The Tribune

The Government is “very close” to having the agreement for Baha Mar’s construction completion unsealed by the Supreme Court, the Attorney General confirmed yesterday.

Carl Bethel QC told Tribune Business that all parties had been “very co-operative” as the Minnis administration moves to fulfill a campaign promise to publicly disclose the ‘Heads of Terms’ struck between the Christie administration and the China Export-Import Bank.

“Everyone’s been very, very reasonable and we are very close,” Mr Bethel said yesterday, while adding that he did not want to “get into the nuts and bolts” of how the agreement and supporting documents will be unsealed.

“Everyone’s been very co-operative, and we’re very close,” the Attorney General reiterated. His language indicates that the China Export-Import Bank, via its attorneys, Lennox Paton, has likely consented to the release of the ‘Heads of Terms’ now that Baha Mar’s sale is almost complete.

The August 2016 construction completion agreement between the then-Christie government, the bank as Baha Mar’s secured creditor, and China Construction America (CCA) as main contractor was sealed at the lender’s request to “preserve the integrity” of the $4.2 billion development’s sales process.

With Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) having long been selected as Baha Mar’s ultimate new owner, and just awaiting completion of the resort’s construction, any commercial rationale for the ‘Heads of Terms’’ remaining sealed and non-public has likely long since passed.

Mr Bethel’s language will also raise expectations among Bahamians that the unsealing is imminent, the issue having aroused significant public interest given suspicions over the amount of land and tax concessions granted to the Chinese entities for Baha Mar’s completion and opening.

The fact that significant movement appears to have taken place suggests that the China Export-Import Bank will itself apply to the Supreme Court for the agreement’s disclosure, as it would take much longer than indicated by Mr Bethel if the Government had to seek this as an ‘interested party’.

Tribune Business sources, meanwhile, have questioned whether the Minnis administration will provide disclosure beyond the already-released ‘Heads of Agreement’ with CTFE and the ‘Heads of Terms’ once they are unsealed.

Among other key documents they identified are the Hotels Encouragement Act agreement with China Export-Import Bank, which CTFE will inherit, as this lays out the monetary value of the investment incentives granted, and the value and volume of items they are attached to.

‘Side letters’ and other agreements between the Government, CTFE and the Chinese state-owned entities; the sale and lease of Crown and Treasury Land; and details of the $101 million creditor payout and agreements reached over debts owed to government agencies remain other pieces of the Baha Mar puzzle.

Mr Bethel told Tribune Business that he had been “very focused on the narrow task” of having the ‘Heads of Terms’ between the Government and China Export-Import Bank released, and issues such as the creditor payout had “not been a matter of concern to me”.

“My concern has been to live up to the manifesto commitment to have the August 2016 agreement released and unsealed,” he confirmed to this newspaper.

Mr Bethel said the land sales, leases and transfers were likely to have changed little from what was arranged in the 2005 and 2007 Heads of Agreements struck by the then-administrations and Baha Mar’s original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian.

The Attorney General added that the Hotels Encouragement Act agreement “was not a matter covered” by the ‘Heads of Terms’ and its sealing “as I understand it”, given that it was signed-off afterwards in September 2016.

He described such agreements between the Government and resort developers as “par for the course” for any hotel property over 25 rooms seeking to expand and upgrade. Mr Bethel said there was nothing in law that blocked the disclosure of Hotels Encouragement Act agreements, and release would be discussed if a reasonable request was made.