A Jamaican-born investor is about to sign, perhaps as early as today, a contract with Port Authority of Jamaica that will see him ploughing J$1 billion or more into the dormant boatyard at the Port Antonio marina in Portland to redevelop and operate the facility.
The plan calls for the investment to be made over a decade, with annual injections of US$1 million after what Ford said would follow an initial injection of some US$4 million.
But Rique Ford is peeved by a lengthy approval process and other bureaucratic stumbling blocks to kick-starting a commercial venture at the pleasure boat facility, built at a cost of US$15 million from public funds with little financial return.
After more than a year of negotiating the deal with the Port Authority, Ford, managing director of Maritime Development Group (MDG) will, he said, sign a deal today to take over the management of the boatyard at the Errol Flynn marina.
"Our total investment in the first year might be in the range of US$4 million for equipment and supplies," said Ford.
Projected capital expenditure, after the first year, is in the region of US$10 million over a decade, he added.
Rique's outfit, MDG, runs a worldwide business building and servicing performance boats with operations in New Zealand as well as in Los Angeles and Costa Mesa in California.
The redeveloped boatyard, which the Port Authority had hoped to use as a hook for luxury yachts, will include a full service repair shop, a marine spare parts store, storage and care facility for vessels.
Make boats
It will also sell diesel fuel.
Ford says he also has plans to start making and selling from the Port Antonio location in 2010, a line of boats, which his company is already selling in New Zealand.
In addition to introducing canoeing to list of tourist pastimes on Jamaica's northeast coast, the businessman has already unveiled plans to re-introduce seaplanes, with the service operating from the Port Antonio harbour.
The aircraft have already been bought, he said, and are expected to operate along the Jamaican north and south coasts from North America and South America.
Ford expects the new venture to provide a few employment opportunities.
"We will be employing 12 locals in the first year and we are thinking of adding five or six people a year for the next five years."
Meanwhile, the Jamaican-born businessman, a world-class fast boat racer, is lamenting the lengthy bureaucratic process investors endure when seeking the green light to do business in Jamaica.
"It is a trying experience doing business in Jamaica. We have been negotiating a deal that makes sense to both parties for the past 14 months," said Ford, who noted that he is a past student of Calabar High School in St Andrew.
"It is completely different in Europe and North America. I just cannot understand why it takes so long for a decision to be made. I think there are too many layers of blocks to make decisions - (like) holding a meeting to decide when to have the next meeting - unfortunately, and it cannot be good for us."
While he was unwilling to divulge details of the contract, the investor admitted that significant concessions are involved.
Ford, who said he came upon the marina while strolling along the streets of Port Antonio while vacationing there some 15 months ago, believes that insufficient marketing of the yachting facility in the past might have played a role in its low profile.
He is confident he can turn it around.
"I understand the business, and I understand that it takes marketing, it takes a whole lot of money, but most of all it takes advertising and a whole lot of customer service."
According to Ford, his reputation as a fast boat racer and his company's track record of fiscal responsibility have allowed him to create a niche in the market.
The marina, to which the boatyard was a companion development, has 32 berths to accommodate yachts up to 600 feet.
The boatyard is equipped with a 100-tonne marine travel lift, a heliport and a state-of-the-art fuelling jetty.
mark.titus@gleanerjm.com