Reader poll
Has the government's recent announcements on Baha Mar made you more positive about the resort's future?
- Yes, I'm more positive about Baha Mar's future.
- No, I am not more positive about Baha Mar's future.
258 total votes.
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie hinted yesterday that the government does not yet know who the prospective buyer for the stalled $3.5 billion Baha Mar resort is.
In fact, while appearing as a guest on ZNS Radio’s “Darold Miller Live” Monday morning, Mr Christie said it is the “bank’s decision” - referring to the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) - to whom Baha Mar is sold and then the government will completely vet the purchaser to ensure they have the “means and fitness” to own property in the Bahamas and operate a casino.
Last week, Mr Christie announced that construction on the stalled Baha Mar resort is expected to resume in September in a move to have the project open no later than the end of the 2016/2017 winter season.
“We have done our very best to protect the interest of all employees who worked and suffered and be able to return to them their due rights and the contractors and sub contractors,” Mr Christie said yesterday.
“We have made provisions to help them and those Bahamians that invested millions to develop their franchises and stores and restaurants. We are trying to keep in touch with all the affected persons so they are aware of the stages we are going through.
“We can tell you we have reached an agreement, the agreement will benefit every single Bahamian involved, that is the intention. We have been able to take into consideration the interest of all Bahamians and negotiate a final solution and quite frankly the solution will ultimately be known to the public as it will be known to all parties concerned.
“There will be full and frank disclosure. There was never an intention to have the (court) documents sealed. The government has to be the beneficiary of the decision of the bank because the bank stands to lose a substantial sum of money and it is the bank’s decision to whom they sell.
“That is a company with the capacity to meet the price that the bank has established. The government will then approve that purchaser. That purchaser will own and operate a casino and the government must determine the fitness of the group to be able to own property in the Bahamas and to administer the property, particularly when it comes to casinos.
“We will have investigators who will do everything they can to ensure that the recommendation we have to approve is based on a very, very, very full investigation of the applicant and its business affairs worldwide.”
Last Monday, after a two-month review process that involved meeting with leading government figures in the capital, international credit rating agency Moody’s announced that it had downgraded the Bahamas’ credit rating by one notch mainly because of the country’s “low medium-term growth” prospects and limited fiscal space compared to similar countries.
Moody’s previously opened the door to the possibility of downgrading the country’s sovereign credit worthiness by “one or more notches,” with a two-notch slash taking the country’s rating to “junk” status.
However, yesterday Mr Christie said he hopes the news of an agreement and eventual opening of Baha Mar, will “result in a new review” of the Bahamas’ economy.
“We are therefore very hopeful and optimistic that the announcement and the following action that we will take to recommence construction and completion and opening of Baha Mar will result in a new evaluation in the economy of the Bahamas and positive impact that will flow to the economy by both Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s,” the prime minister said.
While remaining tight-lipped on which “world-class hotel and casino operator” would purchase the Cable Beach development and the concessions granted in exchange for arriving at a deal, last Monday Mr Christie said that an agreement had been reached between the government and CEXIM.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bahamian contractors still owed money will receive a significant portion, if not all, of their claims, while thousands of former Baha Mar employees will receive outstanding amounts due to them, he said.
On Sunday, the government expressed “hope” that the claims of former Bahamian workers at Baha Mar will be settled by the end of next month, with all other claims to be dealt with by year-end.
In a statement, the Christie administration also revealed the establishment of a stakeholder committee to administer creditor claims; however, there was no information given on how the process would be conducted, its timeline, or the amount of funding allocated for claims.
Baha Mar was first scheduled for a December 2014 opening, but was delayed to March 2015 and then to May 2015.
The property was placed into receivership last October.
Comments
HarryWyckoff 8 years, 3 months ago
Oddly, there's been no mention of the American team overseeing the liquidation process (assisting the Bahamian team and Chinese team) who have allegedly packed up and gone home due to..... not being paid!
