The Tribune

WITH a foreign publication predicting that the once promising Baha Mar resort would bankrupt the Bahamas, the resort’s court appointed receiver has announced that there is a “good expectation” that the $3.5 billion hotel will be sold before September. Obviously, the hotel’s opening date will follow.

However, there have been so many aborted opening dates since December 2014 that angry Bahamians now believe nothing that they are being told about an enterprise that promised to boost our economy and make us the envy of the Caribbean.

This week, several Bahamians turned their attention to The Pointe, a box like structure that will be turned into a glass palace in the heart of Nassau — an area steeped in Bahamian history.

They want to know how China Construction’s $250m downtown resort could have received its permits in such an incredibly short time when nothing was meant to start until Baha Mar had been completed.

Recalling the Permanent Secretary’s observation in a 2012 report to the Prime Minister in the Nygard Lyford Cay reconstruction case, still in dispute, that what was “conspicuously missing” from Mr Nygard’s permits was “building approvals from the Ministry of Public Works”. They recalled the Permanent Secretary’s telling comment in his letter to the Prime Minister that “the structures that now maintain at Nygard Cay would never have been approved by the Ministry of Public Works. The development is foreign to the Bahamas and has no Bahamian character whatsoever.”

If this is true, how could the Ministry of Works have approved The Pointe, which when completed will stand out like a sore thumb in our colonial style town. Have the rules changed to accommodate Beijing?

As to why government did not insist that Baha Mar be completed before permits were issued to China Construction America (CCA) was another mystery they now want clarified.

In August 2015, Mr Christie confirmed that construction on The Pointe was not meant to start before Baha Mar had been completed.

When government and CCA broke ground while Baha Mar, still in dispute was closed, Mr Christie was asked about the impact that might have on Baha Mar. He repeated that he thought they were “waiting on negotiations to be completed”.

Asked whether the two projects would conflict, the prime minister’s reply was that ”it was always intended for this (The Pointe) to start when Baha Mar was completed.” He then launched into an implausible explanation. The fact is that The Pointe, with no Bahamian architectural characteristics to recommend it, is nearing completion. Baha Mar is still closed with no end in sight — except, of course, the continuing promises that have so far come to naught. However, Mr Christie predicted that The Pointe will be a catalyst for the redevelopment of downtown Nassau. This does not satisfy angry Bahamians, who are jobless, and Bahamian businessmen, who are out of pocket while they await payment after Baha Mar’s future has been finally decided.

However, the question that we would like answered is why – with Baha Mar still closed and in dispute with CCA – was Deputy Prime Minister Phlip “Brave” Davis down in Panama City extolling CCA’s virtues and praising the jobs it had brought to The Bahamas. The following is the report that we received from Panama on April 29, 2015 on the opening of CCA’s Latin American Regional Headquarters in Panama City:

“Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis congratulated CCA on its expansion into Panama, one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America over the past decade. ‘This expansion evidences the fact that success comes only to those whose goals are so strong that obstacles act only as the investor’, said Mr Davis. He acknowledged CCA’s contribution to the Bahamian economy and commended CCA for its resourcefulness, expertise and professionalism. ‘For The Bahamas, we are grateful for the contribution of CCA in our efforts to improve our economy through foreign direct investment, the creation of jobs, and the provision of training opportunities’. As the financier, investor and builder of the Baha Mar project, CCA has helped create thousands of jobs for the Bahamian people and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for local businesses. ‘Finances, dedication, network capability, and other resources are major assets of CCA; and these assets accomplish the seemingly impossible’. The company’s most recent British Colonial Hilton Nassau hotel project is estimated to create 250 jobs during construction and 500 permanent jobs after completion for Bahamians, contributing $750m to the Bahamian GDP in 20 years.”

Today it is for jobless Bahamians and businessmen, who are deeply in debt, to decide how much Mr Davis said in Panama was true. We think some explanation from him is still needed, because we can find little truth in his Panama statement.

While he was in Panama cutting ribbons and saying how much good CCA had done to boost our economy, the confusion CCA left in its wake has done almost irreparable damage to the reputation of our hotel industry.

With our government seemingly doing somersaults to accommodate these state controlled companies, we think the Opposition should demand that the Christie government reveal — in addition to Baha Mar and The Pointe — what footprints Beijing-controlled companies have in our country.

We recall January 2015 when Mr Christie announced that he planned to request funding from China to support our national budget, and refinance and restructure The Bahamas’ debt.

He said his government’s proposal would seek to acquire funds from a US$3 billion dollar investment fund, revealed a month before by China, to finance cash-strapped Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

Mr Christie made the announcement during the first ministerial meeting of the CELAC-CHINA (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum in Beijing.

How far did Mr Christie get with this plan, and what is the position today?

With the control that Beijing is indirectly exerting on our economy through its hold on Baha Mar, the Bahamian people are entitled to know exactly how far this Communist country has planted its roots in our tiny nation — through loans and/or investments.

It is now time for the Christie government to tell us exactly what is happening in our country.