The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Chamber of Commerce’s chairman yesterday warned all politicians to “not blow up the country for the sake of winning the election”, after the FNM’s leader threatened to reverse Baha Mar’s sale.

Gowon Bowe told Tribune Business that Dr Hubert Minnis’s comments, in a posting on his Facebook page, sent a potentially chilling message to investors while also threatening to undermine the Bahamas’ long-cherished reputation for political stability.

He added that ‘political stability’ was one positive repeatedly referred to by both international credit rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P), and given the Bahamas’ ‘junk’ creditworthiness this nation could ill-afford to jeopardise this now.

Mr Bowe spoke out after Dr Minnis suggested that the FNM, should it win the upcoming general election, would undo Baha Mar’s sale to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) and instead seek a different buyer for the $4.2 billion development.

The Chamber chairman suggested that the remarks were reminiscent of the many promised made by now-US president, Donald Trump, on the campaign trail, and that it was difficult to determine whether the FNM leader was being serious or just seeking to pander to popular opinion to win votes.

“Unfortunately, the question remains as to how much of it is political jargon and political fodder versus a real likelihood that this is something to be done,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business of Dr Minnis’s comments.

“There are many things you promise and commit to, but in reality there are rules of continuity that have to be adhered to. Government is continuous.”

Mr Bowe said that while administrations may change from FNM to PLP, the Bahamas had established a long tradition where the Government honoured investment agreements and deals made by its predecessor.

While governments have successfully renegotiated agreements, as the first Christie administration did with the former Bimini Bay developer, Gerardo Capo, and its successor, the last Ingraham regime, achieved with Sarkis Izmirlian for Baha Mar, they have never arbitrarily torn up such deals - as Dr Minnis’s statement seemed to imply.

“We have to be very careful where we make what I would call cavalier statements about things we will do, as that causes worry for one of the Bahamas’ greatest strengths, which is political stability,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business. “We have to be very careful about using that language now. We have to be mature.”

Pointing out that the Bahamas could not afford to undermine its standing with the rating agencies on this issue, given the recent downgrades, the Chamber chairman added that this nation’s tradition was of changing “seamlessly from one administration to another”.

Dr Minnis’s Facebook posting, though, hinted that the FNM may buck this trend, as he promised that if elected to government the party would “engage and execute a real sale” of Baha Mar.

He added that his administration would seek “a qualified and respectable purchaser who believes in Bahamians”, implying that an FNM government would overturn the sale - which has yet to close - to CTFE, the multi-billion dollar Hong Kong conglomerate.

Mr Bowe, though, questioned whether the FNM or any Opposition party possessed, or had seen, sufficient evidence to suggest that the Baha Mar deal was so egregiously corrupt or bad for the Bahamas’ national interests that it warranted overturning.

This is especially since the details of the Government’s agreement with the China Export-Import Bank for Baha Mar’s construction completion remain sealed by Order of the Supreme Court, meaning that there is no information to determine whether the deal is good or bad.

The same applies to the Heads of Agreement between the Government and CTFE, which has also not been made public, and may not even have been completed given that the latter’s Baha Mar purchase has yet to close. That will only happen when China Construction America (CCA) completes the project’s construction.

Dr Minnis’s strategy, should an elected FNM government follow through on it without sufficient evidence, would only further delay Baha Mar’s opening and the creation of jobs for 5,000-plus Bahamians. Its much-needed boost for economic growth and GDP would also be subject to further delay.

Mr Bowe asked the politicians: “The businessman in the middle, which is now CTFE, are they really interested in your squabbling?

“We are creating uncertainty for the investor that is taking over a multi-billion dollar project, will be making millions available until it is stable, and is negotiating marketing commitments to promote the destination.”

The Chamber chairman said Dr Minnis’s comments sent a potentially chilling, negative message to all investors - foreign and Bahamian - at a time when this nation needed every capital dollar it can get.

“When we talk about investment, what does this say to Bahamian investor groups coming together?” Mr Bowe said. “If you’re not in favour with a political party, whatever you do can be a target of their victimisation. That will be a concern for Bahamian investors wanting to invest in their economy.”

He emphasised, though, that he had been “concerned for a long time with both political parties when they get up and make salacious comments in the House of Assembly just to rouse their political base”.

“It’s not just Hubert Minnis. It’s Branville McCartney and this administration, too,” Mr Bowe added. The Christie administration, too, has employed language to scare away investors and their capital, especially the suggestion that they undergo psychological evaluations.

“Don’t blow up the country for the sake of winning an election. Governments do continue, countries must continue. Don’t do something to damage our future simply for the sake of one day,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business.

“If they want to be considered credible leaders by discerning voters, they have to stop their outlandish comments and tell me what they’d do. Tell me your plan.”

Mr Bowe said a better approach by Dr Minnis would be to “sit down” with CTFE, understand all details surrounding the project, take the necessary legal, economic and tourism advice, and only then - based on credible evidence - seek to negotiate an improved deal.

He also warned that governments needed to be “very careful who we pick fights with”, suggesting that multinational companies such as CTFE had more assets, and stronger balance sheets, than the Government and Bahamian economy as a whole.”