That leaves a very inexperienced Bahamian team working with a highly suspect and massively biased Chinese team.
That's going to work out well for the Bahamas, isn't it!
banker 8 years, 3 months ago
In the next few weeks, there will be more and more backing off from the original statement as things don't happen according to schedule. What did you expect from a serial liar prevaricator and a cognitively-impaired, dyed-wool, demi/sub-hominis?
screwedbahamian 8 years, 3 months ago
We Bahamians have STUPID written all over our foreheads. Why in the world would CEXIM pour additional millions of dollars into a project that they do not have the forecasted outcome known and in their best interest. a buyer already approved. Or is it that they love our Bahama land and want to see all of our people happy and prosperous. If as reported they have $800 Million from the original developer, $1 billion in Prime crown land and another reported $1 billion in concessions, that equals to 100% plus of their reported investment 0f $2.7 Billion in Baha Mar. who really has the upper hand in this.
banker 8 years, 3 months ago
You bring up an interesting point. Once the project is completed, it has to be retrofitted for the new owner. They will have to do the rooms to the decor and theme of the brand. So the new owners will have to sink more money into it. It is highly unlikely that Baha Mar can be sold at a profit. The Chinese are going to have to take a financial haircut. So why would they agree to that?
The prescient answer is obvious. Owning the land is more important to the Chinese than actually finishing the hotel and selling it. They know that there is no way in hell that they can get the money that they have sunk into it. But owning the land is a carrot and a stick over The Bahamas. We will be voting for every Chinese interest in the UN from now until kingdom come.
I for one, don't believe that they will finish it properly, or that it can be sold.
Honestman 8 years, 3 months ago
Totally agree with you banker.
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 3 months ago
Yep. They want the land. They have no intention of finishing and next year they will be negotiating more concessions for more money to "finish the project". At the end of the day, which crazy buyer wants more shoddy work to inspect? Isn't the cement down the pipes, broken tiles, uneven floors and poop on the carpet sufficient?
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 3 months ago
Simply unbelievable that Christie said:
“We have made provisions to help them and those Bahamians that invested millions to develop their franchises and stores and restaurants. We are trying to keep in touch with all the affected persons so they are aware of the stages we are going through....."
Why the hell should we, honest hard working Bahamian taxpayers, have to bail out the likes of the Maynard-Gibson family for their personal private investment losses. The Maynard-Gibson family obtained through cronyism what at the time appeared to be generous leases on loads of prime retail floor space in the Baha Mar development. This was a personal private investment made by the Maynard-Gibson family which should not be treated as if it was somehow guaranteed by the corrupt Christie-led PLP government. The Bahamian people never guaranteed the Maynard-Gibson family that their personal private investments would not result in any business losses for the Maynard-Gibson family. One can only wonder how many more of Christie's most favored cronies (like Allyson Maynard-Gibson a/k/a the Wicked Witch of the West) are being bailed out of their personal private investment losses associated with Baha Mar that they should be incurring. It is fundamentally wrong (and criminal) for Christie to have arranged for his cronies to be bailed out of their personal private investment losses as a result of the highly secretive additional concessions recently given to the Chinese by our most corrupt Christie.
Honestman 8 years, 3 months ago
Well said. One thing we can all rely on is the fact that WE THE TAXPAYERS will be paying for the Chinese to complete the construction and WE THE TAXPAYERS will be picking up the tab for any losses suffered by the PLP crony franchise holders. How disgraceful! Also, it is as clear as day that there is NO PURCHASER on the horizon. How much longer can Emperor Christie get away with pretending to the public that he is somehow able to influence any developments concerning Baha Mar? The more he speaks the more foolish he sounds. He should now desist from ANY further pronouncements on the resort's future.
concernedcitizen 8 years, 3 months ago
What he could influence is to use our treasury to guarantee the extra billion to finish it ,,,take care of PLP that got their money tied up in it and get another 5 years to take care of all them as that white elephant sits there b/c w Cuba opening and our Labour and electricity cost no one is buying Baha mar
TalRussell 8 years, 3 months ago
Comrades! I wouldn't attempt to perform a "means-test" on the buyer of Baha Mar, cause as of right now they're but a drum roll figment of the PLP Cabinet's pre general election pipe dreams preparation -and the general's bell must be rungs by just around he corner May 2017. I predict a General as early as January 2017 but no later than March 2017?
