A DELEGATION from the Bahamas government is heading for China for two days of meetings next week between the parties involved in the ongoing negotiations over the Baha Mar resort.
Attorney General Alyson Maynard Gibson will lead the delegation as heads of state protocols cannot be satisfied in time to allow Prime Minister Perry Christie to be received in China.
The meetings are planned to take place on Monday and Tuesday, according to a government statement on Saturday.
The statement read: "Over the last several days, the Government, led by Prime Minister Perry Christie has organised for negotiations to take place between the parties involved in the development and completion of the Baha Mar resort.
"The Government is encouraged by the fact that all three parties have agreed to participate in negotiation meetings scheduled for Monday July 13th and Tuesday July 14th. It is the expectation of the Prime Minister that representatives from Baha Mar Ltd., China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of China will negotiate in good faith and with a goal of coming to an agreement that would allow for the completion and opening of Baha Mar as soon as possible.
"The Government was informed that representatives from China State Construction and EXIM Bank were not in a position to travel outside of China at this time. The Prime Minister remains eager to mediate as requested by the stakeholders. However, there will not be sufficient time in the immediate future to satisfy the People’s Republic of China’s protocol requirements for receiving Heads of State.
"Given this information, the Prime Minister has decided that this meeting is too important to delay. To ensure negotiations happen as soon as possible, the Prime Minister is sending a delegation from the Government of The Bahamas, led by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Allyson Maynard Gibson QC, to China to attend the meetings.
"The parties have requested the presence of the Government at the negotiating table. The Prime Minister will remain fully engaged in this matter and available for consultation by the Government of The Bahamas’ delegation or any other party.
The Government of The Bahamas remains committed to ensuring the successful opening of Baha Mar and will continue to act in the best interests of Bahamians. The Government will also continue to be transparent with citizens of The Bahamas on this matter and will provide regular updates as progress is made towards the resolution of this issue."
The Bahamas delegation comprises Allyson Maynard Gibson, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs; Sir Baltron Bethel, Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister; Creswell Sturrup, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister; Sheila Carey, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Loren Klein, Consultant in the Office of the Attorney General; Deepak Bhatnagar, Financial Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister; George Hutchison, Acting Director in the Ministry of Works; Shari Moxey, Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General; Kristal Thompson-Bethel, Director in the Office of the Prime Minister; and Charles Robert Reiss, Consultant in the Ministry of Works.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 5 months ago
China has summoned our government to the Chinese mainland for talks and it seems Allyson Maynard-Gibson is no longer the least bit concerned about the sovereignty of the Bahamas. Surely the Izmirlian family cannot be happy with Christie accepting mainland China as the venue for the negotiations. And why is China making the poor Bahamian people pick up the very expensive tab for this very large Bahamian contingent of incompetents to go frolicking half way round the world? Baltron Bethel??!! Creswell Sturrup???!!!! DB???!!!!!! My God, what nonsense do we have here!!!!! This is no longer even a bad joke!!!! My suggestion to the Irzmirlian family: Show up one more time in China to continue demonstrating good faith and then do whatever is necessary get the hell out of the Chinese/Bahamian hot soup bowl. It's abundantly clear the Christie-led PLP government has compromised itself to the point where continued involvement of the Izmirlian family in the Baha Mar project will be impossible. Maynard-Gibson is the last person the Bahamian people trust and her involvement all but guarantees the very worst is just around the corner for the Bahamas!
sansoucireader 9 years, 5 months ago
SMT!
Zakary 9 years, 5 months ago
Monkey politics man...
TalRussell 9 years, 5 months ago
Comrades Prime Minister you and the Chinese, can try disguise Izmirlian - on Cable Beach or in China, with as much sugar-coating as you want, and he still will never be no piece cake you'd want digest. Ismirlian will always leave you with nasty taste in ya mouths.
