Despite multi-million dollar investments, Bimini is in “the worst state it has ever been” with locals being more and more ostracized from entrepreneurial and job opportunities.
The sheer scale of Genting’s investments in Bimini, along with the existing Bimini Bay project, highlight the potential conflicts caused by the central government imposing its own economic development/growth vision on Family Island communities from Nassau.
It also raises issues of how involved local communities should be in charting their own development, and shows the dilemma created when job creation pressures result in projects that potentially alter an island’s character – the very thing that attracts tourists in the first place.
Numerous Mexican and Dominican construction workers have been employed. Biminites are becoming angered and dismayed that they are “not getting any” of the business brought in by Genting’s Miami ferry service. In fact, passengers landing at the airport on South Bimini were now being ferried to the private landing destination at Bimini Bay, rather than the dock in Alice Town, further reducing the economic impact for Biminites.
