The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

and NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian contractors yesterday said they were “not joining this bandwagon of celebration” over the Government’s Baha Mar agreement just yet, amid suggestions contracts held directly with the former developer may not be honoured.

Leonard Sands, the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president, told Tribune Business that the group was being “cautious” over its response and what it told members, given that so many details were unknown.

He added that there was “vagueness” in the Prime Minister’s announcement of the agreement with the China Export-Import Bank to complete Baha Mar’s construction, with no specifics provided on how much Bahamian contractors can expect to be paid, who will pay it, and when.

A total $74 million was said to be owed to some 123 Bahamian contractors when Baha Mar was placed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2015, and Mr Sands said the BCA Board was meeting last night to discuss the matter and see how it could obtain the necessary details.

Meanwhile, Larry Treco, President of CGT Contractors & Developers, told Tribune Business he had been promised that contracts between Bahamian contractors and Baha Mar’s main builder, China Construction America (CCA), would be honoured and paid.

However, he suggested that those hired and contracted by the former developer, Baha Mar, may only receive a partial payment - or possibly nothing at all.

Mr Treco said: “I hope we all get paid fully.  They are promising that any contracts that we had with  China State Construction (CCA) would be honoured; it’s just the ones directly with Baha Mar that we might not get anything or something out of it.

“I think everyone now has very high expectations. This situation with Baha Mar has put a lot of companies in trouble financially. Hopefully, if this works out, it will make a big difference in the year and whether a company makes it or not. We have had to settle all of our bills locally although we weren’t paid.”

Mr Treco added: “The big thing is that most of the contractors are owed large sums of money, and if this agreement does turn out to be what the Prime Minster said, then that is good news.

“Most contractors felt that they would have to take a big loss or possibly lose everything if something didn’t happen, and they would have to sue China State Construction (CCA).

“That could have been a long, drawn-out process. I think everyone was biding their time based on the promises that the Government had made to try and get things sorted out. What we have heard is very good news. We will see if it turns out that way.”

Mr Treco was among the contractors paraded before the TV cameras on Monday night to praise the Prime Minister and the Government for the agreement struck with China Export-Import Bank, Baha Mar’s $2.45 billion secured creditor, to complete the project’s construction and compensate the unsecured Bahamian creditors.

However, another who hailed the deal on TV, ex-BCA president Godfrey Forbes, told Tribune Business that contractors knew no more than what the Prime Minister read out before the cameras.

“What you heard on the airwaves is exactly what we were informed,” Mr Forbes said, adding that contractors had “absolutely not” been given details - either specific figures or percentages - of how much they would receive, and when.

Echoing Mr Sands, his successor, he added: “It’s kind of a wait and see thing.”

Mr Forbes also revealed that the appearance of private sector executives at the press conference was “a last minute deal”, and that he had to personally “scramble” to be there for 7.30pm, after only receiving a call to attend at 5pm Monday afternoon.

All this suggests that the Baha Mar agreement announcement was carefully orchestrated, and the private sector representatives present were playing to the Prime Minister and government’s lead in the absence of specific details.

Mr Sands, meanwhile, said he and the BCA wanted to make no public statement on the Government’s agreement with the Chinese until they knew “what all this means, and what’s going to happen”.

Mr Christie said CCA, as part of the terms, “will resolve outstanding claims with its suppliers and sub-contractors”. And “funds will be made available to enable” the thousands of unsecured Bahamian creditors “to receive a significant part, and possibly all, of the value of their claims”.

Mr Sands said that based on the Prime Minister’s remarks, “the range is so vast” in terms of what Bahamian contractors could receive, stretching from a minimal sum to all of what was due.

“We don’t want to join this bandwagon of celebration yet because there may not be anything there,” Mr Sands told Tribune Business. “We can only go by what the Prime Minister said, but we’re being cautious to wait for more information, so we can report to the members accurate stuff to take to the bank - 60 per cent, 70 per cent or all of their money.

“We want to be cautious. I think the details exist, but they are something that’s going to have to be found out by pressing persons more closely involved with it.”

Construction completion at the stalled $3.5 billion Baha Mar project will be funded by the China Export-Import Bank, and is expected to resume next month. Mr Christie said many of the Bahamian contractors and companies previously contracted to work on Baha Mar will likely be re-hired to help complete the project.