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
Oh please! Your true colours are showing. He carried the project when it was dead and no one else wanted to carry it. I guess you don't mind being indentured to the Chinese and Bahamian sovereignty means nothing to you. Get your silk dress ready and start cooking da rice without da peas.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
TalRussell 9 years, 5 months ago
Oh My Dear Comrade Banker, how I does feels your frustration, like how could you not have recognized Baha Mar was heading for a train wreck, long before PM Christie got involved, and with Izmirlian, as its engineer and when he rushed Delaware file bankruptcy protection, how could someone with your self-proclaimed Bankers intelligence, not have seen he was putting the thing up to 150 MPH on a 80 MPH track, all in what only cuz swift action the PM, has now turned into a vain attempt, intended to stop people's government, from coming after the "people's" lands. Did I get it da Delaware part right?
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
Delaware was there right from the start as the holding company on top of the chain. The reason is because of the backwards business laws of the Bahamas. Phil Ruffin was incorporated in Delaware, and the monies that Phil Ruffin owed the government is still owing, despite the fact that Perry Christie accepted plane rides in Phil Ruffin's private jet.
If you examine my statements (on Bahamas Issues before Delroy Meadows closed it down) and here on this site, I was skeptical of Baha Mar pulling it off. I still am. Not enough market differentiators.
However, what really bothers me, is the vilification of Izmirlian in trying to save his project. He is putting his skin in the game with his money. The real trainwreck is that gender-dysphoric, brain-damaged Perry Gladstone Christie and his corrupt tiefs and bumblers in the cabinet who are raping the Bahamas in the worst way possible. The idiot retard prime minister said in his independence message that he hoped that the rule of law still applied in another 42 years, and it made me choke on my souse, because his merry band of PLP sub-humans in the House of Assembly do not respect the rule of law now. Especially the corrupt scum called Allyson. The way that she lied about legal opinion to circumvent the Auditor General examining how Urban Renewal gave away taxpayer money to cronies is criminal, as well as squelching Gray's judicial interference. We are a total banana republic.
And if you are worried about Bahamian land of Baha Mar, you are a day late and a dollar short. Bahamians own neither hilltop nor waterfront anywhere in the Bahamas. We are like Indians on a reservation, because our entire economic model involves selling the country to the highest bidder, which in this case, seems to be the Chinese now. Put that in your pipe and smoke it and perhaps gain some real insight into the state of this country.
TheMadHatter 9 years, 5 months ago
Child dey ain even mention dat white man name in here. Dey mussy vex for real.
TheMadHatter
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 5 months ago
Silent taken over. Country sold so someone could enjoy a very fancy bowl of porridge. I hope the people in Bain Town and Centreville are watching and noticing more than the fridge, stove and Christmas turkey in front of their eyes.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 5 months ago
"there will not be sufficient time in the immediate future to satisfy the People’s Republic of China’s protocol requirements for receiving Heads of State"....
"Government was informed that representatives from China State Construction and EXIM Bank were not in a position to travel outside of China at this time"
Who is the mountain and who is Mohammed? Down which path of sorrows is our blindsided government leading us now?
Then they threw dust on their heads and shouted while crying and mourning: "How terrible, how terrible it is for the great city, where all who had ships at sea became rich from her wealth, because it has been destroyed in a single hour!
TalRussell 9 years, 5 months ago
PM Christie and Izmirlian were summoned China cuz the Chinese will outwit them better on their own turf, using some their Chinese Guanxi, mixed up with big doses of their Confucian ways. I read posts claiming the Chinese will draw the short ends stick by time bankruptcy is withdrawn or settled, and that is hilarious to even think that.
Cobalt 9 years, 5 months ago
Perry Christie made it quite clear to all Bahamians what his priorities were when he honored China by dressing up as a Chinese emperor at the Junkanoo festival.
This, coupled by the fact that he insulted Mr. Izmirilian by questioning his mental status, tells us all we need to know about Perry's intentions. The Bahamas Government is in bed with the Chinese, and that alone is a risky state of affairs. Chinese products are always fake or of low quality! The national stadium that they just built using Chinese made materials, is already rusting. This is why Mr. Izmirilian has a problem with their workmanship.
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
And yet the PLP kool-aid drinkers are cheering the Chinese on. If the China-lovers been following the news, they will have noticed the Chinese stock market crash in the past few days. And Crisco Butt and Mayonnaise-Gibson are peddling Bahamian sovereignty for chopsticks.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 5 months ago
I am so disappointed that our immediate future was placed in her hands. I was told just last week that she cares about one person, and that is "Allyson". The Chinese must know it too. Who will the team negotiate on behalf of? Alfred Gray, Rubis...This is the woman who refused to relinquish power, insisting that votes be counted over and over again. This is SCARY....
