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Caroline Bay: a timeline

Former home affairs minister Michael Fahy, centre, with developer Craig Christensen, left, and former Construction Association president Charles Dunstan at the Caroline Bay site in 2016 (File photograph)

November 2005: Harvard University graduates present a proposal for a major redevelopment including homes, a hotel and a promenade at the former Naval Annex at Morgan’s Point, Southampton, which was vacated ten years earlier by the Americans. The plan fails to get off the ground.

September 2007: Developers Southlands Ltd, who were planning a five-star resort at the pristine Southlands estate in Warwick, consider moving it to Morgan’s Point instead.

April 2008: The Government and Southlands Ltd sign a land swap agreement, which is not legally binding, which would allow the development to take place in Morgan’s Point.

February 2010: Southlands Ltd director Brian Duperreault accuses Ewart Brown, the Premier, of repeatedly stalling the land swap deal and treating him and partners Craig Christensen and Nelson Hunt unfairly.

March 2011: MPs pass the Morgan’s Point Resort Act which allows Mr Christensen, Mr Hunt and Mr Duperreault to build a $2 billion luxury resort, featuring a hotel, residential units and marina.

June 2012: The Government signs over the land at Morgan’s Point to the three developers, in exchange for the Southlands estate.

December 2014: Bob Richards, the Minister of Finance, announces the Government has guaranteed a $5 million loan to Arch Reinsurance for the development, which he describes as “a matter of national importance”.

January 2016: Workers complete a three-year remediation programme to remove items such as asbestos and old oil tanks and demolish abandoned, dilapidated and vandalised buildings.

March 2016: Arch Reinsurance Ltd, Axis Specialty Limited and Validus Holdings Ltd provide funding to allow the development to begin. The One Bermuda Alliance government signs a guarantee of $165 million on the project. Mr Richards explains: “The Government believes that as this project scales, it will be a key part of a significant stimulus to the Bermuda economy.”

April 2017: A superyacht marina is launched at the site a few weeks before Bermuda hosts the America’s Cup.

March 2018: Workers at the hotel and residences are told construction is on hold. Mr Christensen and Mr Hunt quit the project and are replaced by Andy Burrows and Nancy Duperreault, the wife of Mr Duperreault.

August 2018: Construction work on the hotel and residences is fully suspended.

June 2019: Curtis Dickinson, the Minister of Finance, warns taxpayers could be left with a huge bill for the development because of the guarantee signed three years earlier.

July 2019: Construction firms reveal they remain unpaid for their work on the project and that they are considering legal action.

September 2019: Mr Dickinson reveals he has negotiated bank loans to pay $165 million back to the lenders, meaning he has to raise Bermuda’s debt ceiling by $250 million.