More than half a year has passed since the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Canadian firm Vancouver Airport Services (YVRAS) for that company to manage the Lynden Pindling International Airport.
To date, the management lease agreement remains unsigned. However, one senior transport official firmly denies that negotiations for that contract are “stalled,” as has been suggested.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation Archie Nairn told the Journal that a “high-level meeting” would take place on Thursday or Friday, at which the outstanding issues in the negotiations should be “wrapped up.”
“The talks are still ongoing. We propose to meet (on Thursday), there will be a high-level meeting, and I believe that by Friday or early next week that the ministry will be in a better position to tell you more effectively what the status is on that matter,” Mr. Nairn said.
“But as of now, the talks are still ongoing. We are getting ready now to wrap this up, and so there are some fine points that we are addressing at this moment, hence the meeting (between) officials.”
While denying that talks are stalled, Mr. Nairn refused to divulge what the specific issues are that remain outstanding in the negotiations.
“We are dealing with some very sensitive issues at the moment, but the committee, under the direction of Dr. (Baltron) Bethel, is now getting ready to wrap up and fine tune the agreement itself, and we believe very soon it will mark the end of it and it will be executed,” he said.
The Journal has learned that the two “fine points” Transport Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin cited as the hold-up at the end of July remain bones of contention in the talks with YVRAS.
It seems that both sides have referred the matters to their “higher ups,” feeling that they did not have the authority to move from their positions on these two remaining points of discussion.
In the case of YVRAS, the “higher up” in question is YVRAS president George Casey, and in the case of The Bahamas negotiating team, the “higher up” is the government.
Dr. Bethel was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
Minister Hanna-Martin ﾖ who was also unavailable for comment on Wednesday ﾖ had expected the outstanding issues to be ironed out by now, according to the timeline she gave on July 31.
“There are one or two areas that are outstanding, and weﾒre seeking to iron those areas out and we know that as soon as those have been ironed out the company is poised to take control of the airport right away,” she had said.
However, despite the lack of resolution in the management lease negotiations, the Journal has learned that things behind the scenes are proceeding as though the deal will in fact be signed. The goal appears to be to “hit the ground running” once the deal is signed.
YVRAS is expected to have a 10-year contract to oversee a $225 million airport development programme at the former Nassau International Airport once the deal is complete. The companyﾒs management fee will be somewhere in the region of $1 million each year.
The Canadian company is an airport manager, operator and developer, with contracts at 18 airports in six other countries: Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. In 2005, the YVRAS network of airports recorded consolidated revenue of $210.8 million and consolidated passenger traffic totaling 16.8 million.
On the Internet and on its website, YVRAS is advertising two positions at the Lynden Pindling International Airport ﾖ Vice President, Marketing and Vice President, Commercial.
The marketing executiveﾒs primary responsibilities include development and implementation of marketing strategies to increase passenger and cargo volumes and aviation support business at the airport.
The commercial vice president will be asked to direct and manage the retail and commercial development and implementation at the airport in order to maximize revenue opportunities and enhance the airportﾒs competitive position.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