Sickened 9 years, 5 months ago
She's gonna come back richer than she ever imagined. Luckily she's not intelligent enough to get her pay-off in US$. She will certainly ask for it in Renminbi because she'll think she will 'get more' (6 times as much). A real fool!!!
TalRussell 9 years, 5 months ago
Comrade Banker, admittedly when you examine your posts some truths are forcing themselves to be emerging among misrepresentations pure facts. Seems you and everybody's uncle, that also included ya Papa Hubert, had good reasons be skeptical of Izmirlian, pulling it off. and, now it appears even after you taxpayers were Delaware blind-sided, you is still not sure?
Unfortunately for taxpayers hungry hear from ya Papa, da Tribune, and every other media house, including talk show hosts, have decided allow Papa to enjoy his fishing days, unquestioned - or just maybe Papa doesn't have a phone for a reporter to dial him's up for his comments?
One strong positive I have been advocating for from back in 2012, is for the PM to take control over his message and do away likes yap too damn much mouths his Cabinet Ministers, MP's, Chairman and Party Executives - cuz now it would appear by their almost silence, they have been made stand their big mouths down. Hopefully, as we prepared for the 2012 General, the PM's "stand down" order will be played out by PLP's.
The PLP party have a General to soon go to win, and Izmirlian will have made his well-earned exit from Baha Ma, or whatever name the new owners may rename it.
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
Still not sure of what? Of pulling off Baha Mar?
Let me give you some history. I was the first that broke the news on social media that the Izmirlians made their money by being the peanut kings of West Africa. I researched it back in the day, when they announced that they had found a buyer/developer for the trouble Cable Beach properties. I opined back then, that they didn't have the money to pull it off.
However, it all seemed hunkey dorey when they got the Chinese involved, and everyone knows that the Chinese are trying to increase their sphere of influence on America's doorstep. However, I don't think any of us thought the that Chinese would treat the sovereignty and the reputation of the Bahamas in such a cavalier manner as to destroy what is left our tourism reputation and make us look like rubes in the business world. And that is what happened. They deliberately missed the deadlines, giving us a black eye to the world -- AND THEY ARE EQUITY PARTNERS IN THE PROJECT. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
The Chinese are villains here, and it pisses me off that the Izmirlians are being vilified for trying to be another Sol Kerzner.
Whether Baha Mar fails or not, or whether the Izmirlians have the royal jelly to make Baha Mar work is a mute point now. They proved their intentions by putting their own money into the game. They were blindsided by the evil Chinese, and like sheeple, the Bahamians are lining up behind the faeces-for-brains PLP have a big Chinese hotel party in the Bahamaland.
As to the future of Baha Mar, whether the Izmirlians retain it or not, I have the following observations. Sometimes a location just doesn't work in business. You see it often. At a particular corner, a business building will keep on going through tenants and no business prospers at that location, yet just a hundred yards down the road, another like business thrives. The extremely picturesque gas station on Kemp Road comes to mind. Well, the Cable Beach properties just don't seem to work. Atlantis works. The British Colonial Hilton works. Cable Beach -- not so much.
If the Izmirlians fail, it doesn't mean that they should be demonized for trying. I am still amazed that you do not have the mental machinery to recognise what the PLP are and what they have been these past forty two years, and it truly baffles me. It is almost as if PLP supporters have been micro-chipped to negate their moral compass and suspend their patriotism and belief in what their rationale minds are telling them -- unless of course TalRussell, you are being paid to promulgate lies on their behalf at the expense of the sovereignty of these islands in the sun.
joshc 9 years, 5 months ago
It looks like you miss several important points:
The developer cannot find a bank to financing this ambitious project. China Ex-Im bank coming in with over 2 billion dollars and save this project.
This developer cannot execute this project in an efficient way, so he over budget and file bankruptcy.
