The Tribune

THE public is burdened today with more of PLP Chairman Bradley Robert’s superficial thinking and truth bending. In a news release issued yesterday, he warned former Baha Mar director Dionisio d’Aguilar about mixing politics with his former role as a hotel developer.

According to Mr Roberts, Mr d’Aguilar “as a director for Sarkis Izmirlian must not be confused - he must place his national role first.”

We would think that Mr d’Aguilar would do his country a service if he did tell the whole truth about the so-called Bar Mar “deal” before the Christie government used “sovereignty” to prevent the “whole deal” being exposed in a bankruptcy court in Delaware. The last thing the Beijing government wanted out was what prevented Baha Mar opening on the dates that Beijing’s construction company (CCA) said it would. Having failed to deliver on the dates that it gave, CCA later cast blame on developer Izmirlian for the failure of the $3.5 billion resort to open, leading to its eventual collapse.

Mr Roberts chastises Mr d’Aguilar for telling the “government to get over the Chapter 11 snub.” As well as Mr d’Aguilar should, because, in our opinion, the reaction of Mr Christie and some of his government to the news that Mr Izmirlian had taken his case to Delaware without telling them, was childish. We understand that Mr Izmirlian complained to Export-Import Bank of China about the problems he was having with the construction firm, only to be shrugged off. Now, of course, we know why - the bank and construction firm were answerable to one boss — Beijing. Wasn’t it the bank that took on the Baha Mar contract on condition that CCA was included as the contractor?

Mr Izmirlian also complained to Mr Christie that if something were not done about the behaviour of the construction company, his company would be cash strapped thus affecting the future of Baha Mar. Obviously no one seemed to grasp the meaning of “quickly.” It was now up to Mr Izmirlian to take matters into this own hands to save the project, the employees, and creditors, and so off he went to the Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. He told no one in government of his intentions. After the way he was treated, he showed a great deal of wisdom in keeping his own counsel. If not, any creditor could have put in his own claim to stop him before he had a chance to make his first filing. In his summary the Delaware judge agreed that Chapter 11 would have been the best route to take to save Baha Mar. However, he declined to hear the case because the Bahamas court had made it clear that it would not cooperate, and the Christie government had also made it very clear that for the matter to be heard in a US court would have been a breach of Bahamian “sovereignty”.

Mr Roberts is really getting beyond his depth when he alleges Mr Izmirlian’s breach of agreements with Harrah’s in Las Vegas without mentioning who and what caused the breach, long before Beijing came on the scene.

We don’t think that Mr Roberts would want to go there, because he would find that it was the Christie government’s failure to sign off before the cut off deadline for the agreement with Harrah’s and Starwood that caused the collapse.

Heads of Agreement had been signed by the developer and the PLP government on April 6, 2005, but suddenly everything froze. In a letter of desperation, Mr Izmirlian told the Prime Minister: “If we cannot achieve the early February (2006) timeframe for accomplishing the above, I will have to inform Harrah’s and Starwood that despite my best efforts these past three odd years, the Government of the Bahamas has failed me. I certainly do not want to be known as the developer (and I’m certain you don’t want to be known as the Prime Minister) that lost Caesars and Starwood. Today, more than ever before, I need your unambiguous support, Mr Prime Minister.”

He did not get that support. As a matter of fact Mr Christie dragged out the negotiations until two days before the 2007 election when his government was defeated.

It was obvious that Prime Minister Christie, although he had laid the Heads of Agreement on the table of the House, would sign nothing before the election.

If Mr Izmirlian’s 2006 deadline had been met Caesars and Starwood would have been his partners and Baha Mar would have been nearing completion before the economic collapse threw the world into a deep recession. Borrowing for such large developments had dried up. The Chinese were the only ones on the market still willing to lend. In desperation Mr Izmirlian walked into their offices in good faith and got trapped, taking the Bahamas government with him.

Would you like to go any further, Mr Roberts, or are we boring you with facts?

Now we have a large Hong Kong company here wanting to take over and complete the Baha Mar development. Presumably they will also operate the casino. Everywhere one goes on the internet the story of organised crime hits one in the face. If any of this group’s casino licences have been refused anywhere in the world, the Bahamian people have a right to know and to know why. After this country’s reputation had been destroyed for so many years with the drug trade — again under a PLP government – no Bahamian is willing to be pushed back into that sewer — it has taken us a lifetime to crawl out of the last one.

Bahamians have a right to know.

“China just happens to be one of the strongest economies in the world right now, and are aggressive at investing their money throughout the world,” said Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe in justifying the investment . “I think in this context, the Bahamas should be looking at ourselves differently, it speaks to the quality of the product.”

We disagree, we think it speaks to the quality of our location – only about 50 miles off the coast of Florida.

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Kill two birds with one stone

A caller this week said he had been told that persons wanting to get their cars licensed during the confusion of the department’s new automated system now have to take their passports with them.

If this is in fact true, the caller suggested that with the difficulty that the Parliamentary Registrar’s Department is having to get Bahamians to register for the 2017 election the department should set up a registration booth at Road Traffic so that while Bahamians wait for their cars to be licensed they can also register to vote.