Albany Under Fire:
By Tameka Lundy -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Under heavy criticisms from concerned Bahamians about the proposed changes to the landscape of southwest New Providence to accommodate two major resort developments, the Managing Partner of the Albany Beach and Golf Resort Christopher Annand has declared that the construction process has to begin immediately or the Albany project will not happen.

The developer sought to convince scores of Bahamians packed into a church hall for a town meeting on Wednesday night that the benefits of the $1.3 billion project far outweigh any perceived perils.

Many people expressed vehement objections to the proposed creation of a new road that would shut off a portion of a major thoroughfare and change traditional vistas.

Mr. Annand said following the town meeting, that the whole issue boils down to one small stretch of road. He said the new road would merely add two minutes and thirty seconds to one’s drive time between the Coral Harbour and South Ocean areas.



He called it a quid pro quo.

"We expect the government to honour the contract," he said.

"We are going to try to work within anything we can do to mitigate any open issues, but we have got to make a decision whether we want to do this project or not and we need to be under construction because we need to start hiring people and start spending money in the next two months or there won’t be a project."

An independent economic study has projected that the Albany resort community would generate over 1,000 jobs during the peak construction period and support over 1,100 permanent, full time jobs when it is completed.

The Heads of Agreement for the Albany resort was signed under the former Christie administration ten months ago. Under it, plans were sealed for a gated residential community, hotel, marina and golf course quite near to another planned development.

The project has the backing of three of the top names in golf; Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Tavistock Group, a global private investment company founded 30 years ago by investor Joe Lewis.

Mr. Annand said the company had already started hiring but with the proper approvals in place it could hire at least 1,000 persons by the end of the year.

"We are ready to start and if we don’t deliver a community pretty soon then there won’t be an Albany and unfortunately that means that everything in southwest New Providence falls apart because South Ocean is linked, these things are all linked, the revitalization of Adelaide, the improvements for their amenities, they are all a part of this deal and it would be a crying shame to see all that go away for, in my opinion,…a manageable issue," he said.

The Albany deal took two years to negotiate.

The former PLP government viewed the deal as essential to an integrated master development plan for southwest New Providence that would involve, a relocated shipping terminal, a new government housing subdivision and increased commercial businesses.

The public appeared primarily concerned about beach access, antiquities and road changes.

Dennis Dames compared the issue to the Clifton Cay controversy that happened more than 10 years ago. Back then Bahamians raised strenuous objections to changes that were proposed to accommodate a gated community.

"If I could remember Clifton, one of the biggest problems with that was that road - and here we are now with these developments; we are not just talking about blocking off that nice road that lots of Bahamians drive on, especially on Sundays, but we are talking about diverting two roads and in addition to that, with all of these developments coming on stream - it is overwhelming to all of us because we really don’t know what is going to happen," he said.

"Beach access is a national entitlement…when the pink wall [South Ocean] went up years ago, there should have been beach access."

Albany developers want to create a new coastal zone access path between their resort and the South Ocean project. The beach in front of the Albany resort would be open to the public, Mr. Annand said.

Sam Duncombe, of the environmental group reEarth, was concerned about the period of time that the government would allow for proper public comments on the planned changes and access to environmental impact assessments.

"Part of the problem with this project is that the last government did not give us any opportunity at all to look at the EIA or anything else, so while I understand these gentlemen have done what they need to do to get moving, the government and developers, I think take advantage of the fact that the government is very secretive about all these developments," she said.

In response to another question she posed, Mr. Annand also said his company believes in protecting the environment and preserving natural habitats.

Public Works Minister Dr. Earl Deveaux said it would be several months before any significant movement on subdivision and road approvals and utilities preparations.

However, he sought to make it clear that public input is essential in the government making any final judgments. He explained that although the developers have a signed contract, discussions are still underway on the level of concessions and the specific project details.

"All of the points of view that were expressed tonight will be summarized in a note so that when [Mr. Annand] and the prime minister meet again, they would factor what they have heard and what has been digested so that if any amendments could be made to the issues that were brought forward, they would be done and if not, as Rev Moss said, we will take the omelette and eat it because the egg is now broken," he said.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham had said of the Albany developers’ plans that they wanted to cut off access to the southwest part of the island by diverting the road, deny Bahamians access to the gated community and subsequently the beaches and secure customs duty and stamp tax concessions for upscale housing when Bahamian homeowners are required to pay the same.

He said he did not see a "resolution in sight immediately."