The Tribune

By TANEKA THOMPSON

Tribune News Editor

tmthompson@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie last night said he received “encouraging” news about a possible impending resolution to the Baha Mar deadlock.

Mr Christie revealed the information during a heated session of the House of Assembly, where he and other members of his party at times argued with Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins over whether he should be allowed to make his contribution to the 2015/2016 budget debate.

Mr Christie lashed out at what he perceived to be Dr Rollins’ attempt to control the direction of the House of Assembly’s business, explaining that the government had other matters to attend to such as an urgent, last minute meeting with Baha Mar Chairman Sarkis Izmirlian about his discussions with China Export-Import Bank. The bank is a financier of the project.

Mr Christie later clarified that he was not planning to meet with Mr Izmirlian about “bad news,” saying that the communication he received about Baha Mar was “encouraging.”

He added: “I wanted to put on the record so that it is made very clear that the communication that I received was complete, in recognition of the importance of Baha Mar to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the discussions that were going on in China between the construction company and the developer, the Izmirlians, and the government.

“And it set out very completely a course of action that I will have to have discussions with both the construction company and Mr Izmirlian who is en route now to the Bahamas, should be landing I think around now.”

“So thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to indicate, rather than people misapply what I’ve said, that they should be encouraged by what I said, that (a) resolution is being worked on and hopefully, using the words of the leader of the opposition, will be realised sooner rather than later.”

Although he indicated that he needed to leave for an urgent meeting, Mr Christie remained in the House of Assembly while Dr Rollins gave an impassioned speech, which ended in him quitting the governing party.

Mr Christie has previously said that despite meeting with Baha Mar executives “every single day” over continuing challenges with the completion of the $3.5 billion project, only resort officials can now say when the property will open.

Baha Mar is nearly six months behind its December 2014 opening date and has missed a March 27 soft opening. The property was finally expected to open in early May, but issues with the resort’s main contractor have contributed to continued delays.

In a statement earlier this year, Baha Mar criticised the performance of lead contractor China Construction America, revealing that work at the property had not met the expected “standards of excellence” and was, therefore, not acceptable.

Baha Mar added that it had relied on statements from its construction manager and lead contractor when it had earlier announced a March 27 opening date.

Mr Izmirlian has repeatedly flown to China for discussions about the project.

Baha Mar is expected to employ some 5,000 people when it is completely open. In the meantime, around 1,000 employees already working at the resort have been reassigned to areas outside the positions for which they were hired – such as clean up and security watch.