RIBBON CUTTING - Mrs. Bernadette Christie, wife of PrimeMinister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, cuts the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the almost 500-room Memories Grand Bahama Beach Resort and Casino on Monday evening. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Bahamas Prime Minister the Right Honourable Perry Gladstone Christie said Monday that he is in discussions with the operators of the Freeport Container Port, with a view to a possible $250 million expansion of that multi-million dollar facility.

The Prime Minister was participating in the opening of the Memories Grand Bahama Beach Resort and Casino.

The almost 500-room facility, initially the Holiday Inn, when constructed in the late 1960s, and later Reef Village, has been totally renovated and upgraded, and is situated next to the Grand Lucayan Beach Resort.

Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino is a part of the Blue Diamond Hotels and Resort, an innovative hotel management company that specialises in delivering high quality vacation experiences in tropical beach front settings throughout the Caribbean and Mexico.

Mr. Christie said as his government moves resolutely on the revival of the Grand Bahama economy, they are not only advancing tourism but also focusing on the industrial and other related sectors of the broader economy.

“In this regard I am pleased to confirm that positive conversations have taken place between me and my representatives, the principals of Hutchison, MSC Shipping and the Grand Bahama Port Authority on a $250 million expansion of the Freeport Container Port.

“Representatives of Government and the other parties are steadily working on the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding, having engaged in fruitful discussions over the past weekend.

“The Memorandum of Understanding will be placed before my Cabinet for final approval in short order, with a view to construction getting underway this summer,” the Prime Minister stated.

MEMORIES OPENING - Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie addresses a large audience attending the opening of Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino Resort on Monday evening. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

He pointed out that this major expansion is expected to result in some one million additional containers passing through Freeport annually.

Furthermore, he said the initiatives being taken by his government are designed to grow other existing businesses, to attract major new investments and value added enterprises to Grand Bahama, all of which will have a spin off effect within the Grand Bahama economy, creating many new entrepreneurial and employment opportunities.

Mr. Christie also told the gathering that in preparation for these opportunities, he is calling upon the Grand Bahama business community to forge a partnership with the government in its national training programme, so as to equip as many Bahamians as possible with the necessary skills to efficiently meet the demands which will be created for the many new jobs in the various fields of endeavour.

He drew attention to the fact that many other Caribbean countries are looking at increasing or starting up a Container Port operation, particularly with the expansion of the Panama Canal soon to be completed.

Focusing on the refurbished Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino the Prime Minister said it signals a real renaissance in Grand Bahama’s tourism after a slide over many years from a peak of some 500,000 air stopover visitors to some 160,000 stopovers in 2012.

Mr. Christie told the large audience that starting May 1 through October 31, 2014 in partnership with Vacation Express, the U.S. based arm of Sunwing Vacations, Bahamasair will operate nonstop Boeing 737-400 jet service from eight U.S. gateways including: Baltimore, Birmingham, Cincinnati, Columbus, Memphis, Newark, Raleigh/Durham and Richmond.

He said the level of investment Sunwing is taking in this venture is a great demonstration of confidence in the Government and people of The Bahamas.Also, the Prime Minister advised that with the opening of Memories, the fast ferry operator Balearia has been inspired to increase both capacity and frequency with a boost in capacity to some 259,000 seats in 2014/15 almost tripling their capacity from the previous base of some 84,000 seats.

“It is a conservative estimate that the Balearia will generate some 47,000 new visitor nights, generating an additional $18 million in tourism spending in the Grand Bahama Island economy.

“It is therefore reasonable to project a return of not less than $72 million resulting from our intervention to turn around Grand Bahama tourism,” the Prime Minister said.

Photos: Derek Smith /BIS