TWO THOUSAND Baha Mar employees have been made redundant immediately after Justice Ian Winder granted approval in the Supreme Court on Thursday morning to the Baha Mar joint provisional liquidators’ request to make layoffs.
The joint provisional liquidators, Bahamas-based KRyS Global and UK-based AlixPartners, said the layoffs were due to the financial insolvency of the $3.5 billion resort project that has been stalled since June 29. The redundancies are effective from Friday, October 23.
The lay-offs affect approximately 1,440 non-active employees and approximately 580 active employees, including members of management and line staff.
“Though today’s layoffs are difficult on everyone, it further highlights the urgency for everyone to remain at the negotiating table and maintain the dialogue that may lead to a resolution, a re-start of construction and the completion of the Baha Mar project,” said Edmund Rahming, KRyS Global Managing Director.
Staff were advised of their status by notice to their individual e-mail addresses or communication from supervisors. Information was also posted on the joint provisional liquidators’ website www.bmplprocess.com
“We were paying housekeeping staff when there was no housekeeping to do, spa staff when there was no spa, casino staff when there was no casino to operate,” said Alastair Beveridge, of AlixPartners. “Thanks to monies that were made available to us by the government from funds that were due to Baha Mar for road construction works, we were able to keep these staff members on as long as we did. We know that they have obligations, that many of them gave up other jobs to join the Baha Mar dream team and now we are continuing to focus on how best to make that dream a reality.”
Management and staff who were made redundant are being offered assistance in development of CVs and resumes and in job-hunting. Staff members were retained to provide assistance in job skills development and life skills, with employment workshops scheduled to run from October 29 to October 31.
Today’s actions did not affect the Melia Nassau Beach Resort.
Full story and reaction in Friday's Tribune.
Comments
Hogfish 9 years, 2 months ago
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
ForeignObserver 9 years, 2 months ago
So the Government's forcing an end to the rational Chapter 11 proceeding "for the good of the Bahamian people" results in this. Now let's see if the PM, the AG, the JPLs, Ian Winder, the Exim Bank and China State can ever get Baha Mar open. I doubt it. The only person who could was kicked in the teeth and pushed out. Perry, still think the resort will open for this season?
Tarzan 9 years, 1 month ago
So sad. So entirely predictable. A U.S. bankruptcy court supervised work out would have permitted the project and the jobs to go forward. The government's response is hard to figure unless you posit that they fear disclosure of all the corruption that government minions were involved in. Keeping that quiet would have been impossible in U.S. Court system. 2,000 lose jobs! Who is the government really protecting here?
realfreethinker 9 years, 2 months ago
This is going to be long. How long they expected to keep up that charade. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. Perry them was hoping things would have been settled by the time the money ran out.Perry them screw this up so bad I believe the final outcome is liqidation to the highest bidder.
Reprecussions 9 years, 2 months ago
It's going to a long like you stated. Especially if the Developer can make an appeal to the Privy Council.
asiseeit 9 years, 2 months ago
Baha Mar, to big to succeed? What a tragic tale.
newcitizen 9 years, 2 months ago
Just to many grubby fingers trying to get a piece.
marrcus 9 years, 2 months ago
If Izzy kept control, he would have not laid these people off. This is on Perry. PLP forever.....get used to it.
DillyTree 9 years, 2 months ago
Who didn't see this coming?
Perry's legacy for all to see. So very sad, and once again, it's the Bahamian people who suffer.
truetruebahamian 9 years, 2 months ago
Marrcus, absolutely, and if the China Construction America company had done a competent and honest job none of this mess would have occurred.
Reprecussions 9 years, 2 months ago
But it also came back down to 175 million dollars that could not be agreed upon where it would come from.
John 9 years, 2 months ago
A sad situation for many. Does this mean China Construction and China Bank will take over funding of the completions of the project. If the gover tries to provide funding the country will sink. Financially!
Hogfish 9 years, 2 months ago
LMAO! I got my first censorship. :)
Let me try again without the cussin.
