Baha Mar’s original developer Sarkis Izmirlian.
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
BAHA Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian said yesterday he felt personally attacked by Perry Christie and the government of the Bahamas, adding that if the Prime Minister applied the same pressure on the China Import Export Bank and China Construction America as they did the resort, “there would already be a deal”.
Mr Izmirlian said that while he thought the Prime Minister was genuine in his effort to act in the best interests of the country, he believes Mr Christie is “getting bad advice” to the detriment of the Bahamian people.
He spoke candidly about his current relationship with Mr Christie in a recorded interview with Jeffery Lloyd on Guardian Radio.
“It’s like a marriage I guess,” he said. “Some days you have good days, some days you have bad days. Right now I’m sleeping on the couch.”
The resort developer said despite what has happened between him and Mr Christie he still has the “utmost respect” for the Prime Minister and is willing to work with him to ensure Baha Mar opens. He explained that Mr Christie was the one that first believed in the project, understood its vision and allowed it to move forward.
However, when asked to comment on the impact of the debacle on future investors, Mr Izmirlian said: “The future will dictate how they feel about the actions of the government and I think the voters of the Bahamas will decide how they feel about the actions of the government of the Bahamas and that’s up to them to decide.”
After three days of negotiations, the Bahamian delegation left Bejiing on Tuesday without the parties reaching an agreement.
The government blamed Baha Mar’s refusal to provide a guarantee for additional lending as the only element that stood in the way of securing a deal for the completion of the resort.
This paves the way for the government to move forward with its winding up order before Justice Ian Winder tomorrow.
Mr Izmirlian admitted yesterday that the parties were “not close” to reaching an agreement; however he said they “are making progress”.
“I’ve been disappointed by what I feel have been attacks which have been personal in nature,” he said. “I’ve been disappointed in what I believe are government actions which were squarely aimed at Baha Mar, and if the government had applied equal pressure on all three parties then probably we would have had a deal by now.
“And when you have the government’s handpicked liquidator that goes out in the press and makes statements like, and I quote, ‘the intent of the government is to take it out of the hands of the party with the emotion’, that doesn’t sound like a legal argument for defending the people of the Bahamas. That sounds like revenge to me.”
The resort developer admitted that he did not inform the government of the resort’s intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; however, he said the secret move was done to “protect the information from getting out” and not to blindside Mr Christie. He also defended the decision to file in a United States court.
“The Bahamas doesn’t have a Chapter 11 process,” he said. “If they did, we would have filed in the Bahamas – of course we would have filed in the Bahamas. But what we have in the Bahamas, we have a liquidation process. And under the liquidation process you cannot do the things you can do under Chapter 11. The fastest way to open Baha Mar is and was Chapter 11. That is why we chose it.”
Mr Izmirlian said he intends to “see Baha Mar through” and has no intention of quitting. He said he believes the resort can be open in three months if the parties come to an agreement very soon. However, he said “that window is closing very rapidly and legal manoeuvres that the government have undertaken can only delay that.”
In a statement last night, CCA said it is regrettable that the parties have been unable to reach a mutually beneficial agreement but they are ready to move forward and get the project back on track quickly.
Comments
realfreethinker 9 years, 3 months ago
What am I missing here ?. Everyone wants to see the project back on track and finished quickly. But no one wants to compromise ?
ED 9 years, 3 months ago
Most of us feel personally attacked by Perry Christie! The childish, ill-advised, careless, reckless, selfish and irresponsible manner in which runs our country's business is a slap in the face.
sheeprunner12 9 years, 3 months ago
He has been loose with his statements about many groups in our country ..... law enforcement, media/reporters, Freeporters, unionists, women, poor people, white people, church people ........... he just seems to like Chinese and his secret lovers
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 3 months ago
ED: What do you expect ? Really !
ED 9 years, 3 months ago
Even fellow co-workers that admittedly once supported Christie, now shake their heads and despair at the future of our country under his and his cabinet's incompetent rule. You can only stick your head in the sand for so long before you must come up for air. Hope is slowly wearing away, for ALL of us. Christie is loosing touch, even with the most brainwashed diehards...need jobs, security and peace of mind and hope of a brighter future. Christie, resign already man!! You and your crew have loaded yourselves with a lifetime of wealth at our expense. Have you no shame? Well, I know that is a dumb question to even utter.... I know the answer to that is 100% NO.
