Afrexim to get five acres free of cost
African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) will be getting the lands at Jemmott’s Lane, St Michael, the site of the old General Hospital, for the construction of the bank’s trade centre, hotel and offices, free of cost.
Minister of Housing and Lands Dwight Sutherland said last Thursday in the House of Assembly, the 2.037 hectares (5.11 acres) given to Afrexim, which is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, was about “strategy”.
But Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne said he could not support the measure.
“The construction of its headquarters will bring substantial economic activity to Barbados. And the fact of Barbados being the only office outside of the African continent speaks volume to us,” Sutherland said.
“Reconnecting with Africa culturally and economically is essential for Barbados’ long-term stability.”
Sutherland said there were many arguments the Government could use “to justify giving land to the Afrexim bank for construction of the trade centre, hotel and offices”.
The minister said Throne’s criticism of the decision to vest the land to Africans for free was “unfair”.
“There is a geo-global . . . geopolitical strategy that we have. Hosting the African trade centre can diversify Barbados’ international partnership and lessen reliance on the Western . . . economic systems.
“It is critical because of what is happening in the world and when we look at economic and business justification for vesting this land free . . . the Africa trade centre would attract businesses, create new jobs, stimulate economic activity in Barbados, especially in areas of construction, tourism and trade sectors,” he said, adding that business executives from Africa bring with them foreign exchange.
Sutherland added that what existed now was a dilapidated site from the first hospital that was built in 1844, with the hospital “fully closed back in the 2000s. It was left there in shambles. There was no better opportunity . . . than to vest this land in the African Export Import Bank”.
In response, Thorne said the vesting for free of these state lands should not be centred on “political, and more particularly, geopolitical arguments”.
“It is national interests. This is a very interesting time and not for the first time . . . the alienation of lands to foreign persons and foreign entities has been contentious. I would want to introduce a legal perspective that while it is not the first time that lands are vesting free of charge – the document says free of cost – I have not seen the articles of association, I haven’t seen the memorandum, so I don’t know if the Barbados Government is a member of the Afrexim Bank, so that if it is a member of that bank, if it is a shareholder, part-owner, then the precedent is complete.
“If it is not a member of the bank, the precedent loses its validity,” he said, citing the case of the Caribbean Development Bank, where the Barbados Government was a member.
“Those lands [old hospital site] are in fact and in law being alienated to a foreign entity and that is the fundamental
difference between the transactions.
“These are times that are rather different and there’s a lot of protests across Barbados as to not only the ownership of lands . . . but what the public is now concerned about is the use of those lands.”
Monetary value
Thorne said while the 2.037 hectares were not beach-front, the core issue was “you are giving precious lands to a foreigner, to a foreign entity. In spite of the cultural argument, the public wants to know why are you giving lands free to a bank”.
The Opposition Leader said the new entity should not bank on its nationality to win over the people of Barbados.
“What is the monetary value, the financial value of this project to Barbados?
“The Government will have a very difficult job in convincing Barbadians that this is a project that is ultimately in the best interest of this country.”
He said the lands are situated in coastal Bridgetown.
“To put a value on that land along there you talking about $700 per square foot and that’s part of the going rate along that area, subject to correction. I have difficulty with the transaction. I cannot support this.”
Attorney General Dale Marshall said there was nothing nefarious about the transaction, as it was widely publicised.
“There is a partnership agreement between CARICOM and the Afrexim bank. Barbados, the state, has a headquarters agreement with Afrexim bank,” he stated, pointing out that already headquartered in Barbados were numerous regional and international organisations.
He said whenever there’s a headquarters agreement, it is the responsibility of the host state to provide the headquarters – to build and to maintain.
“In our headquarters agreements we spend the money, we provide the land, we build the buildings and then we maintain them forever. In this instance with Afrexim, we’re not being required to build the headquarters. This land, I think, is valued at around $17 million by the Land Tax Department, so there’s no way that we could build any headquarters for any multinational bank for $17 million. So by giving the bank this land we are benefiting because we don’t have to do the rest. If we had to do the rest, it would cost us tens of millions of dollars.
“This is a legitimate arrangement that will bring much credit to Barbados. It will clean up a site that was last occupied, probably over 20 years ago.”
Marshall said the bank was proposing to spend US$150 million on the site. (NS)
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