While Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines were seeking the purchase of the now, recently, shut down Grand Lucayan Resort in Grand Bahama, not once but twice and failed, they expressed interest in 2020 to obtain the only last remaining 16.65 acres of Crown Land on Paradise Island. They leveraged a carrot on a stick by holding out they wouldn’t complete the Grand Lucayan deal unless they got our Crown Land on Paradise Island. RCL coupled with a corrupt government knowingly superseded a lease offered to Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club in an attempt to stampede over boundaries already offered by the Government of The Bahamas to Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club which was already affirmed with a formal Cabinet Conclusion.
In the first attempt at RCL’s grab at the Grand Lucayan they kept the details of the deal hidden from the Bahamian people, in their second attempt then coupled with other co-conspirators they attempted to bottom fish and pick up the whole resort for $16M: a fraction of what the Government made the Bahamian people pay for it: $60M. RCL also wanted the Bahamian people to finance their acquisition of our resort by attempting to have no payments for the resort until “late next decade” pushing Bahamians being paid back into after 2035 and leave Bahamians out of any equity/ownership!
Now RCL wish to brag they have a Crown Land lease for Paradise Island for a minimum of 150 years, three times longer than our Bahamaland has even been independent, for a foreigner to develop a “beach club” of all things, reducing Bahamians and extinguishing our value in being able to operate our own beach club, in The Bahamas on our own Crown Land. And the politicians believe this is fair for Bahamians to sit by and watch. Philippe “Uncle Tom” Simone of RCL wishes to convince Bahamians that the construction of their beach club was done by “Bahamian companies”, however the devil is in the details, as the major contracts given for construction, maintenance and supply are owned and operated mostly by foreigners who have then hired more foreigners to do the work. Their Uncle Tom’s latest is waiting for “I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed” for a hidden deal: this is the level of arrogance and disregard RCL’s representative has in displaying his distain for Bahamians with a smirk and authority!
Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club fought back for the land contained within RCL’s Crown Land lease and eventually pushed RCL’s land grab attempt back several hundred feet, with mite and determination for the benefit of ALL Bahamians to the boundary contained within our lease!
RCL said in the past that “Bahamians” would receive an equity stake in this foreign owned beach club. While leveraging the Grand Lucayan deal, they got their lease which is widely speculated to not have a Cabinet Conclusion to back it and then never completed the deal for the Grand Lucayan, despite Bahamians having to foot the bill of the carry costs operating the resort. Bahamians have been paying millions for their indecision. As for the government it’s easy come, easy go attitude and not them paying the bill, but instead labour Bahamians with more debt! The PLP said they would cancel the lease while in opposition and then got into government and slipped into the RCL bed with them like long lost sweethearts.
RCL have promised a “deal” for our Crown Land for their beach club. A beach club where Bahamians do not have general public admission to our own beach or otherwise, exclusive for their passengers, monitored with security to run Bahamians and threatening Bahamians, unjustifiably, with law enforcement. No such deal has been made public. RCL deleted all living things from the land, reduced the buffer of Paradise Island to Nassau’s harbour, killed the nesting sites of many species of resident and migratory birds and turtle habitat and what do Bahamians get in return?
Royal Caribbean cited the deal will have an equity share for “Bahamians” and then admitted that it was actually with the government, blamed the slow working Attorney General’s office and while they continue to operate making millions of dollars in revenues to export out our country: no deal has been made. Not a penny to Bahamians, not a share, just a plantation that the workers are already fed up being on given the conditions and exploitation.
Is this how Bahamians want their Crown Land being thrown away? No public beach access, exclusive to Royalty, neocolonists. Threats of law enforcement for stepping foot on what the government hasn’t already given away and RCL taken? They’ve put up a great wall all the way along the harbour front, running Bahamians from the north side beach, put up the biggest RCL grotesque sign in the whole country to mark their territory and Bahamians are held to ransom by the Government of The Bahamas with nothing in return.
Meanwhile RCL already have the whole of Little Stirrup Cay which is all crown land, desecrated it and removed its Bahamian named identity to fit their narrative of Coco Cay!
I stand for all Bahamians to have access to all Crown Land. RCL’s Columbus Business Model nor their Plantation Business Model works for hard working, honest Bahamians! I demand that the draft “deal” is made public with immediate effect so Bahamians can decide for themselves what they do and don’t support.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Captain Toby C.S. Smith.
CEO.