The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday said the first day of Baha Mar meetings in China were “good” but warned that a “very, very serious situation” would result if the relevant parties cannot secure an agreement today.

He said this is “the most important date” for efforts to resolve the disputes that have led to a deadlock over the $3.5 billion project.

Mr Christie said the parties involved in negotiations on the resort’s future have found a solution for addressing some of the major issues that have arisen. However, without divulging details, he said that in the event the negotiations fail to have the desired outcome, his government has an alternative plan.

“The negotiating team is in China,” he said as a guest during the launch of KISS FM radio show Ed Fields Live.

“They’ve had their first full day of meetings (on Monday). The meetings were good. I think I can sort of characterise the meeting in the first (day) as good.”

“The major differences arose in some areas but they were able to agree to deal with them in another fashion. The most important date is coming up now where… they will start at 9:30 Chinese time on Tuesday morning and the expectation is that everybody will work seriously towards coming up with an agreement.”

Over the weekend, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson led a government delegation to China where Baha Mar executives, the China State Construction company and the China Export-Import Bank are having discussions to hopefully secure a deal to open the resort.

Regarding the nature of the terms being agreed to by the parties, Mr Christie said: “I can tell you that Baha Mar has put in their request in terms of their amount. The bank’s requirement is to find a way to certify that amount because they don’t want to take two bites at this. The bank is wiling to work towards a happy conclusion. The government is there represented strongly to ensure that we make every effort to reach a conclusion so we’re working on plan A.”

As for the issues negotiators are seeking to address, he said: “We’re dealing with financial structuring but at the same time we have to anticipate that assuming you have completion of the project, then it’s a matter of how it is operated, who are the players and the financing for operating it. Those are the considerations also on the table there.

“I really hope that when they begin tomorrow (Tuesday) that we are able to secure an agreement because not to do so is a very, very serious situation. There are different methods to get to a happy conclusion. The first is to get there with the developer in a happy position to maximise the return on all the money the developer has invested. And one doesn’t want to think of the alternative but there is an alternative and countries have to exercise an alternative sometimes. And so I don’t want to go to that particular position at this stage, only to say the government has to anticipate that we have to work towards ensuring we are in a position to protect the country, protect the asset, to protect the developer as a foreign investor and make all these things happen in the right way and that’s why we’re so anxious about it.”

Mr Christie noted that even while negotiations are underway, Baha Mar is taking actions in a Delaware bankruptcy court as it relates to the project.

“Notwithstanding the fact that they requested an agreement to settle, there are certain things being done today, yesterday in the courts,” he said.

And more than a week after The Tribune reported that the rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) placed this nation on “negative credit watch” because of Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 filing, Mr Christie said that he is meeting with rating agencies this week in the country to discuss the matter.

“One of those concerns they have is what is going to be the likely impact of a Baha Mar that is not a part of the Bahamian economy,” he said.

The Tribune reported last week that a $300 million agreement to resolve Baha Mar’s woes was sunk when the warring parties were unable to agree to key details.

This agreement fell apart when Baha Mar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 29.

Mr Christie’s comments yesterday came the same day Baha Mar released a statement urging all parties, including government officials, not to comment on the ongoing negotiations until they are complete.