The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday revealed “we’re this close” to finalising the $290m financing for New Providence’s new hospital even though this was not included in the 2025-2026 Budget.

Dr Michael Darville, minister of health and wellness, told Tribune Business that the proposed loan facility from the China Export-Import Bank, the state-owned Beijing lender that financed

Baha Mar’s construction, was not incorporated into the Davis administration’s spending plans because the details were not completed in time for the Budget’s presentation.

Affirming that the proposed Perpall Tract healthcare facility will proceed, he asserted that he is “very confident funding is on the way” for a project that he hopes will break ground “in short order” although he declined to give a precise date or timeline.

And, while none of the $2m allocated for “preparatory works” in this year’s Budget had been spent at end-March 2025, the Government is providing $6m for what is described as the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ “equity contribution” to the New Providence hospital in the upcoming 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Dr Darville told this newspaper that the $6m will finance a combination of site clearance and preparation, which is part of the Government’s obligations in return for receiving the China Export-Import Bank loan, and the hiring of an “owner’s representative” who will act as the Davis administration’s “watchdog” once actual construction work begins.

And, unlike previous years, while there was no mention of the $290m New Providence hospital project in the Government’s recently-released 2025-2026 Budget documents, the minister reassured that this was simply due to “the timing being a bit off” with some details regarding the financing yet to be agreed with the China Export-Import Bank.

“Rest assured that funding from the China Export-Import Bank is on the way,” Dr Darville told Tribune Business in a previous communication. “The details concerning the funding will be discussed during my Budget contribution. There will be a few changes with the funding arrangements that are currently being worked out between my ministry, the Ministry of Finance and the China Export-Import Bank.

“Unfortunately, the details were not finalised in time for the laying of the Budget.” Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, he added: “The funding by way of the China Export-Import Bank is moving as I expected it to do. I was hoping it would be put in prior to going into the Budget, that it would have been incorporated. That did not happen.

“When the Budget was put together we were hoping to have all the parameters [agreed] to put into it. We are in communication with the Export-Import Bank on a daily basis.” Dr Darville said the Chinese ambassador to The Bahamas had previously gone “on record saying the funding was secured”, which gave himself and the Government confidence that the required financing will be obtained.

The proposed financing by a Chinese state-owned bank is occurring at a time of heightened tension between Beijing and the Trump administration, with the latter’s tariffs further intensifying their geo-political rivalry and competition for global influence. However, Dr Darville previously said the Government had been unsuccessful in its efforts to obtain monies from US and other nation’s development banks.

Once the China Export-Import Bank funding is secured, he explained that the Government would likely move a House of Assembly resolution seeking Parliament’s agreement to borrow the loan facility. The minister explained that it would work in similar fashion to the mid-year Budget borrowing resolution that enabled the Government to access $75m from a syndicated loan put together by CIBC Caribbean.

These funds were earmarked for much-needed renovations at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and the Rand Memorial Hospital, and Dr Darville said: “A similar agreement needs to take place for the hospital. The timing [for inclusion in the Budget] was just a bit off. We’re this close.

“We’re going ahead with the project. The parameters for the loan are slightly different. I’ll speak about it [in the Budget debate], but it doesn’t stop us breaking ground on the project in short order. I’m now in the procurement process for someone to start preparing the land. We have to hand the land over prepared for the bank to get the contractor.

“I’m a little bit behind sorting this issue for me to have it incorporated in the Budget. Once it’s signed off, there will have to be a resolution for funding by the China Export-Import Bank to build this project. It does not affect the Budget. What I’m doing is some small paperwork needed to go forward to meet the legal requirements for it [the loan].”

Asked what his message would be to the Bahamian public about the project’s prospects of moving forward, Dr Darville added: “I can go on record as saying I am very confident funding is on the way for this particular project, and we will break ground in short order... I’m very confident with where I’m at at this particular point in time.”

And, explaining the $6m “equity” allocation in his ministry’s capital spending Budget for 2025-2026, the minister said: “The $6m equity is for works I’m responsible to do at the site. The contractual agreement, if you look at the feasibility study, the responsibility of the Government is for site preparation.

“The project also has an owner’s representative. We will have a contractual agreement with an owner’s representative, who will be responsible for making sure the contractor does what he’s supposed to do and is the Government’s watchdog. Some of that funding is for that.”

Dr Darville told Tribune Business in May 2024 that the Government was aiming to “break ground” on New Providence’s new $290m hospital by September that year - a deadline that was missed - as the project had already been approved for “concessionary financing” from the Chinese state-owned bank.

He pledged that the 50-acre facility, to be constructed in the Perpall Tract area, will be “a Bahamian hospital” after the China Export-Import Bank agreed to fully fund it via a 20-year loan with an interest rate set at just 2 percent.

Acknowledging that a Chinese company will be the lead contractor, and that Chinese labour always follows where Beijing’s capital goes, he nevertheless promised that the Government will seek to ensure Bahamians “get the best end of the stick” and that local workers outnumber their foreign counterparts on the project.

Dr Darville also affirmed then that the necessary feasibility and environmental studies have shown the planned hospital location, situated by the traffic light on the road between the ‘six-legged’ JFK Drive roundabout and Saunders Beach roundabout, is the best and most suitable location capable of “holding a multi-storey structure the size of Baha Mar”.

Acknowledging the “political” sensitivities of accepting financing from a Chinese-government owned bank, the minister said The Bahamas had reached out to the US equivalent - the Export-

Import Bank of the US - and other government-owned development banks and multilateral institutions but there was little to no “appetite” by others to take the hospital project.

He pointed out that multiple other Caribbean nations, such as Barbados, Trinidad and Guyana, were already exploiting low-cost Chinese loans to finance major healthcare and other infrastructure projects throughout the region so The Bahamas’ decision has not been taken in isolation.

Dr Darville also previously confirmed that 14 acres out of the total 50 are being obtained from Sir Franklyn Wilson and his companies. 

“We had a negotiation ongoing with him,” Dr Darville said then of talks with the Arawak Homes chair.

“He has agreed in principle that he would allow us to continue the project. Our job is to now finalise the equity: A payment or a land swap. We negotiated that this was the best way to go. He has agreed in principle, and conceded, to allow the project to go forward pending us giving him compensation.”

The new hospital’s total projected cost, $289.399m, was revealed for the first time in documents accompanying the 2023-2024 Budget. Some $2m, and $8m, of that sum was due to be spent on “preparatory works” during the 2023-

2024 and 2024-2025 fiscal years, respectively, with construction projected to ramp up in 2025-2026 with an $160m outlay.