Baha Mar’s ‘next chapter’ in hands of contractor

Thursday, April 16, 2015

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

WHILE not giving a definite date, Baha Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian said the property will open “very soon”. However, he said, the resort cannot open its doors until the general contractor fulfils its commitment.

He stressed that it was up to the development’s general contractor “to decide how the next chapter will be written.”

Addressing the 2nd Annual Conclave of the Chamber of Commerce at the Melia Resort yesterday, Mr Izmirlian blamed Baha Mar’s most recent delay on the project’s lead contractor, but declined to give an exact date of when the $3.5 billion resort will open.

Baha Mar was initially set to open in December, but that was delayed to March 27 for a soft opening. However last month, the resort said it expected to open in early May.

“As you know, we have had to delay Baha Mar’s opening and as a result the people of The Bahamas have not yet felt the full economic benefit of Baha Mar. This will happen, but before it can our general contractor needs to meet its assurances so we are in a position to properly open this world-class destination resort. Indeed, this amazing property is supposed to be the symbol of international cooperation. It is now up to our general contractor to decide how this next chapter will be written,” Mr Izmirlian said.

“We sincerely hope they understand this and are realising the discontent, and concerns, about their performance from numerous quarters, including us as owners, the government of the Bahamas, and the people of The Bahamas. These concerns as well are beginning to be reflected in the press both here and internationally.

“With that said, Baha Mar will open soon and we will finally be able to show the world Baha Mar: our culture and how we care deeply, we have a generous spirit, we thrive as part of a team, we pay exacting attention to details, we create an emotional connection with our guests, and we are strongly committed to success.”

Earlier this week, Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller said he has been “reliably informed” that Baha Mar will not open before June.

He was told this while participating in a private tour of the resort last week, he said. Mr Miller, who is the executive chairman of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC), said his understanding is that the resort may have a partial opening in June and a wider opening in August.

In announcing its most recent delay last month, Mr Izmirlian blamed the project’s lead contractor for the delay, saying the work had not met the resort’s “standards of excellence” and was unacceptable.

Comments

duppyVAT says...

Is this guy really the owner of Bahamar???????? The owner is the person who pays the bills .......... the Chinese

Posted 16 April 2015, 3:11 p.m. Suggest removal

Stapedius says...

There he goes again pointing fingers. Who the hell is advising him? Someone call PR quick. This is a fiasco.

Posted 16 April 2015, 3:31 p.m. Suggest removal

GrassRoot says...

well the only way to deal with and understand and communicate with this government is hiring a bunch of psychiatrists to run the PR department

Posted 16 April 2015, 3:51 p.m. Suggest removal

Voltaire says...

He is not the owner. Not for long anyway. He seems to have just figured out that the contractors and the government are friends. No one is on his side.

Posted 16 April 2015, 3:33 p.m. Suggest removal

it was planned this way by the Chinese since the beginning. The Chinese never lose. However what is stupid from our Government is to piss off people like Sarkis. He is part of one of the strongest unions on the planet, the one of the billionaires. If he says NO to the Bahamas, they ALL will say NO to the Bahamas. And he is right, people like Sarkis don't even need to back their suitcases, they have all they need already in their Swiss, Singapore, Dubai homes. They board their plane, take wife, kids and the dog and are gone.

Posted 16 April 2015, 3:49 p.m. Suggest removal

People in this union you speak of come and go my friend. Even Sol lost his pants with Atlantis. Many billionaires already say no so what's new? What's amazing is that there are still so many Bahamians with this attitude the investor is always right. We need to get to a point where we don't care about how much money these people have. Yes we welcome investment and partnerships but you can't just say or do what you feel because you have money.

Posted 16 April 2015, 4:06 p.m. Suggest removal

no the investor is not always right. the problem in the Bahamas is that lack of predictability of the way the political actors act. Even within the same party, the same government. It must have to do with corruption that one day, they say yes, the next day they say no. So Stapedius, I guess, you are not implying that the government is always right

Posted 16 April 2015, 4:25 p.m. Suggest removal

Stapedius, I agree with you in most cases, but if its between Sarkis and the Chinese...

Posted 16 April 2015, 4:09 p.m. Suggest removal

Sickened says...

I feel sorry for Sarkis as he seems to be stuck in the middle. China Construction can simply walk away and the whole thing will be handed over to their brother Bank of China. Sarkis will sue China Construction for non completion of work but Bank of China, China Construction and the Hotel brands will sue Sarkis for not completing his part of the deal. It seems like Sarkis sat at a poker table without realizing that everyone at the table is ONLY out to get his money.

well maybe he should play the Bahamian card. Remember, investors come, and will go again, Bahamians will stay.

Posted 16 April 2015, 4:29 p.m. Suggest removal

FNM_Retards says...

Sarkis is a Jackass.

Posted 16 April 2015, 5:23 p.m. Suggest removal

John says...

Bah Mar needs to be successful to help put a dent in unemployment and increase in economic activity and government revenue. Bah Mar needs the support of everyone involved to achieve this success. It is amazing to watch the fences come down and the trees and landscaping go up. That was not an easy project to complete and you can almost bet that not only was the opening date missed but the project probably went over budget. Now hopefully they will have a successful opening soon.

Posted 16 April 2015, 7:35 p.m. Suggest removal

Bungo says...

Wait a minute. So.... they hired a Chinese company to build a world class resort and it didn't come out right? I can't believe it! (sarcasm)

Posted 17 April 2015, 7 p.m. Suggest removal