Dear Mr. Wutless PM,
Congratulations! This is your Legacy !!
I hope you happy now that you finished tiefen the Izzy fella money but I hope your pockets also full now that you could stop tiefen from us people. That goes for wicked Maynard too.
Thank you and God Bless!
banker 9 years, 1 month ago
I get the censorship regularly when they can't stand the truth.
ForeignObserver 9 years, 2 months ago
The Government's forcing an end to the intelligent Chapter 11 proceeding was supposed to be in the best interests of the Bahamian people and to get the project open this season. Anyone think the PM, AG, Ian Winder, the JPLs, Exim Bank and China State will do that? Next season? Ever?
John 9 years, 2 months ago
The country is in a state of emergency! But yet there are careless and care less government officials who are about destroying homesteads and making another few hundred people homeless. Imagine the drain on the public purse vis a vid social services and national insurance.
johnmcntsh 9 years, 2 months ago
If Baha Mar had been afforded the opportunity to go into bankruptcy, China would have been forced to negotiate. Once the Bahamian courts protested, this was guaranteed to happen. What a sad day for a wonderful country and their wonderful people.
newcitizen 9 years, 2 months ago
Exactly what you said. Going through Chapter 11 would have had construction going again now with a set completion date, creditors would know how long the wait for their money will be, and we wouldn't look like a country of thieving idiots. But hey, the boys on top had to protect their kickbacks from the Pointe building so they sided with the Chinese.
So incredibly sad. They put their own interests above that of the nation.
Weezie 9 years, 2 months ago
Do you remember when Perry and his band of merry men promised us that if we brought the liquidation home, Baha Mar would be open for Christmas?
They fought tooth and nail to stop the Chapter 11 process. Mitchell told us that Izmirlian should be deported since he was destroying our economy. Christie said that he was mentally unstable and Shane Gibson said that all future foreign direct investors should undergo psychological testing.
They promised us over and over again that all would be good if we trusted them. The Chinese were our friends and would look after us. They would make this project happen.
Well, it was all lies, lies, lies! I hear Izmirlian is OUT! The Chinese are refusing to put any more money in and nothing is going according to plan. It is one big f**** disaster! They should have stuck with the Chapter 11 plan! At least, the developer would have put in the money to keep the project going, the restructuring process would have been complete by now, and Bahamians would have been paid and back to work finishing the project.
But no! Their love affair with the Chinese was too intense. Too close and too intimate! And look a good sweat heart, the Chinese screwed them!
Sickened 9 years, 1 month ago
Well you know PM got a thing for small pee pee's and the Chinese got plenty of them.
This love affair is here to stay.
Economist 9 years, 2 months ago
birdiestrachan can explain why this is happening and why it has nothing to do with the government and why it is everybody else's fault.
TalRussell 9 years, 2 months ago
Comrades $24 million spent on Baha Mar workers stay home and clean and weed community yards.
$12 million wasted on the ill-conceived Carnival 2015.
$21 million was allocated after the fire, for the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) in North Andros.
$5 million spent on legal fees, travel, food, hotels, cars in dealing with the Bankruptcy matters involving Baha Mar.
Comrades that adds up to $62 million and by the PM's own estimates, the total cost to rebuild after Hurricane Joaquin, is going be $60 million - leaving $2 million in public treasure unspent - had we not spent the $60 million on Baha Mar workers, Carnival 2015 & BAMSI.
One very mportant note. While the PM is saying the government would have to borrow the $60 million to rebuild the islands, or beg it from charitable international sources, we never once heard the PM mention the word "borrow" when his cabinet were spending the $62 million on Baha Mar employees, Carnival 2015's half naked dancers and Trinidadian entertainer nor BAMSI.
How is that possible?
lookingon 9 years, 2 months ago
I still don't fathom how we are going to get the people to fill 3,000 rooms. And can someone tell me what will attract persons to Bahamar. Personally I don't see what appeal gambling has or how I will be able to afford to purchase items from designer boutiques....sorry J.C.Penney online is what appeals to me... and whatever money I have will be needed for Supervalue and Coste Rite.
