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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Bahamas Information Services Updates
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham (left) and Kerzner International Chairman Sol Kerzner (right) look on as their wives, Delores Ingraham (right of Prime Minister) and Heather, share ribbon-cutting duties, on December 19, 2007, during the grand opening of
The Reef, Atlantis.
The 22-storey, 497-room tower will offer guests and tower residents an opportunity to experience the Atlantis resort from a location directly on Paradise Beach, with interaction with various ocean-based and conservation programmes.
Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham
Prime Minister
at the
Official Opening of the Reef Condo Hotel,
Atlantis, Paradise Island
19 December, 2007
It is a special pleasure for me to return officially to Atlantis so soon after my May 11th visit on the occasion of the opening of the Cove Hotel.
This time I have come to participate in the official opening of the Reef Condo-Hotel a Kerzner Phase development undertaken on the watch of our predecessors in office.
From all reports the first six months of operation of the Cove Hotel has been an extraordinary success.
I believe that I need not fear contradiction when I say that the entire re-development of Paradise Island beginning in 1994 has exceeded our expectations.
My Christmas wish for Kerzner International is that the Reef Hotel has a similar opening experience to that had by the Cove.
Today some 8,600 Bahamians are permanently employed in the resort properties of Kerzner International on Paradise Island, some 320 engaged directly in the new Reef Hotel.
Another 200 to 250 are engaged, I am told, on a part-time basis, some in connection with special events. Thousands of other Bahamians are also employed indirectly in the supply of goods and services to these resort properties.
In addition to creating new and increased employment and business opportunities Kerzner International is also proving a different kind of investment opportunity for enterprising Bahamians.
It gives me great pleasure today to recognize a young entrepreneur who hails from Spanish Wells, Mr. Clay Sweeting.
Mr. Sweeting will soon become the proud owner of unit 7905 in the Reef Hotel.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is impossible to speak of the Phase III expansion of Kerzner International here on Paradise Island without recalling the very important role of the late Howard “Butch” Kerzner in its planning, development and construction.
And so I take the opportunity to remember Butch and to say that the standard observed by all those involved in the development and operation of this Phase in particular is a fitting homage to his memory.
Of course, I should also like, once again, to acknowledge and thank the entire Kerzner Group and especially Sol Kerzner.
Sol, on behalf of all Bahamians I thank for your commitment to our tourism and hotel sector and to The Bahamas generally.
Today, the resorts of Kerzner International on Paradise Island rival and surpass many legendary tourism resorts around the world.
It provides us with a standard to be emulated and duplicated around our country.
I hasten to add that, in this regard, I am not referring to the monetary aspect of the investment – though such confidence in our economy is to be encouraged - but more importantly to quality of standard observed in the property and in the delivery of service.
Finally, I should like to say that I look forward to the continuation of this mutually beneficial relationship. Sol, I wish you continued success and a good return on your investment.
It now gives me great pleasure to declare The Reef Hotel officially open.
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