NASSAU, Bahamas, Sept 6, CMC – The ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has dismissed the move by the opposition Free National Movement (FNM) to launch a petition to force the Perry Christie government to unseal the documents regarding the deal reached for the completion of the multi-billion dollar Baha Mar tourism project.
PLP chairman, Bradley B. Roberts, described the petition campaign as “the latest desperate attempt by the FNM to scuttle the Baha Mar project because in the warped minds of the FNM,” adding “this is nothing more than sour grapes.
“The Christie administration has maintained its policy commitment to getting this project completed, opened, having the displaced employees re-engaged and compensated in addition to payments to unsecured Bahamian creditors. This was the position on 29th June 2015 and that is the government’s position today,” Roberts said in a statement.
NFM chairman, Sidney Collie, had earlier said the opposition party was now collecting signatures in order to call on Prime Minister Christie “to release all documents related to the secret Baha Mar deal with the Chinese.
“Bahamians are shocked and dismayed that the Christie led government requested that the deal this Government made with the Chinese be sealed by the courts of The Bahamas. This petition gives the people a tangible way to voice their disgust at how the Prime Minister shrouded his secret deal with the Chinese, unwilling to allow the people to review the contents and see for themselves what has been decided about their future,” Collie said in a statement.
Last month, in a nation radio and television broadcast, Prime Minister Christie said that an agreement had been reached between the government and the Export Import (EXIM) Bank of China for the completion of the US$3.5 billion tourism project.
Christie said that once completed, the hotel will be sold to a “world-class hotel and casino operator”. He said construction is scheduled to resume in September, and under the terms of the agreement, the EXIM Bank has committed to funding the costs to finish the project and the resort’s general contractor, China Construction America (CCA) Bahamas, will complete the outstanding work.
“Under the heads of terms signed …by the government and the bank, the remobilisation of Baha Mar will commence immediately. Construction at the site is expected to resume in a few weeks during the month of September,” Christie said.
Christie, who did not disclose the name of the new buyer, said Bahamian contractors who are still owed money for their work at the resort, will have access to funds that will enable them to receive a significant part “and possible all, of the value for their claims”.
The construction of Baha Mar, which is expected to feature a Las Vegas-style casino and more than 2,000 hotel rooms, has been stalled for months as the project missed December and March opening deadlines, after running out of money.
Last June, Baha Mar had to file for bankruptcy protection in Delaware, blaming CCA for the delays.
The CCA stated that it wasn’t responsible for the delays and put it down to poor planning by the developer.
The bankruptcy filing was dismissed and provisional liquidators for the project were appointed last year. Deloitte & Touche was subsequently appointed as a receiver for the China Export-Import Bank.
Roberts said that there is nothing the FNM said or did since the bankruptcy of Baha Mar that remotely suggests a desire to see the project completed, the employees engaged and the creditors compensated. He claimed the opposition party “backed the failed bankruptcy in a Delaware court even after court documents proved the developer’s inability to complete the project and his expressed intent to reduce the workforce by 98 per cent down to a 52 man skeletal workforce.
“Having politicized this Baha Mar project for more than one year, their hostility toward the project, its principals and a wilful campaign of misinformation to deceive Bahamians have intensified since the 22 August announcement that construction will resume on that stalled project; every action by them point to a diabolic desire and plan to destroy this project”.
Roberts said he was urging all Bahamians to reject out of hand “any attempt by the FNM or its operatives in their many incarnations to sabotage this project that holds great economic promise for the future growth and development of the Bahamas”.