

“We are hopeful based on the interest that has been expressed globally,” he said.

He said not everyone who has expressed interest will qualify. 

“…We don’t want to spend time going down a rabbit hole of people who do not qualify based on the requirements we have set,” Cargill said.

“Our focus is to be as transparent as possible and certain international embassies have already approached us because they want to ensure that these businesses in the sector are aware of the RFQ and the RFP that are coming out.

“It’s all been positive [feedback]. They won’t know the requirements that we have set as yet, that will be outlined in the RFQ that is being issued by September 30. It’s important to note that the government of The Bahamas is not selling any airports. We are entering a long-term management arrangement and under these arrangements, we want to ensure that we have qualified partners that are suitable to be partners with the government to manage these various Family Island airports.”

Cargill said people from just about every continent in the world participated in the information memorandum conference held earlier this year.

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