The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IN the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to put Baha Mar into receivership, Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson reiterated yesterday that the government will “only take steps that are in the best interest of the Bahamian people”.

“We want Baha Mar remobilised, opened and operational,” she said yesterday.

However, Free National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard questioned whether the Christie administration has a plan to deal with what he believes could be a protracted battle over Baha Mar after the Supreme Court placed the development into receivership on Friday.

“With respect to the receivership which has been granted, there are several critical issues of concern to the FNM,” Mr Pintard said. “First, the government must explain how this action verses other remedies will quickly get us to the finish line in terms of opening the resort, assisting the 2,000 workers to return to their jobs and lifting a cloud from over this jurisdiction’s head. Secondly, we need to get a sense of what plan the government envisions now that the court has now given jurisdiction to receivers who will be working in conjunction with the provisional liquidators.”

He added that based on a statement released on Sunday by Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts it seems that the government does not see any role for the resort’s developer Sarkis Izmirlian in this matter.

“And it is safe to assume that there is going to be further litigation and if we were to judge this matter by any other receiverships we have observed in this region, this could lead to a protracted struggle, causing further delays in opening the resort,” Mr Pintard said.

“If Baha Mar’s developer is not factored into discussions going forth it is reasonable to expect that the investor is going to engage in what will turn out to be a protracted fight to protect the $900m he has already invested.”

Mr Pintard added that the government must work to dispel the notion that the actions taken with respect to Baha Mar amount to a “hostile takeover.”

“The other thing that raises concern for us are charges that have been laid against this government, charges of nationalisation,” he said.

“Some say it is a hostile take over. The FNM is not agreeing or disagreeing with that characterization, but clearly that is a negative signal to the international community in terms of how the Bahamian government has chosen to operate. The FNM is deeply concerned that such a message has the potential to have a negative impact on people wishing to do business in the Bahamas. We must be careful not to send the wrong message, especially given softness and sluggishness of the economy that we have had since the recent recession. We note that amidst all of this, the PLP chairman is trying to rewrite history by giving the impression that the prime minister and his ministers intervened in this situation in the appropriate matter. We have always maintained that both the developer and the Chinese share responsibility for the Baha Mar impasse. Furthermore, when the government got involved it should’ve done so as an honest broker. Instead, Mr Christie and his foreign minister entered by making inflammatory remarks and choosing sides rather than staying above the fray and offering guidance and support to the process.”

The Export Import Bank of China, which is Baha Mar’s secured creditor via its $2.45 billion mortgage debenture, on Friday obtained Supreme Court approval to appoint the Deloitte & Touche accounting firm as receivers for the troubled project.

Raymond Winder, the firm’s Bahamas managing partner, and two colleagues from Deloitte’s Beijing office, have been selected as receivers for the mega resort.

Baha Mar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a US Bankruptcy Court for 15 of its companies on June 29. However in September, a US judge threw out the Chapter 11 cases for Baha Mar’s Bahamian companies.

On September 4, Edmund Rahming of KRyS Global, Mark Nicholas Cropper and Alastair Beveridge of AlixPartners Services UK were appointed as joint provisional liquidators and given the task of overseeing the company.

After the ruling on Friday, Mr Winder said receivership would allow for the continuation of the process started by the court appointed liquidators.

“The only difference is that the EXIM Bank itself has decided to take steps based on the powers that were (outlined) in the mortgage agreement,” Mr Winder told reporters.

“But in terms of results, in terms of what we are trying to accomplish, it’s basically the same steps to get the resort open.”

He added: “Clearly that’s our objective. The hotel sitting there and doing nothing doesn’t do any of the stakeholders any interest.”

In October, the joint provisional liquidators got approval from the Supreme Court to make 2,020 Baha Mar employees redundant due to the resort’s insolvency.