Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has vowed to focus on the wellbeing of Bahamians in Grand Bahama rather than politics in his government’s decision to purchase the Grand Lucayan resort. He was responding to comments of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham last week when he suggested that it was a bad decision to buy the hotel.
Mr. Ingraham said that there are better and more viable options for the government as they should not be in the business of purchasing hotels.
The former prime minister even suggested hopping on a plane to Hong Kong to speak directly with the owners of fortune 500 company Hutchison Whampoa.
While Prime Minister Minnis agreed with Mr. Ingraham, he said that the hotel’s closure will cause a domino effect resulting in the potential loss of more than just 400 jobs.
He said, “you also have the Our Lucaya Strip and, therefore, the marketplace that will close. That’s hundreds of jobs. The tour buses will not have anywhere to carry their guests, if there are any. The taxis will have problems. The loss of staff from the closure of the marketplace will have a greater impact on the supermarkets. They’ll be no individuals to purchase from the supermarkets and there will subsequently be layoffs at the supermarkets.”
He added that the commerce within Grand Bahama would be significantly affected with the hotel’s closure.
Dr. Minnis also said that the focus should be on the wellbeing of the island rather than politics.
He asked, “do we sit idly and allow Grand Bahama to crash while unemployment increased dramatically?”
He added, “those individuals would have to come to New Providence where unemployment would subsequently increase. So, you have to make decisions. We are one Bahamas. We are supposed to be a family of islands and a family of nation. So, families look after each other.”
“It’s our job to protect Grand Bahama and any other family island that falls into similar situations. It’s them today and you tomorrow.”, he said.
When asked where the money would come from, the prime minister said that he did not want to get into details just yet as dialogue on the matter is ongoing.