It is now just a matter of time before more come around
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 3 months ago
We all know Christie is getting bad advice from Maynard-Gibson, Gomez, et al. and that he is no statesman by any stretch of one's imagination. But to have so foolishly taken sides at the outset of this matter can only mean one of two things: (1) An irrational reaction born out of of uncontrollable rage, vindictiveness and maliciousness on learning of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing after the fact (we do know Maynard-Gibson suffered a major hissy-tissy fit); and (2) a pre-meditated "grab" or 'nationalization by expropriation' fueled by significant favours along with a hidden agenda involving our government and China, an agenda that none of us wish to cast our minds to, if only to keep our sanity. The U.S. government has to fear the latter as it certainly does not want to have a Chavez-like Christie on its door step.
Baha10 9 years, 3 months ago
Boo Hoo, if you had not insulted a Nation with your arrogance, you might have garnered more sympathy, but instead you chose to squander your inheritance and embarrass your Family's Name, which will now be synonymous with failure in the History of this Country. Well done Izfailian, Daddy must be real proud!
becks 9 years, 3 months ago
Bana10..... actually Izzy will unfortunately, be viewed by most of the world as another foriegn investor who got royally screwed by the Bahamas and its government.
Baha10 9 years, 3 months ago
Not if you ever meet the Guy, let alone know him! PR will only get you so far and in the world of business, Bankruptcy sticks, ... And everyone has an excuse as to why it was not their fault, but ultimately it is, if you are in charge of the Show.
banker 9 years, 3 months ago
Have you seen what is being written in the business journals around the world. Essentially they are excoriating the Chinese and the government for its interference in a business matter. The Chinese are getting a black eye out of this, but nobody cares. The Bahamas has a real black eye now in business circles.
ED 9 years, 3 months ago
Are you kidding! I am a proud Bahamian and want nothing more than for our country to move forward but I KNOW that trusting Christie and his crew is wrong. I would rather have Bahamians own BahaMar but to put my trust in Christie and his band of thieves? You've got to think I'm stupid! Between a rock and a hard place...but the foreigner has so far shown more regard for the people than our own PM. Izmirlian took actions to protect himself against Christie and his crew of idiots since he knows them to be lying, selfish, POS (and we should all by now, realize it too).
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 3 months ago
The Izmirlian family's net worth greatly exceeds the current (true) GDP of the Bahamas, circa $6.8 per IMF as opposed to $8.1 billion per Christie's cooked books, and their annual net income from their ground nut operations in Gambia, their ownership of banks, their investment companies including vast prime real estate holdings, etc. make Donald Trump look like a pauper. This family could pay-off the entire national debt of the Bahamas and still have billions of dollars left over to enjoy and squander as they see fit. What most Bahamians, and certainly our government, do not understand and appreciate is that the Izmirlian's are highly principled Armenians/Persians who rightfully do not like being taken for a ride simply because of their great wealth. And of course Maynard-Gibson, who thought she was the richest vixen in the land with control of all the marbles, can't handle anything that comes her way with a real touch of class or principle to it; hence her hissy tissy piss poor attitude these days. Greed is indeed a most terrible trait and no one exemplifies this more than the Wicked Witch; hopefully she has lost her broom or we poor over-taxed Bahamians may suffer a third very costly jaunt by her to China with entourage in tow!
Reality_Check 9 years, 3 months ago
Christie may not appreciate that he needs to tread more carefully than he thinks, no matter how beholden he may have allowed himself to become to the Chinese. The Izmirlians, if pushed enough, may well decide enough is enough and take all of their battles into court both here and abroad for decades to come while they and their heirs sit back and watch us Bahamians suffer for having tolerated such a high level of unacceptable corruption within the Christie-led PLP government. After all, fair is fair!
