And PM Christie was touting this as a feather in his cap? Several pundits were saying at the outset that the Ismirlians (who made their money in peanuts in West Africa) did not have the money or the wherewithal to do this. For an anchor project, one would have assumed that there would be completion bonds, and a double and triple layer of financing including bridge financing to keep the project on track. The government did the same amount of due diligence that they did for BAMSI insurance, and that building is now in the state of above-mention ruins.

If this story is true ............................ this is terrible PR for us and Bahamar ............ what is the endgame in this struggle between Izzie and the Chinese?????????? This can be a lose-lose for our country .................... at the end of the day, we all hope that we maynot have a huge white elephant desecrating our famous Cable Beach

"Can be a lose-lose for our country???"
This country has already lost!

The Bahamas as we once knew it is now a remnant of yesteryear! We have now regressed to just another third-world dump sitting in the Atlantic Ocean. And as smart citizens continue to read the writing on the wall.... their continues to be a mass exodus from the Bahamas to other parts of the world. Friends and family members continue to pack up and leave!

Bahamian bungling at its best.

Baha Mar has "made in China" stamped all over it. Christie can therefore take some comfort in knowing that if it has to be torn down, it won't take much costly dynamite to do the demolition job. Christie could handout the contract for razing it to the ground to Baha Mar Demolishers Limited, a Bahamian owned demolition company already sitting and waiting as a shelf company in Brave's law firm.

It's not the Chinese fault.
Bahamar in conjunction with HAI were the ones who came begging the Chinese for money after Bahamar's initial partners went bankrupt and pulled out. The Chinese didn't really want to get involved with Bahamar but did it anyway as a favor to HAI and the Bahamas because HAI moved the Bahamian embassy out of Tiawan and placed it in China.

Everyone seems upset with the Chinese...... but if it weren't for them, Bahamar would be in an even worst predicament. In other words..... Bahamar would have no partners at all! Who else would be willing to take on a 3 billion dollar debt???

I am the U.S. reporter who got the scoop for Hotel News Now on March 24 that the March 27 opening was not happening. The Prime Minister was wrong to say "Too big to fail." Baha Mar is actually "too big to succeed" -- and that was the problem all along. None of the experts I have been talking to think it will ever open at this point (it will likely go into bankruptcy and then start a legal battle between Baha Mar, China, the hotel brands and the Bahamian government that I am told could last 10 years). And most experts think because of its size and extremely high costs of operation when/if it does open, neither China nor the Bahamas will be able to find a buyer, even if they give it away in a sweetheart deal. Tragic, but true. Ite will become known as the biggest disaster in the history of the hotel industry and a case study in how to do the worst PR ever. Sandy Sands will be a joke by then, if he is not already. And to me, the most incredible thing about Baha Mar is that no one has been fired for ongoing and gross incompetence.

Hey bulla ....................... you cannot take credit for exposing Bahamar because we all know that HAI put us on a slippery slope from Day 1 ......... Izzie was giddy with big ideas but we would have been better off with his $800 Million development ................. and two 6-star hotels

Don't get angry at the man for telling the truth!
You can attempt to pass blame all you want. The truth is.... it's both government's fault. The entire Bahamas including the people are a failure! Bottom line!

Don,t you remember everyone that Izzie tried to get backed out ,Harrahs etc ,,PGC brought Izzie and he borrowed money here to buy out PGC client Ruffin ,,HAI , not a perfect man , tried to save it w/ the Chinese but wanted it done in stages ,,China wanted to do all at once ,,,

What Scoop? We knew this from the day PAPA Ingraham and his band of merry crooks signed over the Bahamas to the Chinese. Did your dumb ass think it was gonna get better?? BTW why dont you go do some reporting on the US, whatever is going on here PALES In comparison to the sht going on there.

I like your reasoning skills. Sadly, Bahamar is too big to fail. The Government will end up borrowing a couple hundred million to keep it afloat. However, when it opens, it will have lost allot of prestige and may only have a quarter occupancy. I think at this point there is a great deal of fear about the Chinese workmanship. Many may not stay there simply out of fear that it will all come toppling down.

@JohnB You speak of Bahamar being too big... But, to my mind, Bahamar doesn't look big at all. It looks scrunched up on one small part of the property. It does not give the sense of scale as Atlantis, which seems much larger. Take the entrance road to Bahamar that crosses a bridge -- this entry looks terribly squashed and the gatehouse looks like a conch stand. It doesn't look anything like I thought a 3.5 billion dollar resort would look. Terrible use of the property in my opinion -- all the buildings squashed to one side. Looks very boring for a resort and more like an industrial complex. Very strange architecture and use of space. Perhaps, its biggest failure is the lack of a marina for yachts. A canal system should have been built for that kind of money. The design doesn't hold a candle to Atlantis with it's yachts and marina village.

