The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING Dame Joan Sawyer’s suggestion that there were no grounds present to seal in court the new deal to open Baha Mar, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said she is “deeply concerned” about people “who know better” undermining the integrity of the judiciary and called on right-thinking people to “cease and desist” these public pronouncements.

Asked to speak to what people could expect once the deal is made public, Mrs Maynard-Gibson shied away from revealing any intimate details and instead pointed to “reverend gentlemen” and women who have reminded her that there are detractors who try to distract those doing the work of the people.

She said despite this, Bahamians know the reality that 650 people were already hired at Baha Mar, that the amount projected to be spent is now likely to register at more than $250m and that casino equipment was this weekend unloaded from the dock to be installed at the resort.

The senator was responding to questions fielded from The Tribune regarding the government’s position on Dame Joan’s criticism of the handling of Baha Mar.

Last week, Dame Joan, the former president of the Court of Appeal, said there is much confusion over how the judgment of a publicly-heard civil case could be sealed so that no one, outside of the judge who heard the case, Mrs Maynard-Gibson and lawyers for the parties involved, would know the contents.

She said clearly where there was no matter of defence, public safety or public order in effect to cause the decision not to be made public.

“I would just ask you to recall that when I spoke some time ago I indicated that by the time the project opens in April, we will be attending to that and I think it’s March right now. Nothing has changed,” Mrs Maynard-Gibson said when she was asked whether the government still intended to ask the court to unseal the Baha Mar documents. However she would not go into detail of the status of these efforts.

She spoke to The Tribune on the sidelines of The Pointe’s phase two groundbreaking on Saturday.

Questioned further in relation to the position put forward by Dame Joan, the attorney general said: “Well we know that the Bahamas courts, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal are comprised of very smart, independent and hard working judges. This is very important for every Bahamian and everybody within our borders to recognise and treasure and protect.

“We have every confidence that the judge (Justice Raymond Winder) in making his decision had evidence before him and he made up his mind based upon the evidence of the law.

“If any party or interested parties in the proceeding disagreed with that, thank God we live in a country where we have appellate courts.

“I am deeply concerned about persons who know better undermining the integrity of the judiciary and I call upon right-thinking people to cease and desist. The institution of the judiciary is extremely important to law and order and democracy.”

“I’ll say that persons like Sir Baltron (Bethel) who is a reverend gentlemen and other reverend gentlemen and ladies, have called me to read the book of Nehemiah and to remind me that there are detractors who try to distract persons who are working for the people from their task at hand and Bahamians know the reality,” Mrs Maynard-Gibson continued.

“The reality is that there are already 650 people employed at Baha Mar. The reality is that the amount that is going to be spent is increased to $250m and is likely to be more than that. The reality is that this very weekend casino workers are going to be called in for training and casino equipment unloaded from the dock to be installed in the casino,” she said on Saturday.

“On April 21, we expect the first phase to be opened and that is the reality and that is what Bahamians are interested in.”

Mr Christie announced the official sale of Baha Mar to CTF BM Holdings, a subsidiary of CTFE last December, at the time stating the resort was set for a phased opening beginning in April, and a full completion by this fall.

However, Mr Christie did not disclose the sale price of Baha Mar, adding that details of the deal are still sealed by the Supreme Court at the request of the Export-Import Bank of China. This has called into question possible concessions, sparking heated public debate.

The government has since announced plans to table the sealed Baha Mar documents ahead of the April soft opening.