The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday said Prime Minister Perry Christie should not mediate the upcoming Baha Mar negotiations, as his impartiality would likely be questioned by the developer.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business it would “not be a good thing” for Mr Christie to personally mediate the talks between Baha Mar, the Government and its Chinese partners, given the personal attack he launched earlier this week on Sarkis Izmirlian.

Mr Christie and the Government, responding to Baha Mar slamming them over the payment of its 2,400 staff, suggested that Mr Izmirlian was becoming mentally unhinged.

Realising that he and his administration may have gone too far, and overheated the temperature surrounding Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 filing, Mr Christie attempted to ‘row back’ on Tuesday night, calling for all sides “to put aside the antics of the past several days and meet with a clean slate and cool heads”.

Baha Mar, according to the Prime Minister, had as of Tuesday night yet to confirm its participation in the mediated talks scheduled for this weekend.

The resort developer, when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday, neither explicitly confirmed nor denied that it would attend. However, the odds seem to favour its presence.

“Baha Mar’s singular focus is to do all it realistically can to enable Baha Mar to be completed and opened successfully as soon as practicable,” the developer said in a statement.

“Therefore, we look forward to engaging in substantive discussions with the parties to try and reach a consensual resolution that will allow us to move forward.”

But, when asked by Tribune Business whether the ‘damage had been done’ as a result of recent public exchanges, Mr McCartney replied: “There’s no doubt about that.”

The DNA leader added that the heated public spat between the Government and Mr Christie on one side, and Baha Mar and Mr Izmirlian on the other, had already damaged the Bahamas’ reputation internationally.

He added that he personally received a call from some Atlanta-based Americans yesterday, asking him pointedly what was happening in the Bahamas, and expressing concern about a row that had resulted in the Prime Minister calling the Baha Mar developer “crazy”.

Mr McCartney said the fact Mr Christie had attempted to mediate a solution to the Baha Mar impasse before, only to confess to being ‘blindsided’ by the developer’s Chapter 11 filing, did not inspire confidence that his latest effort would be successful.

“I don’t think him being the mediator, him personally, would be a good thing,” Mr McCartney told Tribune Business. “He ought to have some independent person mediate in light of the personal attacks being launched by the Prime Minister against Sarkis Izmirlian and vice versa.”

And he recalled that the Prime Minister unsuccessfully acted as mediator “prior to the debacle of the bankruptcy filing”, and was negotiating with and speaking then to all parties in the Baha Mar dispute.

“For the person who was blindsided now to say he will mediate doesn’t invite a lot of confidence in the outcome of these negotiations,” the DNA leader told Tribune Business.

“Although we want to see negotiations back in the Board room rather than the court room, it ought to be done in the right way so that the right result - for this project to move forward for the benefit of the Bahamian people and the country.”

K P Turnquest, the FNM’s deputy leader, shied away from commenting on whether the Prime Minister should mediate the Baha Mar talks.

He suggested, though, that an international arbitrator should be brought in to lead the mediation.

“It would be very wise and useful to bring in an international arbitrator,” he told Tribune Business. “After all, this is a contract dispute, and someone with international exposure and who’s independent may be very helpful in resolving this in a timely and efficient manner.”

There is also plenty of experience available in the Bahamas. This nation has a Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ (CIArb) branch, while the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) is developing a domestic arbitration centre.

The ‘personal attacks’ between Baha Mar and the Government are not the only reason why Mr Izmirlian and his team may view the Prime Minister’s offer to mediate with some suspicion.

For the Government, via its actions and statements, has given every indication that it has sided more with Baha Mar’s partners, the China Export-Import Bank as debt financier, and China Construction America, the contractor, in the dispute.

Thus Baha Mar may well fear that if it attends the mediation, the Government may ‘gang up’ with the Chinese against it, subjecting it to an ‘ambush’ similar to the one it allegedly inflicted via the Chapter 11 filing.

Still, given that Baha Mar was the party pushing for a resumption of negotiations, and agreed to adjourn the Supreme Court proceedings until July 20, it appears likely that the developer will attend the mediation talks that are scheduled for this weekend.

Mr Christie confirmed that both Chinese entities will attend, and had asked him to mediate.

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, emphasised that the row between Mr Christie and Mr Izmirlian had also damaged the Bahamas’ reputation internationally.

“That does not bode well for the Prime Minister of the country and the developer himself, and it looks bad for the country internationally, no if’s, and’s and but’s about that,” he told Tribune Business.

“I just got a call from Atlanta, some Americans, asking: ‘What’s going on down there? I see some big argument between the Prime Minister and the developer, where the Prime Minister called the developer crazy’.

“That’s an example. It doesn’t bode well for the country, and we are all affected by it. Let’s stop the blame game, get down to business and resolve this matter.”

Mr McCartney expressed concern over what would happen to the next pay cheque for Baha Mar’s 2,400 employees, and who would pay it, should the dispute not be resolved and drag on through the courts.

He also warned that millions of dollars would need to be invested to bring the $3.5 billion project into compliance with the Bahamas’ Building Code, meaning the mega resort complex was unlikely to open this year.