Also, why are the tennis courts being built right next to the busy street? I would think guests would want a bit more privacy and less noisy cars and motor bikes whizzing by. The road around Bahamar is just too close to the hotel. It should have been built to loop on the other side of the golf course much farther back. Is it just me or do many of the rooms in Bahamar appear to be facing away from the ocean? I would have anticipated building the resort so all the rooms have sea views.

I meant "too big" in $$$ scale of the project. Remember that it was conceived and planned well before the 2008 economic crash. In today's market, such a huge (2,200 room, 40 restaurant and club) venue would never get off the ground because it could not get financed. I think that is the fact and reality that will kill it now. Given all the issues and delays, the experts say will will be very difficult, if not impossible, for China or the Bahamian government to find a buyer or new partner -- even in a sweetheart deal. I guess we'll know soon, since Izmirlian is remaining silent. That alone is a very bad sign.

That just about says it all!! Too big to fail indeed!

What a mess.<img src="http://s04.flagcounter.com/mini/kfoW/bg…" style="display:none"><img src="http://s05.flagcounter.com/mini/WUu/bg_…" style="display:none">

**......................................... Baha Mar Costing $3.5B Highly Unlikely ....................................**

Somewhere along the line someone with quantity surveying expertise will address the question of Baha Mar development costing $3.5 Billion.

The Inferior Chinese material and labour used now at the root of this controversy certainly causes a thinking person to wonder where $3.5B disappeared to.

Karma dictates something would come out in the wash as more people in the know are squashed.

I agree with this sentiment completely. No way even cost a billion. Maybe 500 mill.

Thank you PAPA Ingraham for signing us over to the Chinese.

i am sorry to hear your story dr.
try to get them to book your party at some other major hotels and upgrade your bookings.

FNM was, and currently is, a disaster. But the current PLP is a little (and by 'a little' I mean 'much') worse.

Sorry, but Baha Mar will open and a few short years later this will all be mute.

I say give Bahamar another month or so before printing complaints on the front page of the newspaper. Remember, if Bahamar fails we all fail in some way or other. At least hold off the negativity for now. I just drove by, and it looks like they are making progress and almost ready to open. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt. I would hate for bad press chasing tourists away if/when it opens.

Great!!! Someone with some common sense.

It's a major disaster!
My mother is visiting and thank goodness can stay with me or she would be on the street!
Thanks for writing this Neil, I really wanted to expose them after seeing the horrible experiences that folks are having....folks don't know they have NO WHERE to stay until they land and then they are redirected at the airport at the big fancy desk they have there. A big fancy desk that leads to NoTHiNG!
Our reputation is dirt bc of them!

I feel sorry for my friends who are already on the payroll at Baha Mar, collecting good money, and doing a job that they love. They were so excited to get the job and have a new start in their careers. I hope that they don't get the axe.

The legacy of Perry Gladstone Christie, is that he finished off the job that Pindling starting in creating a failed state. To whit:

We have expat Brits being murdered to the point where British newspapers are saying that there is an open season on Brits in the Bahamas. There was the doctor on Long Island, the Brit on Grand Bahama, the banker Hywel Jones, and the dive instructor at Stuart's Cove. And in the Hywel Jones case, Jones ended up dead after commencing to sue his Bahamian partner, Lester Turnquest for absconding with $20 million of clients funds.

We have the BISX stock exchange, still selling stock of bankrupt companies. We have the SEC chasing down our "financial services" practitioners like Warren Davis and Julian Brown, and others like Owen Bethel belong in jail, but will never go.

We are having a major flight of capital under wealth management fly away. Just a few short years ago, it was over a trillion dollars in managed wealth. It is a fraction of that now. As a wealth management practitioner, I have seen two billionaires leave for "better, more civilised" places.

The major chartered banks are selling their books of business, and leaving the Caribbean. RBC sold their Jamaica operations, and we are next.

The influx of guns on the islands is astounding. If the police wanted to do some real police work, they would read Facebook where Bahamian young men brazenly post with assault rifles and pistols.

There is a rogue cadre of police and prisoner guards doing extra-judicial killings on the island, and they will never be caught. Victims include Thad Johnson, Harl Taylor, and it looks like the late Jeffrey Johnson may be a victim as well.

We have the corruption of the Attorney General, who refuses to allow the Auditor General to account for public moneys that were siphoned off to party loyalists. And that same corrupt Attorney General refuses to charge a cabinet minister in judicial interference.

So yes, the state is on the downhill slide to a lawless failure. Baha Mar will be like the empty casino and the ramshackling International Bazaar on Grand Bahama, with no tenants but the rats, with eerie empty buildings used only for the occasional suicide. What a wonderful legacy for the PLP and independence.

