Flipping Grand Bahama

With the number of things going on in Grand Bahama one can only think that it is true, change is inevitable. Many times we do not like change but sometimes its necessary to take us from where we are to where we want to be. The big news this week is the proposed sale of the Grand Lucaya Resort. During the late 1990s, the three hotels on the Lucayan Beach stretch - the Lucayan Beach Hotel, the Atlantis Beach Hotel and the Radisson were losing their lustre and two of the three were owned by the Government of The Bahamas. In a bid to get the government out of commerce they offered the hotels to the newest conglomerate coming in and as many were told, reluctantly  they accepts the hotels.  They redid the entire strip with all three hotels including the implosion of the Atlantic Beach Hotel which was rebuilt from nothing and given its new shape.  Was it a success? Many said no but the news of its being put on the auction block and some saying it has already sold to ...

So yesterday be began the series on the various promises made to the Government of The Bahamas made by Grand Bahama Port Authority. Today we are on to the second set of amendments in which there were some word changes, phrase changes and stating that Customs Duties would apply to homes when resold without bond. This was was signed by  His Excellency Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur, K.C.M.G, C.V.O, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Bahama Islands on behalf of the government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority. It further spoke to allowing the Broadcasting and Television Commission being allowed to come in and operate in the Port Area; that the Government will ensure the Port Area is served by aviation facilities for all purposes. Here it asked that the Port Authority has to state in writing to the Government everything it was doing. This amendment ended with more clarification on the allowance of Local Government in the Freeport area and their responsibilities. In...

In a recent discussion with an acquaintance who is a long time resident of Grand Bahama, he said he hopes Freeport turns around to which I quickly reminded him of the days when we thought Freeport was going down. After the rush of the 50's and the 60s that ushered in a lot of constructions and the building of Freeport which pushed the natives to the outer areas, there came the 70s and the smaller investors leaving quickly. However, in the late 70s and early 80s there was still a lot of activity here. There were over ten big hotels on the island and two casinos. Also there was Sir Laker who came in to add Laker Airways to the airlift to this island. The industrial side was holding its own but things were beginning to taper off. Around this time there were calls of a diversification of industries in the country and to stop relying only on Tourism. Some complaints were flying that there were too many foreign croupiers and well qualified Bahamians who could do that same job Th...