The Ex-Im Bank has already tired of this situation because this developer cannot do anything rather than use this project as to demand more money. He knows that if he borrow 1 billion dollars, bank will worry about this loan rather than himself. To better describe this developer, it is Bahamas' Greece.
The general contractor cannot find enough hard working and skilled workers in Bahamas. They were forced to bring skilled workers from China.
Chinese workers bring skills and trades to Bahamas. They are improving economy here.
The beach in Bahamas is not worth BILLIONS. If you believe that China is buying Bahamas' beach, you are in a delusional stage.
From those crystal clear facts, I have to say that China is helping Bahamas developing economy and bring new jobs. The current situation is simply developer's own fault. I believe that Chinese lender should bring good faith to solve this problem. However, I still believe that an experienced Chinese real estate developer should take over this project.
TalRussell 9 years, 5 months ago
Comrade Banker, you more than most, damn-well knows I could never be creditably accused favouring any political party over another, or who heads them. Where we differ is, I think now is the right time put in place a rethink of Baha Mar, and for all politicians to stop with pretending, its too big to fail - when it done failed in eyes tourism makes and breakers world wide. It has now asking taxpayers place it on life-support social assistance, and with millions more out taxpayers pockets. That my Comrade is where you and I, and every red or PLP uncle, thinks 180 degrees oppositely.
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
To be perfectly honest, Baha Mar has me stumped. I am a proponent of the Darwinian school of business. I don't believe in government intervention in business. The government knows nothing about business. For the life of me, I cannot figure out the hold that that senile Baltron Bethel has on Perry Christie. When he ran the Hotel Corporation, it bled red ink all over the place. The reason that I bring it up, is that the government should not be meddling in this Baha Mar soap opera. Nor should the Chinese government be given a free hand at running Baha Mar. The correct actions of the government should be to try and oust the Chinese who are the evil perpetrators of this mess.
If Izmirlian can't make it happen with his Delaware move, than it should fail. But for the life of me, it is counter to every business philosophy for a government to oust a private investor. It sends a real bad message for a country who is addicted to Direct Foreign Investment.
Here is what I do know. There is an economics Law of Diminishing Returns. Stated succinctly, it refers to a point at which the level of profits or benefits gained is less than the amount of money or energy invested. This typically happens at EOL or End Of Life of a project, venture, business or economic activity.
In early stage, if you threw a million dollars at a tourism venture in the Bahamas in the 1960's, you got ten million dollars back in profits. With the state of tourism now, a million dollars is not enough to even start a tourism venture in Nassau. What does that tell you? Law of Diminishing returns kicks in.
Will Baha Mar fail? Probably. Better minds than mine who are devoid of localised hope and localised economic participation in Baha Mar say it will totally fail (the learned reporter who actually figured out the true situation before anyone else knew and made it public comes to mind).
What I do know, is that what the government is doing now, is DEAD WRONG. The government has no answers. The Chinese have no answers. They have a boatload of their own domestic economic problems now with the stock market.
The most logical, sanest thing to do, is to let Sarkis Izmirlian have his head to try to save it. He is the only one in the whole playing field WITH ANY BUSINESS sense. The government should hands off and tools down. If he fails, than Baha Mar wasn't a good idea. If he pulls off a miracle, we will all benefit. There are no miracles in Perry Christie's bag. There is only money that his kleptocrats have stolen from you and I and the country.
As I have recently learned, the Bahamas is rich in natural resources in the bio-tech field. I mean really rich. Local sponges have cancer fighting chemicals in them, and local plants are incredibly valuable as pharmaceutical precursors. Unfortunately, we don't have the minds, the vision, the capital, and the correct government to make this a much needed pillar of our economy.
TalRussell 9 years, 5 months ago
Comrade Banker you have restored my faith in handful red shirts. Oh yeah granted it took Comrade Tal, placing you on da witness stand and putting your testimony to it's test, but in end you have decided come clean on Baha Mar.
Just maybe on your way become a genuine Comrade. But that takes time and trusting the will of the people, the rich, well-to-do and da poor. Da black and da white, including lick-da-brush. and da workers and business owners.
Prayerfully, a teaching moment for all red shirts.