Bahamian_in_London 9 years, 2 months ago
Sadly, as many of us worked out at the time, Christie blocking the Chapter 11 filing was the end of this project as we all know it. The end was just a matter of time and idotic process to convince themselves they were doing something useful.
This is what happens when the entire cabinet of a country is run my career politicians driven by ego alone.
The fact that the following didn't cross the mind of anyone in power is just so disheartening (if not unsurprising):
'hey, this thing is a mess but the main guy is willing to put in another $70m to pay employees with no terms and conditions, maybe we shouldn't block him from doing so..."
The last thing filed in Delaware was the plan from Baha Mar that stated no Bahamians owed money would be affected by the chapter 11 process - only the Chinese.
And now we have a situation where if the company is wound up, the entire development needs to be sold for more than the $2.6bn debt for anyone else to get a penny - including the Government and CCA. If that isn't an indication of collusion I don't know what is....
afficianado 9 years, 2 months ago
Crime just went up 150%....Thanks Perry
Sickened 9 years, 1 month ago
So true. There is going to be A LOT of housebreaking this Christmas. Suggestion: don't buy anyone any gifts. If you do, you are making them a target for theft and possible physical injury during the theft. This year we need to give each other hugs!
SAVE YOUR MONEY FELLOW BAHAMIANS, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED IT!!!!
digimagination 9 years, 1 month ago
Only by 150%?
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 2 months ago
YINNA: Believe in Bahamians ! Wurrongwiddya !
BahamaPundit 9 years, 2 months ago
The "teachable moment" in all of this is that, moving forward, Bahamians must demand highly intelligent and efficient leaders. Race should not play a factor at all in deciding a leader, nor should charisma etc. We need global commerce and business savy, highly intelligent leaders, or, as is the case here, the whole Bahamas will suffer. The grass roots need to wake up; being black and PLP doesn't cut it anymore. Vote intelligence and efficiency or suffer the consequences.
Publius 9 years, 2 months ago
So highly intelligent and efficient means "white"? That is what your statement suggests entirely, and please don't bother to be insulting by claiming otherwise. If race should not matter to ALL voters (and most are not even PLP supporters per 2012 election) then it ought not matter if you are black. Last I checked, intellect does not come with or without melanin.
BahamaPundit 9 years, 2 months ago
This simply means that we have obviously gotten the leadership equation wrong for a very long time in this country. The fruits of our decisions is a country sinking in debt and unemployment. Something must change. Race has nothing to do with it, other than informing us that any racial criteria for picking a leader must be done away with completely.
Publius 9 years, 2 months ago
And your present assertion would arguably be credible were it not for the statement: "The grass roots need to wake up; being black and PLP doesn't cut it anymore. Vote intelligence and efficiency or suffer the consequences." If you truly did not personally have a correlative opinion about race and the equation you feel has gone wrong by way of our choices, why did you insert race into your position? Which white man has run for the office of Prime Minister in this independent nation that we should have chosen in your opinion? Since race has not been a choice for most living voters, why would you suggest that voters are voting for our leaders because they are black? You obviously have a "white" person in mind who you are covertly suggesting the nation should choose over the current options. Why not say so? Incidentally, I put "white" in quotes since that person has black grandparents but does not look that way.
BahamaPundit 9 years, 2 months ago
Take it as you wish my friend. All I'm saying is if we keep voting in these turkeys, we'll keep getting the same negative results.
Publius 9 years, 2 months ago
Agreed. We must choose better via hopefully better choices - black or white.
Economist 9 years, 2 months ago
Tal, don't forget the 100 million on new planes for Bahamasair. I guess that VAT covers it all. No wonder the national debt is still going up.
SP 9 years, 2 months ago
.......................................... Jackass does as jackass is .......................................
