Mega-Resort Plans Include 4,000 Chinese Workers; GCOB "Wary"

S E C R E T NASSAU 000723 SIPDIS SIPDIS AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/20 TAGS: ECON EINT EINV EAID ELAB ETRD BF SUBJECT: Mega-Resort Plans Include 4,000 Chinese Workers; GCOB "Wary" REF: NASSAU 560; NASSAU 526; NASSAU 180; NASSAU 493; NASSAU 041 CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy Zuniga Brown, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: Baha Mar Corporation executives described plans to begin construction on a USD 2.7 billion mega-resort and casino in Nassau starting January 2010. The resort would add three additional hotels to the Cable Beach area, as well as several other high-end amenities to rival another mega-resort, Atlantis. Two independent sources confirmed that the project would involve a work camp for up to 4,000 Chinese workers located only 200 yards away from the Chief of Mission Residence. A source close to PM Ingraham indicated that talks between the Chinese and GCOB have stalled due to disagreements over the number of Chinese workers that would be allowed on the island. Post is closely monitoring for an increase in illegal migration of Chinese from The Bahamas to the United States. END SUMMARY Las Vegas With Calypso ¶2. (C) PolCouns and EconOff met with Robert "Sandy" Sands, President of Baha Mar Corporation, to discuss plans to build a Chinese-funded mega resort and casino in the Cable Beach area of Nassau. Sands said that construction on the perimeter road and commercial village would begin January 2010, with construction in full swing by July. The USD 2.7 billion from the Chinese ExIm Bank would fund construction of three additional hotels - the Westin, W Hotel and the St. Regis - a marina, an entertainment village, an indoor concert hall, convention center, high-end shopping mall and "one or two unique attractions." In response to PolCouns inquiry as to whether the company would seek a U.S. Casino operator, Sands noted that Baha Mar was likely to choose a U.S. company due to the desire to partner with a casino brand "with worldwide recognition and reputation, as well as a good financial track record." Sands noted that the focus of the resort had shifted away from the Casino. He noted that gambling is no longer the primary reason tourists come to The Bahamas, due to current economic conditions and the proliferation of gaming in the United States. Baha Mar, he said, would be a family friendly, but adult-oriented, and described the resort as "Las Vegas with calypso." The New View from the CMR: 4,000 Chinese Laborers ¶3. (S) A representative from a temporary housing and modular unit construction company, contacted the Embassy's commercial section requesting lists of food and utility vendors in the country that could support a large work camp in The Bahamas. The representative said Chinese State Construction Corporation (CSCC) requested a cost estimate to build and manage temporary housing facilities for 4,000 workers, "likely of Chinese nationality." Sands confirmed the numbers of Chinese workers expected to remain in Nassau and noted that the project would provide 8,000 full time jobs for "multiple nationalities," including Bahamians. "It's a major labor-intensive project," Sands said. "The economic situation has created opportunities for us, but we just don't have the man power." Both the representative and Sands confirmed the camp would be built on what is now the exclusive Cable Beach Golf Course located less than 200 yards from the CMR property. The workers are expected to arrive on or before July 1, 2010 and will remain in Nassau for four years while construction of the Baha Mar Resort is underway. But Will the GCOB Agree? ¶4. (S) Former president of The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and high-profile business owner, Dionisio D'Aguilar, told EconOff that negotiations between the GCOB, China and Baha Mar executives are currently stalled over disagreements about the actual numbers of foreign workers the GCOB will allow into the country. D'Aguilar said that PM Ingraham is very "wary" of the project due to the foreign labor requirement and has asked that the Chinese "send only 1,000 - 2,000 workers." Sands did not confirm the dispute, but was quick to point out that the GCOB had not "signed off" on any set numbers of workers. Sands did emphasize that Baha Mar and the GCOB were "concerned with legitimacy of individual [workers], or those that would come to The Bahamas solely to illegally migrate to the United States. He noted that the workers would be "highly regulated, close to the site in a fully contained camp," though the men "will be let out occasionally." Sands indicated that they were looking into biometric identifications to help manage the workforce. ¶5. (S) COMMENT: Baha Mar executives and the GCOB are clearly cognizant of the negative message they will send to tourists, as well as the Bahamian public by maintaining a 4,000-strong Chinese laborer camp in a highly visible and affluent section of town. Still, the GCOB believes that the completion of this massive project is a vital component of its long-term plan to provide thousands of new jobs for Bahamians. Regardless of whatever number of workers the parties agree upon, the continuous arrival of thousands of low-wage Chinese workers in The Bahamas will likely lead to a significant increase in illegal migration of Chinese from The Bahamas to the United States. The GCOB does not have the institutional capacity to effectively monitor the movements of the Chinese workers nor effectively detect inauthentic travel documents. ZUNIGA-BROWN