The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday said the Government cannot be given the “benefit of the doubt” until the Baha Mar construction completion agreement’s details are revealed, given its previous pronouncements on the project.

K P Turnquest said that Prime Minister Christie’s address to Parliament on Wednesday did little to quell suspicions and concerns regarding the court-sealed Baha Mar deal.

“If in fact we were to believe what he has said, then it means there is no deal,” the east Grand Bahama MP added.

“To that extent, his announcement is very much premature, backed up by the fact that there is no money in the Bahamas to pay these claims, and backed up by the fact that the participants of the committee didn’t even know they had been appointed until the news broke.”

Mr Turnquest continued: “In the Prime Minister’s own words, they have not completed the assessment of the project, so he has no idea what it costs to bring construction to conclusion.

“It means that all of that being taken into account, the bank has no idea what the investment environment is. When you put all of that together, it means they can’t unseal the deal because there is no deal.”

Mr Christie confirmed that China Construction America (CCA), Baha Mar’s main contractor, had been given a package of investment incentives in line with the Hotels Encouragement Act.

This means that CCA will enjoy Customs duty and ‘border VAT’ waivers on all construction materials, plus fixtures and furnishings, at the very least.

The Prime Minister, though, reiterated that CCA received no “unusual concessions”, and that the Government was constrained by its agreement with Atlantis in terms of what it could grant to the Chinese.

Mr Christie added that the China Export-Import Bank’s application to the Supreme Court to ‘seal’ all documents related to the construction completion agreement, and keep their contents confidential, was “not unprecedented”.

But Mr Turnquest argued: “The Prime Minister and the Government must be up-front with the Bahamian people about what has been offered. We have, unfortunately, been burnt by the Government on this issue, so until he is willing to disclose the details he will not simply get  the benefit of the doubt at this particular point.

“There have been suggestions that the Chinese have demanded certain unusual concessions or inducements to restart construction. We just need to understand what has been brought to the table in terms of concessions.”