Interfering with Sarkis chapter 11 & attempting to force him into a corner was NOT by any stretch of the imagination remotely intelligent.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
Wideawake 9 years, 2 months ago
Christie and his gang chose the "known to be corrupt" Chinese over Izmirilian, a long term resident of The Bahamas who was prepared to keep his dream alive by investing a further $80 million. By siding with his Chinese friends, Christie chose the interests of himself and his fellow conspirators, over the interests of the Bahamian people he was elected to serve. Treacherous, corrupt and downright wicked, doesn't even come close to describing this Third World bunch of incompetents. Sad, sad day for all Bahamians.
marrcus 9 years, 1 month ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf7Sxl2…
Gladiator 9 years, 1 month ago
Here is an interesting article that all Bahamians should read, including the Politicians as they probably did not even read the Investor State Dispute Settlement before signing it and have no idea how dangerous it could be to the country...
http://www.caribbean360.com/business/ch…
Here is an excerpt from the article:
"In The Bahamas alone, state-owned Chinese enterprises finance a multi-billion dollar hotel, own a major hotel, are in talks to purchase the country’s national airline, proposed to reconstruct its downtown core and proposed to finance the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, the state’s only electricity company. In other words, Chinese investment in The Bahamas targets the country’s tourism industry, which accounts for over 60% of its GDP and for even more jobs. Bahamian leaders continue to irresponsibly accept Chinese investment projects with no proper screening procedure and no real evaluation of the societal effects of an industry’s foreign ownership and on their citizens’ jobs. On these bare facts, this is particularly worrisome not just for Bahamian policymakers but also for employees in the hotel industry. The Bahamas is particularly vulnerable to Chinese investment due to ISDS provisions in its negotiated BIT with China. When The Bahamas’ BIT with China, signed in 2010, enters into force Chinese investors will be able to directly sue the country for any changes in the tourism industry that affect their investments. In Namibia, for example, Chinese investors signed a BIT with the government before their investments into the country began. Chinese investment throughout the world targets developing countries and many of those countries’ leaders are blindly accepting investments with little to no regard for their long-term effects."
Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/business/ch…
Honestman 9 years, 1 month ago
The Prime Minister can only be feigning surprise and disappointment at the provisional liquidators decision to lay off the BahaMar workforce. I mean, what other option was there once you go down this path? I think it is inevitable now that BahaMar will be fully liquidated with the assets sold off in sections at a knock down price. Perhaps hotels like Hyatt will be happy to come back in and either manage or purchase one of the towers. Other hotels may do likewise with other sections. What is clear, however, is that the BahaMar brand is finished and Izzie is going to be out the picture. I feel sorry for the many local creditors, many of whom are small firms, who will now have to wait an eternity to get anything back. Shame too for all those persons who left good jobs to join Izzie's dream. I am sure that many will be re-hired by whoever takes over the various hotels but they will still be faced with a long wait. The government has handled this situation very badly but this is what happens when you compromise yourself - you are left unable to take the best decision for the country. The PLP never learns and neither does the electorate.
John 9 years, 1 month ago
But why is the attorney general still in the media saying he government's position about the loss of jobs remains unchanged. Maybe she needs to meet with Bah Mar officials and tell them how to pay 2,000 workers, many of whom are idle, when the company is insolvent. These people sound so ridiculous when the speak obvious nonsense.
Craig 9 years, 1 month ago
This is what happens when people who don't their a.. from their elbow are put in charge of running the country. What a colossal mistake it was, blocking the chapter 11 proceedings. Surely they know this would happen. A liquidation processes can take over 20 years to complete. One only has look back at the very liquidation that our PM citied when they decided to take this course of action. Bahamians we have got to change the leadership!!!!! They dont know what they are doing!!!
