Grand Bahamians anxious for resolution to the Royal Oasis matter may have to wait a little longer to see the Freeport resort sold, but Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said on Thursday he expects concrete word on the sale by next week.
“The government negotiators are saying that they expect a response by sometime next week,” said Minister Wilchcombe when asked why there had been no word on the issue since Prime Minister Perry Christie announced in the House of Assembly last month that a buyer had been secured for the Royal Oasis.
“It’s something we’re working on every day,” Minister Wilchcombe assured.
He also indicated that the fact that the resort remains closed “is a major concern to all of us. Every day we try our best to move this thing forward.”
“Again, this is a situation where you’re working with many players,” he pointed out. “You’re not just working with one. You’re working with the Port Authority.
“You’re working with the owners of the property at present and you’re working with the proposed purchaser and other interested groups, so there are a number of things that are going on, but we’re working feverishly.”
Two weeks after announcing in the House of Assembly that a buyer had been secured to purchase the resort in Grand Bahama, Prime Minister Christie clarified in the House when he wrapped up debate on the 2006/2007 budget that there were in fact two potential purchasers for the property and no final agreement had been reached as yet.
The property has been closed since it was battered by Hurricane Frances in the fall of 2004. The closure resulted in more than 1,000 Bahamians losing their jobs and contributed to driving unemployment in Grand Bahama up from 9.3 percent in 2004 to 11 percent in 2005.
When he led debate on the budget on June 7, the prime minister said government negotiators were meeting in New York with concerned parties and he had just been informed of the agreement for sale before announcing it.
“I therefore look forward to working out the details with the new owners as that transaction progresses to a completion,” he said at the time, “and most certainly, Mr. Speaker, look forward to how we deal with that issue.”
Later, the prime minister said that there were continuing negotiations between the government, Lehman Brothers (which is the mortgagee for the owners of the property) and the potential buyers.
On Thursday, Minister Wilchcombe said the players involved were at this time “dotting the Is and crossing the Ts.”
But he declined to provide great details into the ongoing talks.
“[The Resort] has been a very strong provider of Freeport and of Grand Bahama, so what we need to ensure is that [the negotiations] move very quickly and it creates new opportunities. What we’re hoping to do is bring a new experience.”
He noted that workers at the International Bazaar, taxi drivers, and straw and food vendors have all been negatively impacted by the closure of the resort.
“That’s why it’s imperative that we move quickly – as quickly as we possibly can – to make the sale happen,” Minister Wilchcombe said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
