The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Compass Point’s owner has been urged to resolve his hotel licensing grievances with the regulator, a Cabinet minister saying: “This is not a case where I can intervene.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that the concerns articulated by Leigh Rodney to this newspaper last Thursday needed to be properly analysed and consulted on with the wider resort industry before any changes were considered.

Speaking after Mr Rodney warned he will not renew his hotel licence for 2020 unless the government agrees to support an examination of how the industry’s regulation can be improved, Mr D’Aguilar told him to deal with the Hotel Licensing Board given that it was the appropriate supervisory body.

“I suggest he completes his meeting with the chairman [Ethan Adderley] of the Hotel Licensing Board,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “It is the entity that has responsibility, and would have the remit to hear his concerns. They would be the entity that would do all the groundwork on any possible change to the hotel licensing regime.

“I suggest he completes his meeting with them, and then that Board - suitably appointed to deal with such matters - can advise the minster on their recommendations. This is not a particular case where a minister and an operator can get into a room and solve this problem.

“He’s requesting changes to a statutory regime that would require further analysis and wider consultation, so I invite him to use the process that’s there. I would be happy to meet with him, and the chairman of the Hotel Licensing Board, when the chairman recommends it is ideal to do so,” Mr D’Aguilar continued.

“I have an excellent chairman, Ethan Adderley, who is very progressive and I’m sure would listen to his issues and evaluate them within the right environment. I’m sure he’d advise the minister, if statutorily required to do so, on how to proceed and then the minister can make a decision.”

Mr D’Aguilar’s comments effectively represent the position he outlined last August after Mr Rodney warned he would close Compass Point on the next general election day if his concerns continued to be ignored or were not addressed.

The minister said then that he did “not want to be dealing with a single operator”, as the issued raised by the Compass Point owner affected the entire resort industry. Instead, he urged Mr Rodney “to come as part of The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce”.

Mr Rodney, though, last week warned he would not renew his hotel licence for 2020 - a key requirement for his property to remain open - unless he met with Mr D’Aguilar to discuss his concerns. He is unlikely to be impressed by the minister’s description of Mr Adderley as “progressive” as the latter shut down his meeting with the Board after being told Tribune Business was present.

Mr Rodney acknowledged “the risk to the livelihood of 60 fine Bahamians” employed at Compass Point as a result of his stance, which stems from his long-held belief that the Hotel Licensing Board’s annual inspections are “pointless”, and a “waste of Compass Point’s time” and Bahamian tax dollars.

Tribune Business was subsequently given more information about Mr Rodney’s concerns from a well-placed source, speaking on condition of anonymity, who said: “They [the Hotel Licensing Board] tried to shut him down because a single tile was missing in the bathroom when Compass Point was doing renovations. They also forced him to place a ‘no lifeguard on duty’ sign on the beach.”

After initially trying to push his ideas to the former Christie administration, Mr Rodney said he was able to secure a meeting with Mr D’Aguilar a few months after the May 2017 general election. He added that the minister “agreed with my observations, and expressed confirmation and sympathy to my frustrations”, and he left believing Mr D’Aguilar “had the same goals as me” to improve governance.

“With the election of the FNM, and its promise to make doing business simpler in The Bahamas, I thought that there would be a receptive new administration, eager for ideas on ow to fulfill their promises,” Mr Rodney said.

He added, though, that he had quickly become disillusioned by his failure to secure a follow-up meeting with Mr D’Aguilar. Noting that many Compass Point staff have been with the resort for 10 years or more, Mr Rodney said the property was now six months closer to his closure deadline and no progress had been made in addressing his concerns.

He likened his situation to being an employee with Mr D’Aguilar as “my boss”, adding that any worker unable to get management to listen to their concerns was effectively being told to “quit”. “If I am forced to quit my job... I want my employees to know why I quit, and I want the Bahamian public to know why I quit,” Mr Rodney said.

Mr Rodney acquired Compass Point in 2006. The property’s purchase from Island Outpost ended its two-year post-Hurricane Frances closure, although the iconic Compass Point Recording Studios were not included in the deal.

Mr Rodney is president of Detroit Forming Inc, a Detroit-based designer and manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging, a family-owned business that was started by his father in 1962.