Former Cabinet minister says put “politics and egos aside”
NASSAU, BAHAMS — The Bahamas should seek the guidance of disaster recovery experts in its post-Hurricane Dorian restoration efforts, according to a former Cabinet minister.
Khaalis Rolle, the former investments minister under the Christie administration, now Sterling Global Financial’s senior executive vice-president for business development, said it is critical to work together during this time, and disaster recovery experts should spearhead the effort.
“My sentiments are simple, we all need to work together,” he said.
“We all need to be led by disaster recovery experts. Everyone has to participate in the recovery.”
Rolle acknowledged that the Abacos is of particular interest to Sterling, which has a development underway on Matt Lowe’s Cay. While he did not disclose details on the project, Rolle told Eyewitness News that Dorian hasn’t impacted that project and “we are moving forward”.
Projects financed by Sterling in The Bahamas include the Hurricane Hole project, ONE Cable Beach; THIRTY SIX on Paradise Island; Beach House Villas, Paradise Island; Courtyard by Marriott, downtown Nassau; Ocean Terraces, West Bay Street; Matt Lowe’s Cay, Abaco; and Sky Beach Estates, Eleuthera.
Rolle said, “Abaco is too important to the country for us to not have an organized plan that everyone is involved in. This is a all hands on deck project and experts have to lead it, people that have done it before have to be leading this. We need the experts that have done it before to come in and guide us through this process. We have to put everything aside for now; politics, egos all of that stuff. This is just too important to the national development for us to get this one wrong.”
According to catastrophic and risk management company Hurricane Dorian caused an estimated $7 billion in damage to The Bahamas. In a special report dated September 4 — three days after Hurricane Dorian made landfall in The Bahamas — Karen Clark and Company pegged insured and uninsured losses on Abaco at $4 billion, losses on Grand Bahama at $2 billion.
Moody’s Analytics has estimated that the storm has cost this nation between $3 billion to $5 billion. Government is estimating that it could lose around $200 million in revenue as a result of Hurricane Dorian’s impact on the economies of Abaco and Grand Bahama.
