The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday urged all parties “to leave their personalities and egos out of” efforts to resolve the $3.5 billion Baha Mar dispute, adding that it was “not helpful” for the Prime Minister to imply the developer’s principal was mentally unhinged.

K P Turnquest told Tribune Business it was “a positive move” that all sides agreed to adjourn yesterday’s Supreme Court proceedings in favour of a two-week period for last-ditch negotiations to resolve their differences and complete the mega resort.

He questioned, though, whether the developer, its Chinese partners and the Government would be able to bridge the deepening gulf between them as result of the “public spat” they became embroiled in over the past nine days.

“It’s certainly a positive move, I suppose, after the exchanges in the press this morning,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business of this morning’s Supreme Court outcome.

“It’s certainly a welcome return to civil discussion and negotiation. It is never a good thing, either as an investor, lender or the Government, to get involved in an ongoing public spat.

“We have to try and keep these things as civil as possible, as we are dealing with international reputations and the big issues. If we all focus on the goal we are trying to achieve, we may get to a result that’s mutually beneficial.”

Mr Turnquest was speaking after the verbal war between the Government and Baha Mar over the former’s move to oppose the developer’s application for recognition of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy court proceedings, and pay its staff’s $7.5 million wage bill, reached new heights yesterday.

After payments failed to reach Baha Mar staff by the due date, the developer lashed out at the Government for blocking its bid to obtain Supreme Court approval to pay the salaries itself.

Baha Mar slammed the Christie administration for “concocting a sideshow for its own purposes”, adding that it provided the Government with all the necessary payroll information last week.

Placing the blame for the delayed salary payments squarely on the Government, Baha Mar said: “Baha Mar finds it disgraceful that the salaries due Baha Mar employees have not yet been paid.....

“We urge the Government to fulfil this obligation which it said it was assuming for this pay period. It is unconscionable and disappointing that Baha Mar should be forced to divert time and resources away from the critical task of completing construction and opening Baha Mar successfully as a result of the government concocting a sideshow for its own purposes.”

In response, Prime Minister Perry Christie suggested that Baha Mar’s principal, Sarkis Izmirlian, was becoming mentally unhinged.

He said: “It is particularly regrettable, that at a time when rationality and cool heads are required to deal with the current crisis at Baha Mar, the company’s leadership appears to be going to pieces under the mounting pressure.

“I am at a loss to recall any previous instance of a foreign investor who took it upon himself to publicly excoriate the Government of the day in such a shrill and belligerent manner.”

The statement continued: “The Prime Minister said that today’s statement from Baha Mar has given him grave concern for the state of Mr Izmirlian’s mind.”

With neither statement helpful to securing a resolution at Baha Mar, and only serving to exacerbate the gulf between the two sides, Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business: “I don’t know if anything has changed per se [between the parties] given the insults hurled across the papers.

“Maybe there is something happening behind the scenes that we’re not aware of, but when you have the leader of the country making the kind of statement he made, I can’t see how that’s helpful to a successful conclusion.”

The Prime Minister last night appeared to agree with Mr Turnquest, saying he wanted all parties “to put aside the antics of the past several days and meet with a clean slate and with cool heads”.

Agreeing to mediate continued negotiations, Mr Christie in a statement said the China Export-Import Bank and China Construction America had agreed to participate in talks. Only Baha Mar has yet to confirm.

“I have set a date of this weekend for this to occur at a location agreeable to all parties,” Mr Christie said. “I exhort Baha Mar to agree immediately to the same and I await the developer’s confirmation.”

Admitting that he was “dismayed” by Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 filing, which came in the middle of what he described as “good faith negotiations”, Mr Christie added: “The meetings must result in an intact and formally signed agreement on an action plan for the completion of the project, similar to the agreement discussed prior to Baha Mar filing for Chapter 11. This, in my view, is not optional.”

There were suggestions yesterday that the negotiations to hammer out Baha Mar’s construction completion would occur in China, a venue that Mr Turnquest suggested was “almost as bad as being decided in Delaware”.

He agreed that the Government’s suggestions over the Chapter 11 filing compromising the sovereignty of the Bahamas and its judicial system were a ‘red herring’, designed to encourage Bahamians to throw their support behind the Government’s position.

Regardless of where the Baha Mar dispute is decided, Mr Turnquest agreed it was better negotiated outside the courts.

“Once things go into court, then everybody loses control of the situation and the ability to negotiate is really limited,” he told Tribune Business.

“It’s very much preferable, more cost effective and beneficial for the parties to sit across from each other, focus on the common goals and see what is in the best interests of everybody.”

Mr Turnquest said all the Baha Mar partners had to acknowledge the project’s problems, and either work with or around them in a bid to achieve a “win-win” situation.

“We all want the same thing at the end of the day,” he added.

“Just remove the personal insults and public debate from the situation, and sit down and have some serious negotiations. They’re not all going to get what they want, but they will be able to come up with a solution where everyone gets something, and for the benefit of the Bahamian people and the project.”