By Gerrino J. Saunders
Journal Staff Writer

If the three sides are not able to work out an amicable agreement over an
outstanding $1.25 million attorney and former Minister of Legal Affairs Damien
Gomez, KC claims is owed to him, there could possibly be a legal battle ahead for
the government and the Fox Group of Companies (FGC). However, the Minister of
Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper is confident the project will
proceed as planned.
The government and the FGC signed a heads of agreement last week for a new
$300million luxury hotel and residential development on the Cable Beach strip and
Balmoral Island. However, the project has seemingly hit a snag, as Gomez earlier
this week told the Tribune that he owns a portion of the land on Balmoral Island
that has been leased to the FGC for 21 years.
Gomez, a former Minister of Legal Affairs in the Christie Administration told the
Tribune that he came into possession of the land as a result of a pre-existing lease
interest that he holds, having obtained Supreme Court permission to seize 50
percent of the shares in a company called Blue Illusions that ran the now defunct
tourist attraction on Black Beards Cay, and owes him $1.25 million in legal fees.
Gomez said the FGC or the government has not contacted him to satisfy the
outstanding legal bills and he was not given notice of the project and only learned
about it through the media.
He said he has written to the Attorney General for answers and is prepared to take
the matter to court.
On the sidelines of the Space-X press conference at the British Colonial Cooper
insisted that the government has taken proper steps before signing the heads of
agreement.
He said, “the government has done its due diligence, the courts are available to
anyone who may feel aggrieved by any decision the government makes. I am
confident that any concern would be settled, and the project will move on.

“We’re excited about the fact that Bahamians are investing in tourism. We look
forward to this project advancing and advancing quickly,” said Cooper.
Balmoral Island is listed as government Crown Land. The FGC signed a 21 year
lease for a portion of the island that encompasses a portion of the land claimed by
Gomez who also claims the FGC has removed property from the Island that
belongs to him without permission.
During a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister last Thursday
Adrianna Fox one of the investors and the Chief Operating Officer at Island Luck
said among the amenities the Cable Beach property will be two 14-storey mixed-
use buildings, restaurants, roof top pools, a recording studio, a nightclub, a spa, and
a seaside bar and jetty — offering a fusion of leisure and luxury.
The Balmoral Island development will feature three clubhouses, 23 land and
overwater cottages, a 100-slip marina, three pools a helipad and seaplane docking
facilities. Zip lining and marine encounters are expected to be up and running at
Balmoral by June this year.
With a shortage of rooms available to stop over visitors stifling economic growth,
the government welcomes the additional rooms.
Prime Minister Philip Davis says he hopes other Bahamian investors will be
inspired by the project that will help boost the economy and create more room
inventory for stop over visitors. The 15,000 rooms now available fell far short of
demand in 2024.
Mr. Cooper said he would like to see the number of rooms doubled over the next
10 years. He said, “Every (new) resort will count towards achieving that, resorts
that are not fully operational now will come on stream. But certainly it takes time
to develop a resort, so I expect that we won’t achieve an additional 10 to 15
thousand rooms immediately, but over time this has to be the sustained strategy.”
“And as we articulate our sustained vision to the world in the island where we want
to see large resorts, we will do our best to direct them there, but in islands where
we want the authenticity to remain we also encourage small boutique resorts in
places like Crooked Island where we will see a small fly fishing resort.”
As for the Free National Movements criticism over the drastic difference in the
number of stop over visitor arrivals compared to cruise ship arrivals Mr. Cooper
again reiterated that the number of stop over visitors is stifled due to a lack of room
capacity, and accused members of the Official Opposition who he described as
“armchair pundits” of playing politics over the numbers.

He again encouraged more Bahamians to invest in the tourism industry as the
government does its best to attract visitors to the country.