The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie has said while there are “temporary setbacks” concerning the $3.5bn Baha Mar resort, this country still has several other factors that will augur well for continued improvement in all economic indicators and sustained growth over the medium-term.

This comes as Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder yesterday approved the Crown’s request to adjourn the government’s winding-up petition of Baha Mar until February 1, 2016.

The Crown’s lawyer Loren Klein made the request, saying it was due to new developments since the stalled Cable Beach mega resort went into receivership.

A source close to the matter said attorneys would return to court in two weeks to settle an amended order.

The well-placed source added: “The receivers and liquidators are having discussions about a division of labour between receivers on the one hand and liquidators on the other and (are) in discussions with the government about who will fund the provisional liquidators. So that’s where the situation is.”

Meanwhile Mr Christie’s brief comments about Baha Mar came during a speech he made at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Business Forum in Malta yesterday.

“Our economy,” he said, “has for many years been reliant on tourism and financial services. Along with the rest of the world, the Bahamas is recovering from a deep recession but continues to see improvement in its overall fiscal position as a result of the successful implementation of VAT in January of this year.

“Additionally, the country has been able to attract over $5 billion dollars in foreign direct investments over the past several years and continues to experience positive economic growth from investment-led projects supporting sustained activity in the construction sector as well as visitor stopovers generating higher levels of hotel occupancy and hotel rooms revenue.”

He added: “Although temporary setbacks are being experienced with Baha Mar, a $3.5 billion resort development and the largest single-phase development project ever undertaken in the Caribbean with the capacity to generate 5,000 jobs, the realisation of touristic developments on the drawing board and in the ground, as well as investments in agriculture, energy, gaming sports and culture, augur well for continued improvement in all of our economic indicators and sustained economic growth over the medium-term.”

However, Free National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest yesterday questioned why the government would push for the adjournment of the winding up petition to February 1.

Mr Turnquest said: “The only reasons for them to do this is if they believe the receivers can bring it into completion or that there is a legitimate expectation that the rumoured interests by suitors makes them confident that one of them will come through to buy the project.

“We can only assume that the government is aware of information that we may not have that gives it some kind of favourable view that this thing will find a resolution.”

He added that the government has done poorly with ensuring there is transparency when it comes to Baha Mar.

“There are too many unanswered questions. We went through a very tumultuous time over Baha Mar and then all of a sudden everything has gone quiet and everyone is happy.

“But there continues to be an appetite for more information. When can we expect completion among other things?

“We, as a country, have put a lot of stock into this venture so certainly we need to know,” Mr Turnquest added.

Last week, Mr Christie said “things are good” with Baha Mar as he revealed that representatives from a leading resort in this hemisphere arrived in the country to put their interests forward to the Export Import Bank of China regarding the unopened resort.

At the time, Mr Christie said he and EXIM Bank officials have been in continued talks over the $3.5bn hotel with pointed discussions on finding employment for the more than 2,000 workers who were made redundant last month.

The nation’s leader further said he has put forward a proposition of his preparedness to work with the bank in finding the workers’ employment on the basis that stakeholders would reimburse the government of the Bahamas.