The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE the public spats the Christie administration has had with Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe believes the government can still work with him and maintain a good relationship in the future.

“I think what’s important is that’s how business must work,” he said when asked by The Tribune if the government could have a good relationship with Mr Izmirlian if ongoing negotiations on Baha Mar are successful.

Mr Izmirlian has pointedly criticised the government and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for Baha Mar in the United States without first notifying the Christie administration.

His legal manoeuvre came as Prime Minister Perry Christie acted as a mediator between him and the resort’s Chinese partners following several opening delays and disputes.

Last week, Mr Christie released a statement questioning the mental state of Mr Izmirlian, saying he was “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”.

Some observers now see the relationship between the Baha Mar CEO and the government as irreparable.

Asked about this, Mr Wilchcombe said: “In the world where we operate there are rough times and there are difficult times in all things. But you have to rise above it. Because what’s important is not the developer per say. What’s important is the country. You have to put aside the personal likes and dislikes.

“When you govern a country the point is the country and its citizens are most important. We will be mindful to never get in this situation again because we would’ve learned from this experience and also, what we will have to appreciate is that moving forward that the people must always be protected but if you can sit at the table in the first instance with Mr Izmirlian, as we did, then obviously we saw some value in him.”

He added: “His business decisions we might not agree to; his approaches we may not agree to, but the truth is we sat with him so we saw him as a partner that could help us develop our tourism industry so you can’t today turn our back. You still have to work until some other circumstance exists. But right now, he’s still the developer and we’re still mandated to work with him and mandated to work with him until a resolution we can all live with is achieved.”

Mr Wilchcombe also said the Baha Mar debacle has not yet had a negative impact on the country’s reputation. If anything, he said, concerns are being raised only about Baha Mar’s developer.

“For the Ministry of Tourism, we are concerned about the brand Bahamas because we have been a country that always delivers,” he said. “There’s a high level of expectation for Baha Mar. We have promoted it as such for being brand new for the entire Caribbean and what it would mean to the entire Caribbean, and the Bahamas being the leader.

“So, yes, we’re concerned about that but to this point we’ve not been impacted because the Bahamas brand is such a strong brand it has resilience. Business goes through upheaval and downsides but you have to rebound from it. Now, how quickly you rebound from it is fundamental. Again, we are monitoring. Up to this point we’re not being hurt. They are talking about the developer and those concerned with the developer as opposed to the country, The Bahamas, the brand. The Bahamas the brand continues to have tremendous appeal to the world community.”

Baha Mar missed its December 2014 opening date and subsequent deadlines in March and early May.