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
I am waiting for your "come-to-Jesus" moment myself, and your conversion.
Reality_Check 9 years, 5 months ago
TalRussell, you are a PLP thru & thru my friend....and most of us know it. God only knows why Banker persists in bothering to give you the time of day. You, Birdie, joshc and others like yourselves sound much too much like paid disinformation agents of BahamasUncircumcised.com, and we all know who's the Kingpin behind that website!
sheeprunner12 9 years, 5 months ago
Which Bahamian island will the NolleAG sacrifice to the Chinese for Bahamar??? This is the point of no return ........................ Bahamar will officially make or break us now
Perry should have asked for the Bahamar 5 hotels to be divested under individual brandname ownership or management with Izzie getting first choice of two hotels (max) ............ this 3.5B model based on Chinese debt is not sustainable in our best long term interest
And the name "Bahamar" gatta go ................. its a tainted misnomer
crabman 9 years, 5 months ago
WOULD THE FOLLOWING PLEASE PICK UP THEIR ONE WAY TICKETS TO CHINA-
Allyson Maynard Gibson, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs; Sir Baltron Bethel, Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister; Creswell Sturrup, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister; Sheila Carey, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Loren Klein, Consultant in the Office of the Attorney General; Deepak Bhatnagar, Financial Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister; George Hutchison, Acting Director in the Ministry of Works; Shari Moxey, Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General; Kristal Thompson-Bethel, Director in the Office of the Prime Minister; and Charles Robert Reiss, Consultant in the Ministry of Works.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 5 months ago
We all know why our Minister of Foreign Affairs (Freddy Boy Mitchell) is not included in this entourage. It seems Christie and Maynard-Gibson's new yellow team members based in China have some difficulty with Freddy Boy's fondness for little yellow fellas!
crabman 9 years, 5 months ago
WOULD THE FOLLOWING PLEASE PICK UP THEIR ONE WAY TICKETS TO CHINA-
Allyson Maynard Gibson, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs; Sir Baltron Bethel, Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister; Creswell Sturrup, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister; Sheila Carey, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Loren Klein, Consultant in the Office of the Attorney General; Deepak Bhatnagar, Financial Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister; George Hutchison, Acting Director in the Ministry of Works; Shari Moxey, Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General; Kristal Thompson-Bethel, Director in the Office of the Prime Minister; and Charles Robert Reiss, Consultant in the Ministry of Works.
Gē dé mǔgǒu
laisee 9 years, 5 months ago
The level of journalism is appalling, why doesn't any one ask obvious questions, here are two simple ones:- 1. The PM is not the head of state, his reason for not travelling is a red herring. From the Bahamas Govt website "The Bahamas recognizes Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State. The Governor-General is Her Majesty’s representative in The Bahama" 2. What happened to AMG's assertion of Bahamian sovereignty? Why travel to China, the project is in the Bahamas and subject to Bahamian law the last time I looked.
Sickened 9 years, 5 months ago
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
sheeprunner12 9 years, 5 months ago
WTF?????????? Are you calling our Prime Minister a bi-sexual????? Can you imagine what that would do to his image in China???????? .......... it's one thing to be a switch-hitter at home, but not in China
SP 9 years, 5 months ago
..... Maybe China Will Do Us A Favor And Lock Up The Witch & Whole Crew ......
http://news.yahoo.com/china-says-top-ju…
https://news.yahoo.com/video/general-ma…
asiseeit 9 years, 5 months ago
The masters have beckoned and the help come a running. Independent my foot!
sheeprunner12 9 years, 5 months ago
As stated by banker
As I have recently learned, the Bahamas is rich in natural resources in the bio-tech field. I mean really rich. Local sponges have cancer fighting chemicals in them, and local plants are incredibly valuable as pharmaceutical precursors. Unfortunately, we don't have the minds, the vision, the capital, and the correct government to make this a much needed pillar of our economy.
But .......why are Bahamians selling their sponges for $5 to $10 ........ while the same sponges are selling for $80 to $100 in Florida??? ........ same thing with crawfish, aragonite, sea salt, beach sand, cascarilla, conch shells, sea shells, exotic hardwoods etc ................. why are we giving away our natural resources?
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