I wish I had more upvotes to give you. Excellent post. Unfortunately, we have such small minded people in politics here that as long as they can steal enough to go on monthly shopping sprees to Miami, they think everything is hunky-dory. Seriously, UK just issued another tourist crime warning. Yet, the PM has not done a single thing about crime. One cannot overstate how ill suited these people are for holding office and how divorced from logic their daily workings are.

@Banker You are the type of person that should have been made CEO of the BFSB during these difficult times. Through reading your posts it is clear that you likely have an advanced understanding of the offshore financial industry. I have no faith in the green people that have been made CEOs of BFSB and ministers of financial services. The Bahamas needed a real seasoned professional with global tax expertise to bring innovation and find niches for our products.

I wouldn't have taken the BFSB job because it would have been an exercise in frustration. Do you remember the early days of the first Christie incarnation of a government? He created all sorts of commissions and spread a goodly amount of largesse for reports. Among the people asked to create a report was Brian Moree. I have thought good and bad at different times of Brian Moree, but he took his job seriously and created a darn fine report on the state of Financial Services.

In his report he called for a modernisation of the infrastructure (at the time they were just talking about Real Time Gross Settlement & ACH) and in the closing arguments of his report, he suggested that we open industry up, bring in all sorts of professionals who could create innovative financial services product, and revitalise the industry. He was excoriated. He was pilloried for suggesting that foreigners be brought in. Everyone took a shot at him and his report. Of course nothing was done, he was right, and that ship has sailed.

I have been privy to discussions between Central Bank governors, and have heard the sentiment, that if Bahamian banks and financial institutions just cleaned up their acts, modernised and got rid of the tax shelter mentality, we could have a viable offshore merchant banking industry, simply because we are not American banks.

All of the banks here were minimally exposed to toxic assets, and with a bit of re-jigging, we could have made a name for ourselves, financing international trade to go along with our flag-of-convenience registry. Instead, we got hung up on the tax haven concept, and that is unfortunately dying.

We do not have the infrastructure (reliable electricity supply; a vibrant, skilled, literate cadre of workers, clerks, accountants, etc) to host hedge funds (computerised trading would die because of antiquated infrastructure. The trading desk in Saffrey Square was closed.) or any other financial services of note. Now with FATCA, the John Doe Subpoena and such, the North American tax haven is in its death throes. Even the Cayman Islands have seen the writing on the wall, and have enacted the legislation for a trade zone (www.CaymanEnterpriseCity.com) and they are doing a fabulous job of diversifying their economy, as Jamaica has. Most of the firms are chasing Latin American money, and quite frankly, the state of wealth management there is based on the old Italian model where tax avoidance/evasion is the national sport and primed for a rude awakening.

And as for Baha Mar, I fear that Mr. Buchanan has it right. I don't want to see it happen, but it would take a massive deus ex machina to set this right. I, among others, opined at the very genesis of Baha Mar, that the Izmirlians were wrong for the project, did not have the capital and the bench strength to pull this off, and have p*ssed away a billion more than what it should have cost without Key Performance Indicators being met. Their silence is deafening.

I agree with almost everything you say Banker except that I believe BahaMar will eventually open but it will be a while before it breaks even far less makes a profit. Will BahaMar survive is a big question? Someone else posted that the money would have been better spent developing the family islands - couldn't agree more. Family islands such as Abaco are ripe for development and would offer real competition to the upcoming threat of Cuba.

Why are people still meeting surprised cancellations? Why is the media eager to report this? Shouldn't everyone be supporting this project and putting a good image forward? Or do people think Izmerlian is a major con artist using government to get foreign government loans in the billions? The direction forward had been set, what's the point of bringing this up?

What a diatribe. I can understand the frustration the guy feels but he is being a bit dramatic. Sure, he has every right to be pissed but why handle like a lil gal? Just do you. If you feel legal action is warranted just go ahead and act. Interesting though how Bahamians think.

MARK MY WORDS. True to the tried method of liquidating non performing business ventures, the place will catch fire mysteriously and burn to the ground. Short its' insurers' stocks now.

The arrogance and disrespect demonstrated by Izzie is unforgettable, but I am sure his Father has dealt with his wayward Son's embarrassing folly into the tough world of business by removing him from the Family fortune he so gleefully squandered with the simple reminder that "it is much harder to make it than it is to lose it", now please Son go and get a job like everyone else and stop relying on inheritance, as you blew it to the huge embarrassment of not only the Izmirlian Family, but also the Governments of China and The Bahamas, a true international spectacle only a villain in a James Bond Movie could dream of achieving.

