This public hearing comes just under three months after Isle of Capri announced that it had reached a ten million-dollar agreement in principle, to lease and operate the casino at Freeport’s Our Lucaya Resort.
According to Gaming Board Deputy Secretary Dennis Martin, the public hearing is expected to consist of Gaming Board and Isle of Capri officials in addition to a representative from the police force.
Mr. Martin told the Journal yesterday that the Secretary of the Gaming Board will announce the findings on Isle of Capri to the members of that board in the public hearing. He said that Isle of Capri has met the requirements for fit and proper status, meaning that the company is found to be a legal entity and was able to produce proof that it could legally finance a casino operation in The Bahamas.
He further noted that the Gaming Board conducted a detailed background check of the Mississippi-based gaming company and determined that Isle of Capri has a strong management team and has demonstrated having a good level of experience in the gaming industry.
Grand Bahama residents are hopeful that the opening of the casino in Freeport will provide much needed jobs.
“We have had problems with much of our product not being completed,” Director of Tourism for Grand Bahama David Johnson told the Journal yesterday. “The casino is key on the beach and once that gets open it will allow other things to take off. We think that by December that casino will be open, and we think that this winter will be the first winter in many years that Grand Bahama’s product will be complete with the facilities in place to do business.”
New airlift opportunities as well as planned events scheduled for the remainder of this year are also expected to temper the falloff in tourist arrivals seen from September to November, according to Mr. Johnson.
Delta airlines will return to Grand Bahama after a six-year absence with twice-daily service from Atlanta beginning October 15. Negotiations are also ongoing with Continental Airlines regarding the start of daily jet service to New Jersey beginning December 15.
Grand Bahama will also play host to its first ever Island Jazz and R&B festival September 18 through 22. Mr. Johnson said that events such as these were planned especially for September as it is the island’s slowest month for tourist arrivals.
The Ministry of Tourism has partnered with Mr. William Lockett Jr., President of Festivals and Travels Inc., in order to produce the island’s first Jazz Festival.
Tourism officials expect the event to attract some 600 visitors to the island, who are pegged to inject close to $500,000 into the Grand Bahama economy.
“We expect to see a strengthening this September when compared to September of last year,” Mr. Johnson noted. “Our strategy is to bridge ourselves to stop the decline. Post 9/11 we have been in a state of decline, but with the airlift and group travel expected in during this period, I think we will get through.”
By Sharon Williams, The Bahama Journal
