The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Wayne Munroe yesterday ridiculed the pledge made by Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis over the sale of Baha Mar as dishonest and irresponsible, and accused the opposition party of pandering to the agenda of former developer Sarkis Izmirlian.

Mr Munroe, a member of the Progressive Liberal Party, suggested that Dr Minnis could be considered “mentally unstable” for stating that the FNM would execute a real sale of Baha Mar if elected to government.

He underscored that the government could not sell the property, or dictate that process, without first undertaking a compulsory acquisition that would cost taxpayers billions.

The noted QC delivered a scathing rebuke of the party leader in an interview with The Tribune, advising that Bahamians employed at the mega-resort, and creditors that were paid sums owed, should vote against the FNM.

“It’s irresponsible,” he said, “it’s almost like the person is mentally unstable, that is how one would approach a government like that. You don’t know what they’re going to do and that is not good for any country. People dealing with the Bahamas government must have certainty that the Bahamas government is continuous.

“How do you exactly accomplish this and you don’t own the property?” he continued.

“The FNM, they talk about all these taxes they are going to make sure collect, the FNM agreed to the heads of agreement that gave Baha Mar all of the concessions, they agreed to them. This is what I’m talking about being dishonest, they agreed to them, they know what they are because they agreed to them. They’re the ones who put them in place, they’re the ones who agreed to a certain number of foreign workers.”

Mr Munroe also said: “Recently the Bahamas government has been stepping back on the ratio of foreign to local workers, but the thing about saying this is something this government is doing, you would think Dr Minnis has amnesia about being in government when the FNM was in government.

“It’s just sad and that’s why (Senator) Rodney Moncur calls him pusillanimous, which sounds funny but all it means is you lack a backbone. You blow where the wind takes you. I couldn’t imagine what Sarkis Izmirlian is giving him or doing for them that would cause him to do something so dangerous.”

The government and Mr Izmirlian have been locked in a bitter, public war of words over the mega-resort’s embattled track to completion since the ex-developer applied for Chapter 11 proceedings in 2015. It was a move that later saw Mr Izmirlian ousted as developer and the resort placed into provisional liquidation and then receivership.

Mr Munroe, a noted QC, represented the Gaming Board and other government creditors of Baha Mar during the liquidation process.

He characterised Dr Minnis’ statements concerning Baha Mar as “a ploy driven by Sarkis Izmirlian who really has a high degree of control over the FNM.”

Mr Munroe argued that Mr Izmirlian had a fair opportunity to bid on Baha Mar if he had the money, adding that Mr Izmirlian’s bid would have been chosen by the Export Import Bank of China over Chow Tai Fook Enterprises if it was the best option.

Prime Minister Perry Christie announced the official sale of Baha Mar to CTF BM Holdings, a subsidiary of CTFE last December. The sale has not yet been finalised; however, officials insist that the resort is on track for a phased opening starting with its casino, casino hotel, convention centre and golf course next month.

Speculation over the embattled resort’s opening was heightened after the Rosewood hotel brand, owned by the Baha Mar buyer, announced that its opening had been delayed to Spring 2018.

The details of the sale are still sealed by the Supreme Court at the request of the EXIM Bank; however, critics have raised concerns over the government’s stated commitment to table those documents ahead of the resort’s opening.

Former Court of Appeal President Dame Joan Sawyer last week suggested that there were no legal grounds to seal the new deal to open the resort; however, Mr Munroe yesterday argued that the practice was not uncommon for commercial sensitivity.

Mr Munroe said: “(The FNM) suggests that somehow the government has the ability to sell the property when they must know full well that they can’t, because the deal with China EXIM Bank was agreed to when the FNM was in power and Hubert Minnis was a Cabinet minister. That is when Sarkis Izmirlian borrowed the money from EXIM Bank, that is when the government approved the charging of all the property as security to China EXIM Bank, that is when the government put into place the heads of agreement.

“So to begin by misleading the public as they talk about all the secret deals with the Chinese,” he said, “this is a deal that the PLP inherited.”

He continued: “They keep talking about heads of agreement but no heads is sealed by virtue of any court order, what is sealed is the sales process for a very simple reason at any point somebody could try to retrade their deal.”

Compulsory acquisition is permitted under the Constitution, Mr Munroe explained, but it must be for a public purpose. As such, Mr Munroe argued that it would be improbable that the government would then be able to resell the property if the unlikely acquisition was successful.

“So unless he (Dr Minnis) knows some law that I don’t know,” he said, “one if you could compulsorily acquire it you would have to pay the value of it, and secondly what would be the public purpose of acquiring it? Everyone who has a job at Baha Mar should vote against the FNM. Everyone who has gotten their money paid by the Bahamas government should vote against this joker and his party.”

He added: “The only person who you would think he’s trying to benefit, Sarkis Izmirlian, can’t vote.”