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 3 months ago
The Izmirlians can spend $1,000,000,000,000 in legal fees over the next 20 years and not even miss the money! In fact, if aggrieved enough they can shape Christie's legacy to be whatever they believe it should justifiably be at the end of the day! China meanwhile will have been chased out of the Bahamas once the U.S. decides it has had enough!! And those of us Bahamians who are fit enough to do manual labour will be left doing whatever we possibly can to get low paying jobs in Cuba so that we can send money back home to our starving families. And we will have only Christie, Maynard-GIbson, Gomez et al. to thank for this squalid future!!!
Reality_Check 9 years, 3 months ago
You can be rest assured the patriarch of the Irzmirlian family will make sure the foreign lawyers get 99.9999999999% of the legal fees paid by his family over the next 20+ years.....he despises crooked Bahamian lawyers and we all know the top ones on his list of the most crooked....they all sit in our House of Assembly waving the flag for red China.
Stapedius 9 years, 3 months ago
You know it's interesting in this saga that every executive of Bahamar somehow finds it UN their remit to say something publicly. I think it is the duty of the CEO and perhaps PR to deal with press issues. But I see Dunlap running his mouth and so is the HR lady running on with BS. First of all there are qualified Bahamians to do her job so she should tread light and speak soft. I have no problem with criticism of the government but these people run right out. Then Sarkis talking about the Bahamian voter. Well how he get next to that? Be critical yes, but no need to walk the fine line and impose yourself in Bahamian politics.
TalRussell 9 years, 3 months ago
The Pitfalls of you Comrade red shirts puppets consciousness that pulls your strings of hypocrisies when it starts tricking you into believing, it's fair game to speak out anytime that other foreigner Nygard, interferes in local politics but not when Izirlian, starts thinking likes he's free be a 2017 Voter influence-eer, against the PM.
Were in hell is your shame, like any red could be expected to stock an inventory of shame?
I guess when it comes to your own people and nation, your lack of shame is not to be considered a betrayal of your own people.
Don't be late for the daily "clown bus' leaving the red party's Mackey Street headquarters heading out Baha Bah. You can tell it, by its colour red.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 3 months ago
Tal, you're such an ignorant paid troll. The Peter Nygards and Donald Trumps of this world are mere paupers compared to the Izmirlians. The Izmirlians are capable of "buying" the governments of many countries in the world but on principle alone they do not interfere with the democratic processes of any country, including Gambia where their ground nut operations alone represent 67% of that country's GDP. The Chinese from mainland China on the other hand are well known for their willingness to "buy" the governments of other countries to exploit their natural resources or expand their geopolitical security interests. There are many 'good christian' senior politicians of African nations who have been made rich for selling out the sovereignty of their countries to the mainland Chinese.
Reality_Check 9 years, 3 months ago
To Well_mudda: You really need to start taking your own advice and simply ignore Tal as a PLP troll paid to disseminate misinformation and disinformation.
TalRussell 9 years, 3 months ago
Comrade Reality Check, for you of all people to say that someone is a paid political operative is absurd. Popping into my head this very moment tells me, how much you need go find Jesus – in hopes He will bring you under the spirit to free you from the evil of what you see as a troll, is subjective your contempt directed not at Comrade Tal but towards our nation’s current PM.
Stapedius 9 years, 3 months ago
Stop taking Tal seriously. His undying need to begin every communication with the 'Comrade' indicates his robotic, conscript way of thinking. Put him in with the real comrades and guarantee he wouldn't last a day.
banker 9 years, 3 months ago
The gender for Comrade Tal is old womanish.
The_Oracle 9 years, 3 months ago
This statement illustrates a major problem: "He explained that Mr Christie was the one that first believed in the project, understood its vision and ALLOWED it to move forward". This is where we, the Bahamas has gone wrong. We have a constitution that outlines our Freedoms, rules, rights, but we opted for Micro-management by an incompetent! (actually a string of them, surrounded by more of them) We, the people instead have ceded our entire existence to a single man! In addition, the single man (and the other damn fool that preceded him) has us bound over with multiple "strings" with the Chinese! Ropes more like, in which they tie knots. (Hutchinson, loans, financing, development, U.N. votes, etc etc) So who screwed who here? Look in the mirror fellow Bahamians.
