Bahamas Contractors' Association 'eagerly' awaiting word from the prime minister on his high-level meetings with the Chinese financiers of the $2.6 billion Baha Mar project

Contractors 'eagerly' awaiting word from PM on Baha Mar
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
tthompson@tribunemedia.net


THE Bahamas Contractors' Association is "eagerly" awaiting word from the prime minister on his high-level meetings with the Chinese financiers of the $2.6 billion Baha Mar project.

Head of the association Stephen Wrinkle was hopeful that the matter would be discussed at length in the House of Assembly today. However a clerk in Parliament told The Tribune that the House of Assembly will not meet again until November 17.

"I guess everyone is eagerly awaiting his report. Once Cabinet is advised I would assume they would make their findings known in House of Assembly (today)," said BCA president Wrinkle yesterday.

The prime minister met with members of the BCA a day before he left for his official visit to China and took stock of their group's concerns, especially their push for increased Bahamian labour incorporated into Baha Mar, transfer of knowledge from skilled Chinese workers to Bahamian labourers and greater funding allocated to train locals working on the project.

"He took those along with him and hopefully he brings back good news," said Mr Wrinkle.

Mr Ingraham returned from his trip to China - after stopping in Barbados to attend the funeral of Prime Minister David Thompson - last Friday.

He has been quiet on what transpired during that trip.

However, Mr Wrinkle expects to hear positive news.

"We always expect to hear good news, we're hopeful, I know the prime minister and his delegation did his best to (negotiate) the best deal possible and whatever he's done, we'll take it and run with it," he said.

The Tribune understands that compromises "may have been reached" between Mr Ingraham and the Chinese over the concerns he has voiced about the level of Chinese labour participation in the Baha Mar project and the single phase of construction involved.

According to information reaching The Tribune last week, there were three "points of compromise" arrived at between Mr Ingraham during meetings with the China State Construction Company - the general contractor for the $2.6 billion Baha Mar resort development - and officials from the China Import Export Bank in Beijing.

One of these compromises is said to be that a larger quantity of construction work and related dollars will go to Bahamian contractors.

Two other negotiated points were that more funding - in the hundreds of millions of dollars - would be allocated towards the training of Bahamian workers and the transferring of skills/knowledge during the project and the proposal that while it would be built in one phase, the resort's six hotels would "open in phases."

November 10, 2010

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