The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said he was “surprised” that more than 1,000 Bahamian companies are unsecured creditors of the Baha Mar project.

Jerome Fitzgerald, minister of education, science and technology, who sat on the Cabinet sub-committee responsible for dealing with the Baha Mar impasse, again pledged that the project’s Bahamian creditors will be “very satisfied” with the outcome of talks to resolve their claims.

Speaking outside the Cabinet Office, Mr Fitzgerald said: “At the end of the day, we are satisfied that with the arrangements made and negotiations held, that Bahamians will be satisfied. I think that is the point at the end of the day.

“The Prime Minister gave the mandate, and we are very satisfied with the outcome. You will soon see the manifestation. We put Bahamians first and took care of Bahamians. We were very adamant and serious about that, and the country will come to see that very shortly.”

The Christie administration recently revealed the creation of a 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.

The members of the newly formed committee are former minister of state for finance, James Smith; Grant Lyon, liquidation claims advisor to the Government; Yanping Mo, representative of the Export-Import Bank of China; Norbert Chan, representative of court-appointed Baha Mar receiver, Deloitte & Touche; and Tiger Wu, representative of China Construction America (CCA).

“We were surprised at how many Bahamian companies were involved,” Mr Fitzgerald said. “I mean, well over 1,000, so it just gives you an appreciation for the amount of Bahamian families involved, which is why we’re just so really surprised that so many people seem to be unhappy about what we have been able to negotiate because these are real families.

“When you impact over 1,000 companies in this country it touches a lot of people. Again, I think we have to give God thanks. God was responsible for this outcome and we have to celebrate it with our people. To think of this happening anywhere else, it just doesn’t happen,” added Mr Fitzgerald.

“The money has been provided as was stated, the money has been agreed, and the money will be in the Bahamas and will be paid out to Bahamians.”