A public consultation meeting was held at the Queen’s College Auditorium on Tuesday evening for residents in the area to voice their concerns and ask questions about the proposed seaplane operations near Montagu.
Present on behalf of the Atlantis Resorts was Vice President of Government Affairs Vaughn Roberts. Roberts spoke to ZNS News on the sidelines of the event. He said, “obviously there is activity in Montaqu Bay already with regattas and recreational sailing and sail lessons and all of that, it has to be factored in. And so we are intending to address those comments in a report back to the Port Department and the Port Department would have to make a determination.”
Roberts also spoke to the job creation opportunities associated with the seaplane operations. “The seaplane operator will create jobs, the ferry boat operator will create jobs. All of the excursions to the family islands would be done excursion operators in those islands. So the seaplane would be met by a boat that picks up the folks takes them for the island excursion. And so there’s an opportunity for restaurants and all that stuff to make money off of this.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, the Hon. Chester Cooper also commented on the proposed operations. “There’s an airport at the moment where seaplanes can launch from. If they find a suitable area elsewhere. No doubt there will be a further consultation and the regulators will chime in. This is a matter for the regulators, let me be very clear, and they will make a technical recommendation to the Minister and the Cabinet of The Bahamas. But that’s the order in which it will go.”
The Bahamas Hotel Tourism Association President Robert Sands endorsed the proposed venture. He said, “as the president of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association its important that we support member hotels in their ventures to drive business to The Bahamas.”
