The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday reminded Baha Mar stakeholders that if negotiations over the stalled project are not completed by November 2, the government would move forward with the “chilling prospect” of initiating formal liquidation proceedings.

During a press conference at his Cable Beach office, Mr Christie said he hopes “all sides try their utmost to avoid having that eventuality come about”.

In September, Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder approved the government’s petition for the appointment of provisional liquidators, but limited their scope to preventing the depletion of the $3.5 billion resort’s assets.

Justice Winder approved the appointment of joint provisional liquidators, allowing the government’s application for three professionals - KRyS Global and AlixPartner Services of the United Kingdom - to oversee the resort’s affairs.

The judge adjourned the continuation of the proceedings (the winding up petition) to November 2 to allow the parties time to make the necessary plans to reach a solution and/or applications to himself or the Court of Appeal concerning his rulings.

Talks between the resort’s stakeholders resumed last week.

Mr Christie said he expects the discussions will continue to be constructive to prevent the “chilling aspect” of a formal liquidation.

“The liquidators have obviously issued a statement to the effect that they have had talks and the talks were constructive talks. From the point of view of the government of the Bahamas, we have indicated and I have taken the time to indicate to the construction company, to the developer Mr Izmirlian and to the China Export Import Bank, that November 2 is the date that the government must move formal liquidation proceedings,” Mr Christie said.

“This is a totally different paradigm to what exists and that all sides must try to the utmost to avoid having that eventuality come about. Therefore I expect, I must expect, that continuing efforts will be made to have a formula satisfactory to the Bahamas even if it is not to the total satisfaction of the bank, the construction company, or the developer but to the Bahamas, where that development that is 97 per cent completed will have construction resumed to completion and opening.

“I’ll say it again, the second of November is a very, very important date to be avoided because then it’ll bring in the chilling prospect of a formal liquidation, which the country doesn’t want, no one wants that and so I expect therefore that the parties who are well aware of the significance of that date will find a formula between now and then to address the issues and come about with a development that will result in construction being resumed. That is what I expect.”

Last week, the joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) said in a statement that the talks between the parties involved in the stalled Baha Mar resort have been “constructive” and “another important step on the road to resolution.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Edmund Rahming, of KryS Global, and Alastair Beveridge and Nick Cropper, of AlixPartners, said they had chaired talks with representatives from the government, Export-Import Bank of China, CCA Bahamas Ltd and parent company, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, and the resort’s founder and investor, Sarkis Izmirlian.

Mr Beveridge said at the time: “The talks this week are another important step on the road to resolution. We would like to thank all parties for their good faith participation in and constructive approach during the meetings. Whilst there is still work to be done, it is clear that all involved are focused on quickly reaching a viable solution to ensure that the Baha Mar resort is able to open for business for the benefit of all stakeholders, including the Bahamian people.

“We will continue to work with all stakeholders as we explore the best route forward and will issue further updates as talks continue.”

Baha Mar filed for bankruptcy in a US court in June, however, the cases relating to the resort’s Bahamian companies were eventually thrown out of the American court. In response to the bankruptcy filing, the government filed a winding up petition against the resort in the Supreme Court.