The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet Minister yesterday blamed the National Insurance Board’s (NIB) failure to meet its $260 million contribution target for 2015 on Baha Mar’s failure to open, with income coming in $2.8 million below forecast.

Shane Gibson, during his contribution to the 2016-2017 Budget debate, said: “Based on preliminary results for 2015, NIB collected some $260 million.

“This is $2.8 million below budget. Overall income for NIB was impacted by the failure of Baha Mar to open as projected.”

Baha Mar was originally supposed to open in December 2014, but then set a soft opening for March 27, 2015. After that date was delayed days before the planned opening, Baha Mar officials said they were aiming for an early May opening.

On June 29, however, Baha Mar and 14 of its affiliated Bahamian companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court, blaming the resort’s contractor, China Construction America (CCA), for the delays that caused it to miss its previous opening deadlines.

The Government subsequently filed a winding-up petition in the Supreme Court for the appointment of provisional liquidators to speed up completion of the stalled resort.

In October, Baha Mar’s joint provisional liquidators, Bahamas-based KRyS Global and UK-based AlixPartners, announced that more than 2,000 Baha Mar employees were made redundant from the resort.

The joint provisional liquidators said the lay-offs were due to the financial insolvency of the $3.5 billion resort. The layoffs affected approximately 1,440 non-active employees and approximately 580 active employees, including members of management and staff.

Mr Gibson, minister of labor and national insurance, told Parliament yesterday that NIB’s investment income had decreased by about $7.1 million, mainly due to losses associated with its shareholding in Bank of the Bahamas.

There was a reduction in administrative expenses of some $8.1 million. As of March 31, 2016, total assets in the National Insurance Fund stood at $1.8 billion, with investments representing $1.65 billion of that figure.