NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Davis administration yesterday signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) for an $800 million South Abaco development which is expected to commence in the coming months and provide hundreds of jobs.
Prime Minister Philip Davis who was present for the signing of the HOA signing for KaKona South Abaco Development noted that $50 million has already been spent by the developers over the past 15 years with the project has faced several delays during that time.
Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper congratulated the developers, noting that the major development to be built on private has been a long time coming.
Speaking of the HOA signing Cooper said, “It’s a demonstration that we are open for business and ready to see development across the islands of The Bahamas and not just New Providence.”
Central and South Abaco MP John Pinder II noted that the nearly half-a-billion-dollar development is expected to start in months, as some governmental approvals are being finalized.
Pinder noted that the residential resort and marina development will create hundreds of jobs, noting that the HOA contains a skills training component.
“This project is a monumental step forward in the development of Abaco as a whole,” said Pinder.
He continued, “This project is very exciting. The community and the people of Abaco are behind this. It involves hundreds of rooms keys and has a marina that will be able to accommodate boats up to 250 feet that go in line with an increasing demand for yachting facilities.” Pinder described the development as a “good, sound and sustainable project for Abaco.”
Thomas Boynton, Kakona’s CFO explained that the development has been 15 years in the making, having spanned several administrations.
“People ask all the time why it’s taken 15 years to get here. The property was auctioned in 2007. In 2008 we had a world economic crisis that shut everything down for six and a half years. We had a minor legal issue that came up that also took six and a half years to work through the Bahamian court system. We prevailed on that. It was a boundary dispute. By that time Prime Minister Ingraham was out of office. Prime Minister Christie was in office but he was on his way out. We decided that what we had proposed in the beginning was not the right development and not going to work,” said Boynton.
He added, “We literally took all the money we had invested and threw it away and started over. When we started over we put a lot of thought into it, talked to a lot of people, and came up with a development that has an extremely low density so that we are paying attention to the environment of South Abaco and trying to maintain what’s there.” Boynton noted that the development which is surrounded by thousands acres of Bahamas National Trust property is committed to sustainability and environmental conservation.
