GB ARTS & CRAFT CENTRE GROUND BREAKING (From left to right): Mr. Edison Key, Member of Parliament for South Abaco and Executive Chairman, BAIC; The Honourable Neko Grant, Minister of Public Works and Transport and Member of Parliament for Lucaya; Mr. Hannes Babak, Chairman, GBPA; The Honourable Lawrence Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources and Member of Parliament for Long Island and Ragged Island and Mr. Ian Rolle, President, GBPA.Freeport, Grand Bahama - Today, members of The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA), Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) and The Bahamas Government hosted a ground breaking press conference to announce the construction of the Grand Bahama Arts and Craft Centre. Mr. Hannes Babak, Chairman, GBPA along with other panel guests which included The Honourable Neko Grant, Minister of Public Works and Transport and Member of Parliament for Lucaya, The Honourable Lawrence Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources and Member of Parliament for Long Island and Ragged Island, Member of Parliament for South Abaco and Executive Chairman for BAIC, Mr. Edison Key, and President of GBPA, Mr. Ian Rolle all shared remarks on this historical occasion.
THE FUTURE HOME OF THE GRAND BAHAMA ARTS & CRAFT CENTRE (FRONT ROW: From left to right): Mr. Gary Russell, Domestic Investment Officer, BAIC; Ms. Yvette O’Conno, Sr. Assist. Mgr., BAIC; Mrs. Chayla Cartwright–Black, Handicraft Officer, BAIC; The Honourable Neko Grant, Minister of Public Works and Transport and Member of Parliament for Lucaya; Mr. Hannes Babak, Chairman, GBPA; The Honourable Lawrence Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources and Member of Parliament for Long Island and Ragged Island; Mr. Edison Key, Member of Parliament for South Abaco and Executive Chairman, BAIC, Mr. Ian Rolle, President, GBPA and Mr. Ron Darville, Deputy Chairman, BAIC. (BACK ROW: From left to right): Mr. Arthur Jones, Vice President of Building and Development Services, GBPA; Mr. Benjamin Rahming, General Manager, BAIC; Ms. Donnalee Bowe, Assist. General Manager, Handicraft and Marketing, BAIC and Mr. Rudy Sawyer, Assist. General Manager, Northern Region, BAIC“We are very excited about the Grand Bahama Arts and Craft Centre. We hope that it will be one of the largest and most successful in The Bahamas. The concept behind this project is to create a tourist attraction, where visitors can actually see how native Bahamian arts and crafts are made, while providing employment opportunities within the local community” stated Mr. Babak.
Pyramid Construction Company, Limited was awarded the contract to build the 5,000 square foot centre, following an ‘Open Bid Process’ meeting hosted by GBPA on Friday, 3rd July, 2009. “This is the first time that GBPA has done an exercise of this nature and it is in line with our ‘Making It Happen’ initiatives. Our Chairman, Hannes Babak was instrumental in implementing this process," expressed Mr. Rolle. Pyramid Construction Company won out over 16 other bidders for the contract which is valued at approximately $635,000.
The centre which will be located on East Sunrise Highway, accessed via Alcester Road, will house the offices of BAIC, as well as a training centre for craft classes and an Art Gallery with display area for finished products.
