The company's vice president of administration and external affairs, Robert Sands, said on Thursday that Baha Mar is preparing the site across from the Radisson Cable Beach Resort for the development of a commercial village and eventually new road work.
Baha Mar, he said, is also preparing for access roads in the area and alternative staff parking.
"So we're doing major preparatory work in that area in anticipation of the start of the major works for Baha Mar which should happen in the third and fourth quarter of this year," Mr. Sands said.
He noted too that all of the present works are being done by local construction firms, although there are consultants for some specialist work.
"We are reasonably satisfied that for this phase of the work that there are adequate Bahamian contractors and labourers available supplemented by whatever international expertise is necessary for this phase of the work," Mr. Sands said.
During the signing ceremony last year, Prime Minister Perry Christie indicated that the bulk of the construction of the billion-dollar Cable Beach development will begin when Atlantis Phase III is ready for opening in 2007.
The plan is to create many new employment opportunities within the hotel industry, he said.
Kerzner International, developer of the luxury Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, and Baha Mar have been involved in an apprenticeship programme with the government to train more Bahamians to fill the specialty positions available on both mega jobsites.
Mr. Sands said on Thursday that once all of the preparatory work is done, all of the legal issues that have to be resolved are completed and all the necessary government approvals are in place the company would start to develop the commercial village.
Under the heads of agreement, Baha Mar has committed to creating a dramatic new entrance to Cable Beach adjacent to the eastern end of Lake Cunningham.
Earlier this month, the company called for contractors interested in tendering for the major roadwork associated with the project to come forward.
Baha Mar said in an advertisement that the first phase of the construction roadwork will start on June 19, 2006. That roadwork is being carried out in conjunction with the Ministry of Works.
Phase I of the multi-property mega resort will accommodate 2,700 guest rooms across a broad spectrum of price points and multiple hotel experiences; 175,000 square feet of meeting and convention facilities; and a new 18-hole championship golf course.
The work is being staged, according to officials, so that only one hotel is closed at a time to enable the completion of 2,700 rooms between 2007 and 2009.
Baha Mar has also committed to replacing the Cecil Wallace Whitfield Centre, the Bahamas Development Bank, and the Gaming Board, police station and straw market buildings within the boundaries of the project or elsewhere should the government prefer alternative sites.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
