The Atlantis Phase III construction project is now at its midpoint and 80 percent of the workers at the site are Bahamians, Kerzner International Chairman Sol Kerzner said on Monday.
Mr. Kerzner and Bahamian government officials released several doves at the Atlantis Phase III site on Monday.οΎ They said it was a symbol of new beginnings and a good gesture for Easter as the project reached its midpoint.
Mr. Kerzner was speaking during a blessing ceremony at the property, which was attended by government and religious leaders.
The project is on schedule for an April 2007 completion, according to company officials, and Kerzner International would have a total staff count of approximately 10,000 when Phase III opens.
The expansion will feature two new towers: a 600-room all suite hotel tower and a condo hotel tower that officials say will take advantage of the prime beach property that it sits on.
Phase III will also feature a new waterslide attraction, a dolphin facility, a ballroom that is expected to be the largest, not only in the Bahamas but the Caribbean, and a new spa and sports centre.
Describing the expansion as an exciting and challenging project, Mr. Kerzner said it will take Atlantis and the Bahamas to another level in terms of destination resorts.
“I think that we have been very fortunate here in The Bahamas to have a government that recognizes the importance of the tourist industry (and) what it does in terms of creating jobs and the growth of the economy and the people,” he said.
“I think this (project) will lay further foundation for the growth and development of the tourist industry here in the Bahamas.”
He noted that the quality of workmanship on the project is second to none in the world.
“We have here 80 percent of our folks are Bahamian,” Mr. Kerzner said. “And I just think that is a great credit to a country, to its people and you know in many ways this is what we are all about, the people.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie said that Kerzner has been good to the Bahamas and he noted that his government and the Bahamian people have placed a great deal of reliance on the continuity of Kerzner’s vision.
“The country has invested a great deal of hope as we look to the future in this organization,” Mr. Christie said. “It is paying great dividends for our countrymen; one need only go throughout the Bahamas and see the new level of confidence that investors have in our country.”
He added, “Investors must make money and be able to see who has made a profit, who is making money. That’s the bottom line.”
The prime minister acknowledged that those who came before him in government developed a good relationship with investors like the Kerzners.
He also encouraged Bahamians working at the Atlantis Phase III site to take pride in their work.
“You’re the people who make it happen, so I want to encourage you as I thank you because when this is finished as was the Royal Towers, and you drive pass with your grandchildren you can say your granddaddy was a part of that,” the prime minister told the workers.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