Alex_Charles 9 years, 3 months ago
Perry is a moron. He was a Moron his previous administration and is a bigger jackass now. I have always wondered and more so now. Who's team is Perry playing on?
asiseeit 9 years, 3 months ago
His own.
birdiestrachan 9 years, 3 months ago
Mr: Sarkis has serious problems and it is not Mr: Christie . It may very well be money. So he finds some one to blame for his failures. It was him who filled chapter 11, and it was him who kept changing the date when the hotels would be open.
ED 9 years, 3 months ago
Twisted mindset. Our biggest problem is Perry C. and his buffoons. Many of us pray long and hard that this idiot be removed from power, he is corrupt and incompetent! I am a born Bahamian, just like Perry but I can tell you that we are not created equal. For a man that came from something to turn around and sell his soul (and that of his country's) for more to line his pockets, is absolutely despicable. Nothing else can be said! If after all of the harm his crew has done to our country, you don't see the horrible path he is leading us to? No doubt the tie that binds must be serious mental challenges.
TalRussell 9 years, 3 months ago
Will come as a shock to you reds to learn, Jamaica's Prime Minister Simpson Miller who bounced back from what was predicated to be a certain election defeat, along with her parliamentarian colleagues and PNP party members - do in fact address each other as "Comrades."
Eat y'all hearts out - Comrades.
Maybe come da 2017 General, y'all reds might want consider trying-out the sound of da ring to Comrade "Papa" Hubert?
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
banker 9 years, 3 months ago
Hilarious !!!
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
Regardless 9 years, 3 months ago
The reason this nation is destined to fail is due to universal suffrage. The vast majority of the electorate are unexposed, willfully ignorant, arrogant asses that believe The Bahamas to be the center of the earth, They also sell their vote for essentially $20.00 per year of governance on average. Almost 80 per cent of them do not even know their heritage let alone national or world history. What is happening in this country is just the tip of the iceberg. The fact that the "leaders" of this nation are elected by a massive number of twits means the political elite can invest peanuts every five years to have access to the treasury full time. That, and give thousands of Haitians citizenship every five years to shore shit up. Therefore, the current situation is really minimal compared to what happens in the next decade. Crime, lack of foreign investment, unemployment and drug abuse will skyrocket. The "leaders" of The Bahamas do not give a rat's ass about the future of the nation given their prime interest of enriching family, friends and lovers. They all have the funds to relocate out of anarchy if need be. The only problem for this arrogant lot is that Uncle Sam has been listening to their deals for quite some time now. So the coziness to China is the reason that this foreign investor finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. The whole matter is a total embarrassment. The problem is the majority of the electorate has no clue and never will. God help us.
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 3 months ago
Extremely well said regardless. We are destroyed as a people.
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 3 months ago
Tal,you all excited about jamicans , do you know those poor sufferes need 117.00 jmd to get 1.00 usd - great eh comrade ? They have no fdi anymore.
TalRussell 9 years, 3 months ago
Comrade got's news for you. Only at home is we Bahamalander dollar valued in da stores for its face value. Some will argue our dollar is much inflated but for how much longer. There are reasons government strictly controls the exchanging of we dollars, for foreign currencies,
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 3 months ago
Glad you understand that Comrade. When imf com to help first tthing they will do is devalue our dollar. All foreign goods will cost more and the people will have the plp for beeakfast.
TalRussell 9 years, 3 months ago
Funky isn't it how you reds minds works. You Comrades are always calling for less government but it sure as hell doesn't stop you from blaming PM Christie, for izmirlian's own undoing, and every thing else under da sun, you think worthy of latching onto, for your own political advantage.
mr1969mr 9 years, 3 months ago
when it comes to the govt it all about who lines their pocket the most none of them are honest i dont care who it is
birdiestrachan 9 years, 3 months ago
Of course the Bahamas is the centre of the earth. and destroyed as a people. speak for yourselves. the vast majority of Bahamians do not believe that foolish talk. We may be down but we are not out, and we have so much to be thankful for.
Sign in to comment
OpenID