Hard to turn this into something good. Only in the Bahamas you can get messed over lose your money with little or no recourse. Cayman island an soon to be cuba here we come

Next questions are whats the logic behind using a Chinese theme for the design of the project and is PM Christie making the same mistakes with Chinese development at downtown Hilton?

Can you use the words 'logic' and 'PM Christie' in one sentence? Don't go together at all.

Just the sort of bad press the Bahamas doesn't need - irrespective of who is to blame for all the delays etc. etc. When someone recently said that 'Baha Mar is to too big to fail' they forgot the old saying 'The bigger they are the harder they fall'. Notwithstanding any of this, I DO wish this project all success even though I would like to have seen these monies invested in the family islands instead.

To my knowledge, this is the only large scale "joint project" the Chinese have been involved with in the Bahamas. It appears to me that the Chinese don't like company. They work best all by themselves!

No surprise there! Chinese are well known globally for only partnering with us "barbarians" if against a wall then doing all possible to "rid themselves of the partner" in the shortest time possible.

Read Chinese culture on any online encyclopaedia and you will be shocked to learn the Chinese consider themselves as the only real "human-beings" on the planet!

Everyone else on mother earth they consider to be "barbarians". In PM Christie's and black peoples cases, dumb barbarians!

How the hell PM Christie thought he could successfully negotiate with a culture of people accustomed to planning 500 years into the future is mind boggling.

Without question, PM Christie's short term gain, will actually be China's long term asset.

***Go figure!***...............**Jackass does as jackass is**

I am not at all surprised to learn of this situation and what Dr. Gupta, his future wife, family and friends have had to put up with over these last few months. Prime Minister Perry Christie should be writing a certified cheque to Dr. Gupta today for the total amount of his financial losses thus far and also pay for his future wedding, that in my view, should take place in another country.

For the most part, Bahamians are a stupid, greedy lot. Lying and cheating comes naturally to them. There are no ethics that exist in their pirate-based culture. And blaming this gargantuan Baha Mar mess on the developers, investors and foreign workers is easy. There is no accountability with these people.

Considering all of the posts regarding Dr. Gupta's horrific experience, not one person even offered an apology. I send my apologies to him on behalf of every moron, liar and thief he was forced to endure while planning his wedding in Nassau. Shame on The Bahamas and shame on those who failed Dr. Gupta at every level possible.

Could a solution be:

1. A firm date is given to open and have all disputes resolved. Failing that:

2. The project is nationalized and completed and opened by the government, and all claims for compensation can be settled in court or negotiations with the government.

Finally, good wishes aside, its clear this will take political leadership with action to resolve this all at this point.

Nationalising a failed BahaMar would most certainly NOT be a solution.

Wow, we had a Hotel Corporation to try and put the industry back in the hands of the Bahamians. It failed miserably. It bled red ink and became a public money trough for party hacks swilling at the taxpayers teats.

"It bled red ink and became a public money trough for party hacks swilling at the taxpayers teats".

Absolutely true!

Fist step is we need to rid ourselves of dumb-ass, compromised, corrupt PLP and FNM politicians.

I don't see what the big deal is. He could use the same plane tickets and go to Atlantis. The room rates at Bahamar are the same as Atlantis. I recommend the Corner Hotel for a true indigenous Bahamian wedding.

And what happened to the Melia hotel.

FNM and PLP say they believe in Bahamians

* FOREIGN MANAGEMENT COMPANY FOR AIRPORT.
* FOREIGN MANAGEMENT COMPANY FOR BEC.
* FOREIGN MANAGEMENT COMPANY FOR THE DUMP.
* FOREIGN COMPANY FOR THE ROAD TRAFFIC COMPUTERS.
* FOREIGN COMPANY FOR THE CCTV.
* FOREIGN COMPANY FOR SOLAR POWER.
* FOREIGN COMPANIES FOR POLITICAL RALLIES (yes for real).

the list goes on.

Foreign companies are laughing all the way to the bank. They say the Bahamas is a country of IDIOTS that cant do anything themselves. Except ofcourse run around a field and clean hotel rooms.

A country of slaves. WTF??? Maybe its time to WAKE UP BAHAMAS.

**STOP VOTING FOR FNM AND PLP AS THEY THINK YOU ARE DUMB STUPID ANIMALS. THEY THINK YOU ARE NOT WORTH SHIT COMPARED TO A FOREIGNER. THEY THINK THIS COUNTRY IS FULL OF TOTAL IDIOTS WITHOUT ENOUGH BRAINS TO DO THE MOST BASIC THINGS. VOTE FOR ANYTHING BUT FNM AND PLP, JUST SAY NO TO FNM AND PLP, TELL FNM AND PLP ABOUT THEY STINK BACKSIDE. TELL THEM YOU HAD ENOUGH. SHOW THEM YOU HAD ENOUGH. STOP BEING A SLAVE.**