By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
A SUPREME Court judge has granted leave for Baha Mar to appeal his previous ruling not to recognise its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Bahamas.
Justice Ian Winder made the decision on Tuesday morning, allowing for Baha Mar to contest his previous rejection of resort CEO Sarkis Izmirlian's motion to have the property's bankruptcy orders from a US court approved in the country.
However, Baha Mar's application for leave to appeal received opposition from Crown lawyers, as well as lawyers for the Export Import Bank of China, the project’s financier, and China Construction America (Bahamas), the resort’s general contractor.
Justice Winder, in previous proceedings, had also rejected a request for Baha Mar to get an approved extension for its $80 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing approval by the Delaware court to take effect.
Baha Mar's requests for alternate relief were also rejected.
Justice Winder's reasons for doing so are outlined in his written judgment, a copy of which has been obtained by The Tribune, which was released on Tuesday.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Tribune.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
This is all taking too much time and Christie knows it. With each passing day, the likelihood of Baha Mar ever becoming a reality wanes. Christie must put pressure where it properly belongs...on the Chinese general contractor for the project, CCA.
xtreme2x 9 years, 4 months ago
Please do not stop Ur breath, and wait for Christie to put pressure on the Chinese General Contractor. Cause if U do, They will pronounce U dead...BOL
newcitizen 9 years, 4 months ago
If the government had not let their big feelings get in the way, this would be half way through Chapter 11, work would be happening on the hotel to finish it and the creditors would be on their way to getting paid. Instead, to protect their ego's and their backroom dealings, the government has put up every road block they could and now there is no end in sight.
Honestman 9 years, 4 months ago
You got it.
jackbnimble 9 years, 4 months ago
Yeah. Too busy trying to prove a point.
Zags 9 years, 4 months ago
Absolutely right: A hot-headed reaction to feathers being ruffled…
And look where we are now!!! Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Behaviour like this does not work on the world stage. Our government does not seem to grasp that this is not a petty, national affair. This is international, and the other parties in this dispute are in a very different league.
I guess we'll soon have to get used to waiting on long immigration lines when we fly from The Bahamas to the US. Might be quicker to go through Cuba...
BahamaPundit 9 years, 4 months ago
This matter is going straight to the Privy Council; you better believe it.
Honestman 9 years, 4 months ago
You got it too!
Bahamian_in_London 9 years, 4 months ago
This is exactly why Chapter 11 exists - to prevent protracted legal battles killing a struggling a business, when that business still has significant value.
If Chapter 11 had been approved, everyone would have been paid, CCA would have been out and Bahamian's would currently be working on finishing the development.
proudloudandfnm 9 years, 4 months ago
Can't see the privy council agreeing with Winder.......
PLP really messed this one up. And their screw up is going to dry up FDI in this country for decades.......
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 4 months ago
In this little tiny insignificant judicial system Justice Winder probably feels important but equity and justice never ran like this in any country but here. He will not be embarrassed to be told by the Privy Council that he erred in law by refusing this genuine attempt to resolve a bad situation but he will know that he is a failure to be told the same and become the subject of case history in British Justice. There is NO FREE LUNCH SIR !!!
John 9 years, 4 months ago
Looks like we gonna need a commission of enquiry to look into the dealings and operations of Bah mar especially as it relates to government officials
TalRussell 9 years, 4 months ago
Comrades, an even worst tactically attempt by the official red opposition party who many believe are coaching Izmirlan, while attacking others to avoid answering the question of, why PM Papa Hubert, approved Izmirlan's Baha Mar.
DillyTree 9 years, 4 months ago
Tal, why is it that behind every lamp post you see red shirts? Do they really frighten you that much that you see them everywhere and in everything? The only one to blame here is China State Construction and those clowns in the PLP government -- namely, Perry Christie, Brave Davis, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, and Damien Gomez (and Fred Mitchell, who has also stuck his nose where it doesn't belong)
Had the PLP allowed the Chapter 11 ruling to go forward, the BahaMar debacle would be well on its way to being resolved. But instead, the silly fools are playing in a game in which the players are all heads and shoulder above them and they allowed their silly little hissy fits to get in the way of acting in the best interest of the Bahamian people.
Instead, we have to listen to their ongoing stupidity and BS comments about "protecting our sovereignty" instead of leading the way and getting the damn resort open -- then Bahamians will have jobs, money will flow into the economy, and we can not look like absolute fools in the eyes of the world who are watching how this debacle plays out. How it ends will largely dictate our foreign investors/investments for many years to come. Do you trust the PLP to make this right?
TalRussell 9 years, 4 months ago
Comrade, didn't Baha Mar list the government Bahamaland as a major creditor? Hasn't Izmirlian, since filing in Delaware, acknowledged that when he went behind the PM's back to Delaware, the government had been left in the dark?
Wideawake 9 years, 4 months ago
John unfortunately you are absolutely right!
John 9 years, 4 months ago
Was it divine intervention that brought Bah Mar to a squelching halt and exposed to the Bahamian people and to the world what was really going on at the development? The prime minister said out of his own mouth that even after you go to God and pray, you still have to come back to him for what you want because he is the prime minister. Well Bah Mar is 97% complete and, despite all his efforts, the PM can't seem to bring an agreement that will bring about the 3 percent completion. Like the promise land, bah Mar is right there, no longer just a dream. You can see it, you can feel it, you can touch it but you cannot enter there in. Wonder why...
John 9 years, 4 months ago
The distance between the project developer and the government seem to be widening.
realfreethinker 9 years, 4 months ago
The difference between the pm brain and reality is also widening
realfreethinker 9 years, 4 months ago
What ever happened to General-crazy aka fnm-retards haven't heard from he,she ,it lately hmmmmmmm
atyrs1 9 years, 4 months ago
So now it looks like the legal wrangling will definitely delay the project from opening this winter marking the second missed prime winter season for the resort. I wonder if the hotel partners will be hanging in there for long? Maybe the government should think about dismissing the liquidation action clearing the way for the U.S. Chapter 11 to proceed. Oh, what am I thinking? Too many egos are involved now and sides have been taken. The government's neutral role long abandoned. Something tells me that the parties and the government won't be coming to their senses soon and, as a result, irreperable damage to the stakeholders down stream from the big players, most of all the Bahamian people, will be the order of the day.
GeorgiaBAHAMIANwannabe 9 years, 4 months ago
Why would the Bahamas recognize a BK filing in the United States in this case? What is the US connection??
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