Work has finally started, with Chinese funding and engineering expertise, on a multi-billion-dollar upscale tourism resort The Bahamias that will be the biggest luxury resort in the entire Caribbean, after several financial and other challenges over the past five years.

A ground breaking ceremony for the US$2.6 billion Baha Mar development took place at Cable Beach, Nassau on Monday (February 21), after several years of waiting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette – who officiated at the opening in the absence of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham – said it was the end of "a long, painstaking process and the rebirth of a critically important part of the Bahamian tourism establishment."

The project faced numerous challenges since the signing of the initial Heads of Agreement with the Bahamas government in April 2005.

The challenges included, among other factors, withdrawal of the initial joint venture partners in the project and the downturn in the global economy.

The project drew much local and regional criticism regarding the number of Chinese workers to be employed and adherence to the country’s labor laws.

Prime Minister Ingraham also engaged in "serious discussions" about the project in China, during a visit last October.

Deputy Prime Minister Symonette said the details of the project had been "painstakingly negotiated" and the government was ready to ensure its smooth continuation until completion.

The project was conceived by Sarkis Izmirlian, chairman and CEO of Baha Mar Resorts Ltd.

Baha Mar has partnered with the China Export and Import Bank and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation to build what will be the largest luxury resort in the Caribbean.

Local contractors are set to get a huge slice of the construction costs, with US$400 million to be awarded to Bahamian contractors and sub-contractors, by agreement.

The Baha Mar resort will comprise six hotels with approximately 3,500 rooms and condominiums.

It will also include a100,000 square-foot casino, 200,000 square feet of convention facilities, a 20-acre beach and pool experience, an 18-hole golf course and a 60,000 square-foot retail village, plus additional residential products.

The Baha Mar will outshine The Atlantis, a five-star underwater marine hotel in The Bahamas frequented by the world’s richest and most famous.