Baha Mar workers lobby against CCA involvement in resort

As of Monday, May 23, 2016

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

DISENFRANCHISED Baha Mar workers are lobbying against China Construction America’s (CCA) involvement in the sale and construction of the stalled Cable Beach mega resort.

In a letter to Prime Minister Perry Christie, a copy of which was obtained by The Tribune, the former employees purportedly express outrage at the possibility that the resort’s previous general contractor, CCA, was in the running to both bid on the project and complete construction in the interim period.

The letter is signed “Disenfranchised Baha Mar Citizens”.

“For over a year,” the letter read, “thousands of Bahamians have seen Baha Mar from an angle they did not expect: from the outside, looking in. We were meant to be working at the larger-than-life resort, using the training we received to boost the tourism and economy of the Bahamas.”

It continued: “Prime Minister, Do Not Allow CCA To Be The General Contractor To Complete Baha Mar Or To Be Its Eventual Owner. You are our elected leader. You represent our best interests NOT the Chinese.

“The question is simple: do we want jobs for Bahamians or do we want to simply forfeit jobs over to the Chinese?

“Do we want to benefit the Bahamian economy or the Chinese economy? Do we want to place Baha Mar once again in the hands of CCA which has a proven history of enriching itself at the expense and suffering of Bahamians? Your answer for the sake of The Bahamas and all who live here should be a resounding NO!”

The workers added that there are Bahamians ready and willing to complete construction, making the point that CCA projects provide less jobs for Bahamians and less money going back into the economy.

More than 2,000 Baha Mar employees were made redundant last October.

Some 16 groups were said to have expressed interest in acquiring Baha Mar at the Supreme Court hearing on the project’s joint provisional liquidation earlier this month.

However, officials have refused to identify the investors behind the bids received.