So sad, while such electioneering keeps presenting the Red Movement with winning opportunities, all they seem be busy with is shielding the heat away from the PLP's Renard's $650,000 Letter of Intent, and not deciding what should really be done, and done quickly, with Long island's Loretta?
Cause if you think all is over with the embattled Long Island's Loretta and her ambitions - you're dead wrong.
Honestman 8 years, 3 months ago
Tal, on the face of it, a reasonable post but I would like to set you a challenge. Try posting a blog without using the words "Red" or "Loretta". If you can do this it will prove that you are not in fact a robot!
Emac 8 years, 3 months ago
Lol well said!
TalRussell 8 years, 3 months ago
Comrade Honestman's, I respect your post. If I be so permitted to point you in the direction of a real robot, why not begin with Dr. Duane, cause if you remember wasn't he Loretta's running mate sidekick whom she quickly was to abandoned at the July 27-29, 2016 convention?
How Long, O Lord, must Long Islanders deal with how their MP, did chicken out but not before their party had spent $400,000 to satisfy the leadership ambitions of their member for Long Island? Has she even been to Long Island since the convention?
Honestman 8 years, 3 months ago
You failed the challenge R2-D2! That wasn't even a decent attempt - wanna try again?
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 3 months ago
ROTFL. I was wondering myself how what now looks like a colossal failure ended with "Loretta"
Sickened 8 years, 3 months ago
Who wrote your software? You need to be updated!
banker 8 years, 3 months ago
LOL. Make sure that the software filters out the word "Comrade" and truncates the message after the first sentence.
I was largely impressed about specifying a means test for the Baha Mar buyer. That was in the first sentence. Then it all went to hell in a redshirt, communist-lingo handcart.
As for the buyer, I bet you PM Crisco Butt phoned up Phil Ruffin. He regularly takes rides in Ruffin's private jet. The convo went like this:
"Mr. Phil. Hello. This is Prime Minister Pewwy Gladstone Chwistie."
"Who."
"Perry".
"Perry, who?".
"The Prime Minister of the Bahamas".
"Oh ... ummm... the plane is busy now and can't bring you to the States". (aside to secretary "The dumb phocque Bahamian prime minister is on the line. This oughta be good.")
"No, I don't need a plane ride. Dem Chinese, and we are building democracy, and FDI is important, and dey calling me names over it".
"Speaking English man!".
"I need you to buy Baha Mar".
(aside to secretary -- "They want me to buy that pile of shiite that I sold to them for a profit. Ha ha ha!) "Tell you what, Crisco, I'll give you a hunnert million fer it.
"My Lord, it's a three billion dollar project. I need you to buy it so that I can save face."
"Do you want to save one, or both of your faces?"
"Both".
"Tell you what, have the Chinks build it, and I might buy it then."
"Oh thank you thank you thank. Jesus will bless you."
"How did that referendum go?"
"The population turned it down. They were afraid of gay marriage."
"Why didn't you tell them that Jesus had two daddies?"
"I know. But they are a very simple people -- thanks to my education policies. So you will buy Baha Mar, Mr. Ruffin?"
"I will consider putting in a offer."
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, the people of the Bahamas thank you, I thank ..... hello? hello? Did we get cut off? Damn Batelco!".
RUKiddingMe 8 years, 3 months ago
I just can't!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dead at this thread! LMBO!!!!
quietone 8 years, 3 months ago
Is it only me or what? Somehow I get the impression that God Himself does not want Baha Ma to open!
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