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 1 month ago
Christie (aka Vomit), Maynard-Gibson (aka the Wicked Witch), Gomez (aka the Minion) and Bethel (aka the Bag Man) are fully responsible for these job losses. I laughed on hearing that the Wicked Witch is telling newspaper reporters and TV news reporters that the lay offs were made by the provisional liquidators against the wishes of government. This woman is an ugly pathological .......... I could say it but The Tribune would remove this post.
banker 9 years, 1 month ago
This is how BahaMar will look like six months from now.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
Reality_Check 9 years, 1 month ago
And that's also what Chinese cement looks like after a category 2 hurricane. We must ask ourselves why was Christie so hell bent on allowing The Pointe Project adjacent to the B.C. Hilton to go forward after the Baha Mar debacle where they (China Construction Company of America- CCA) simply walked away from their contractual obligations to Baha Mar leaving thousands of Bahamians unemployed? Why would Perry Christie, Allyson Maynard-Gibson and Baltron Bethel be only too happy to approve another major construction project for CCA as majority owners of The Pointe notwithstanding that CCA betrayed thousands of Baha Mar Citizens, leaving them unemployed with Christmas around the corner? I will tell you why. In a nutshell there is no end to the insatiable corrupt appetite of the three individuals I have named here. The PM has his son, among others, making a fortune off of The Pointe project with no explanation on the PM's part as to how he could have approved money being poured by CCA into the pockets of his son notwithstanding the egregious conflict of interest. The stench of corruption here is overwhelming!
jackbnimble 9 years, 1 month ago
This Government has the SIDAM TOUCH. Midas turned everything to gold. They turn everything they touch to crap. What's worse is we have two more years of this s**t!
Wideawake 9 years, 1 month ago
Can't wait to hear what Mr. Izmirilian REALLY thinks!! After Nov 2nd, when all of the deals are done, and the entire Baha Mar dream collapses, when the political jackals are licking their chops, when the Chinese gangsters are doing their happy dance, when Baha Mar's "used to be" employees are wondering WTF they can possibly do now, when Izzie finally accepts, what he has known in his heart for 9 months, that the FIX IS IN and his 800 million dream development has been wrested from his grasp. Then, finally, when he has nothing more to lose, he lets us know EXACTLY what he thinks of PGC, AMG, CCA, and the CHINA EXIM BANK and the rest of the marauding hoard who latched onto his BIG DREAM like feasting scavengers.
I cannot believe he will sit small and shrug his shoulders and walk away. We might well find out where ALL the bodies are buried, all of the dirty deals that were done, the identity of all of the bagmen, swindlers and corrupt and greedy politicians that have dogged Mr. Izmirilian's 15 year Baha Mar adventure!
Let the chips fall where they may, let the transgressors be named and shamed and let every Bahamian voter use this fiasco AS A TEACHABLE MOMENT, FOR US TO USE WHEN WE CAST OUR VOTES AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION!!!!
Wideawake 9 years, 1 month ago
Can't wait to hear what Mr. Izmirilian REALLY thinks!! After Nov 2nd, when all of the deals are done, and the entire Baha Mar dream collapses, when the political jackals are licking their chops, when the Chinese gangsters are doing their happy dance, when Baha Mar's "used to be" employees are wondering WTF they can possibly do now, when Izzie finally accepts, what he has known in his heart for 9 months, that the FIX IS IN and his 800 million dream development has been wrested from his grasp. Then, finally, when he has nothing more to lose, he lets us know EXACTLY what he thinks of PGC, AMG, CCA, and the CHINA EXIM BANK and the rest of the marauding hoard who latched onto his BIG DREAM like feasting scavengers.
I cannot believe he will sit small and shrug his shoulders and walk away. We might well find out where ALL the bodies are buried, all of the dirty deals that were done, the identity of all of the bagmen, swindlers and corrupt and greedy politicians that have dogged Mr. Izmirilian's 15 year Baha Mar adventure!
Let the chips fall where they may, let the transgressors be named and shamed and let every Bahamian voter use this fiasco AS A TEACHABLE MOMENT, FOR US TO USE WHEN WE CAST OUR VOTES AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION!!!!
SP 9 years, 1 month ago
......................................................... Legacy .............................................................
SP 9 years, 1 month ago
........................................... Weapons Of Mass Destruction ...........................................
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
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