Cherokee Sound, Abaco, The Bahamas ﾖ A $140 million resort and golf course slated for 500 acres just outside this town will bring Abaconians “new jobs and new opportunities,” a town meeting was told Tuesday evening.
The Abaco Club, to be built along the stunning Winding Bay beach, received the solid backing of residents here. It is one of $400 million worth of projects approved by the government for Abaco.
“The Cabinet is fully on board with this project,” said Financial Services and Investments Minister Z. C. Allyson Maynard-Gibson. “We fully and firmly believe that it is in the best interest of Abaco and the Bahamas.”
Added South Abaco Member of Parliament Robert Sweeting: “This is going to be a major upscale development, something that will be very beneficial to the people of Abaco and indeed the entire Bahamas. I am here to support this project on your behalf and to work with the developers in any way I can,” he told the meeting.
Other projects approved for Abaco since May last year include Barrier Reef Limitedﾴs $250 million proposal for two hotels and a residential development, smaller resorts, a conference center, and a boat restoration venture. Employment opportunities for thousands in Abaco will be opened as a result.
Among Abaco projects submitted to the government for consideration, she said, are a $10 million cottage resort and a $1.2 million condominium development.
A large crowd turned out to hear Minister Maynard-Gibson, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and the developer Peter de Savary tell of the latest plans to enhance the tourism product of this growing northern Bahama island.
Residents of this quaint fishing community on south Abaco were concerned about the projectﾴs impact on the environment especially the water table and the adjourning creek system, access to the beaches, waste disposal, and opportunities for young Abaconians.
Mr deSavary, founder and chairman of the Carnegie Clubs, has been a permanent resident of the Bahamas for nearly 30 years. He has homes in Lyford Cay on New Providence and in Cherokee Sound.
He has an international reputation which began with the first five-star development ever in Cairo, Egypt in 1976. He has developments in Europe, the United States and Antigua in the Caribbean. His Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle was ranked in 2002 by Gold Odyssey as among the top four worldwide golf resorts along with Pebble Beach in the US, Lanai in Hawaii and Gleneagles in Scotland.
The Abaco Club will be de Savaryﾴs seventh golf course and the intention is to create one which ranks by world standards and can attract international tournaments.
De Savary described his developments as “very, very sensitive to what is naturally the local environment.
“What we have here is the opportunity on a wonderful piece of land to create something of an international repute, something that is acknowledged throughout the world as being truly Bahamian, something Abaconian,” he told the well-attended town meeting.
“We are not importing Europe to the Bahamas and we are not bringing Florida to the Bahamas. We are going to try to create something that is totally local and take it to the rest of the world.
“We are going to show them what is natural in the Bahamas, what is appropriate in an island such as Abaco which is reflective of the character and the environment of this country.”
The Abaco Club development includes 55 beach front and ocean ridge houses; 75 Bahamian style ocean ridge cottages; 20 guest bedroom suites; holistic European-style spa; a Scottish-style championship ﾑtropical linksﾴ 18-hole golf course; a plantation-style clubhouse and logo shop; a golf academy; tennis courts; maintenance buildings and facilities; shops for local franchise; and executive retreat meeting facilities.
Links golf courses, typically found in Scotland and Ireland, were, predominantly, built more than 100 years ago before the arrival of huge earth-moving machines.
They are environmentally friendly and they capitalize on the natural environment “disturbing about 40 per cent of what a normal golf course would disturbﾅa course that fits and sits with the natural typography,” he said.
“I am a huge respecter of what is so naturally beautiful in the Bahamas,” Mr de Savary added, “and I think we have a great opportunity, together, where we can all benefit from our efforts.
“The intention is to maximize the use of Bahamian personnel, services and supplies and create a totally unique and wonderful world class Bahamian experience.”
His clients, who come from 32 countries, “donﾴt want to see what they can see else where,” he said. “They want to come for a very low-keyed, very discrete, very individual experience ﾖ life on a Family Island, something they donﾴt find in the United States or Europe, something which is unique to the Bahamas and particularly Abaco.”
Mr de Savary said he will be on site with his team “supervising and directing the development of this beautiful piece of land in a subtle and sensitive way so that it is in no way an intrusion or an imposition on the landscape or the island itself but rather something that fits and sits well.”
Access to the Winding Bay beach will not be denied as a result of this development, he said. “Nothing will change. Thatﾴs part of the character I am offering everybody. People donﾴt want to come here and not see Bahamian people. They are coming here because they want to see and have the Bahamian experience. And so concerning access to the beach, nothing will change,” he explained.
However, the existing path to the beach which runs through the proposed golf course will be relocated.
Tourism Minister Mr Wilchcombe told of renewed international interest in investing in the Bahamas.
“There is this desire, there are people who are discovering our wonderful country and wanting to share in our country and help us in the process of social and economic growth,” said Minister Wilchcombe.
“The attraction to this country, apart from the natural beauty and all that we have to offer, they talk about the fact that we are a country of peace, a country of stability, and that is why we attract so many who come to our shores to invest and who would like to be a part of what we do.
“We are engaging now in a very exciting and for the first time truly creative campaign to promote all the islands of the Bahamas.”
The Bahamas Environment Scientific and Technology Commission (BEST) has been consulted regularly on the project, said Minister Maynard-Gibson. An environment impact assessment report has been submitted and BESTﾴs concerns have been addressed. The Minister of National Security Mrs Cynthia Pratt is the visit the community soon to discuss security concerns as a result of the development.
As the government is “heavily focused” on the Family Islands, a $35 million development has Crooked Islanders fully employed, more than $300 million worth of investments has Exuma burgeoning, Grand Bahama is set to benefit from $500 million in investments, $400 million for Abaco, and a $600 million expansion on Paradise Island, New Providence is being negotiated, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said.
By Gladstone Thurston
Bahamas Information Services
