By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The “increasingly frustrated” firm behind the $600-$650 million waste-to-energy plant proposal has warned the Government that its three-year wait for approval “risks damaging the reputation of the Bahamas”.

UK-based attorneys for Stellar Energy, the company in the ‘Letter of Intent’ controversy that engulfed former parliamentary secretary Renward Wells, warned the Attorney General that the treatment of their client ran counter to the Government’s goal of a swift investment approvals process.

Nabarro LLP, in a July 4, 2016, letter to Allyson Maynard-Gibson, said: “The delay in approval of the project would seem to be at odds with the stated goal of the Bahamas Investment Authority to limit the approval period to 60 days or less following presentation of a project for approval.

“Furthermore, as we hope you can appreciate, these ongoing delays and lack of appreciation from the relevant Ministries risk damaging the reputation of the Bahamas as a destination for foreign direct investment in relation to a critical and nationally important infrastructure project.”

The letter, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, appears to have been crafted as both a warning to the Government and last-ditch effort to avoid the legal action that Stellar Energy launched earlier this month.

The claim alleges Stellar was promised that a June 30, 2014, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be executed by Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis and issued to the company, allowing it to proceed with its planned project at the New Providence landfill. This has not happened.

“Our client has been awaiting the final approval of the project and issue of such documentation for over 36 months, and has now instructed us to write to you seeking the urgent issue of the same,” Nabarro said.

“As we hope you can appreciate, our client just wants to understand the current status of the approval process so that it can timetable and mobilise its international team to deliver the project without further delay and expense.”

Nabarro’s letter seeks to arrange a conference call with the Attorney General’s Office and Mrs Maynard-Gibson’s team, in a bid to “discuss a realistic timeline” for the approvals process and what is required from Stellar Energy.

The UK law firm says the documents provided to it by its client “raise a number of serious concerns regarding the approvals process to-date”, and that “no meaningful response” had been received in response to inquiries with numerous Bahamian government ministries.

“Our client is growing increasingly frustrated with the apparent delays in the approval process, which have now lasted over three years,” Nabarro wrote.

“The ongoing delays are negatively impacting their business, and also their contractual relationships with the project’s international; technical and financial partners who have all invested significant time and resources in the project.

“This lack of any response is causing our client to incur additional costs, and is placing a strain on its supply chain, which has committed significant resources to the project to-date.”

Tribune Business has also seen an August 14, 2015, letter sent to Stellar chief executive, Dr Fabrizio Zanaboni, from Phylicia Woods at the Bahamas Investment Authority, in which she says it is “preparing this matter to take before the National Economic Council”. But neither an approval, nor a rejection, has been forthcoming.

And David Davis, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Financial Services, said it was “impressed” by Stellar’s project and “would be minded to lend our support to the proposed public-private partnership (PPP)” in a June 8, 2015, letter to Dr Zanaboni.