By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie insisted yesterday that those who scoff at his optimism over Baha Mar will come to join him in celebrating its success when the doors of the $3.5bn mega resort are opened.

He again expressed high hopes that when work resumes on Baha Mar’s convention centre to have it completed for an upcoming Inter-American Development Bank conference, the same crew would remain at the development to complete work on the rest of the resort.

He said the court appointed provisional liquidators and the receivers, Deloitte & Touche, were in support of this.

Mr Christie went on to repeat that he was “greatly encouraged” by the interest in the property, including from major casino and hotel entities and Bahamian investors.

He added that the government was involved in daily discussions over the issue and the resumption of construction, as he pointed out that the unemployment benefits of many of Baha Mar’s former employees was coming to an end.

“Mr Speaker I have chosen not to comment significantly on the details of the relationship between myself and Mr Izmirlian as it played out because it is really not relevant to the overall consideration that Bahamian contractors have not been paid and over 2,000 Bahamian employees that were dismissed,” the prime minister said.

“They are meeting with me. I met with the Bahamian contractors representatives and I have met with representatives of the employees. I have met with representatives of casinos and franchises who are concerned about the impact on the economy and the impact on personal investments.

“Mr Speaker, I have given them the assurance that the government of the Bahamas will not compromise on its commitment to ensure that the contractors are paid dollar for dollar, that the employees will be in good standing once construction resumes and that all Bahamians who have invested will have their investments accepted.”

He continued: “That is most certainly the commitment of the government of the Bahamas. We have expressed that and we are aware that many of the unemployment benefits of persons are coming to an end or have come to an end.

“So therefore there is a real concern on their part and on the part of the government. Having said that the government is on a daily basis involved in discussions with respect to all matters involving stakeholders and the resumption of construction.

“I expect moving forward that those who scoffed at my optimism, Mr Speaker, will in fact come to join me in celebrating the success of Baha Mar.”

Last week, Mr Christie said during the Bahamas Business Outlook at the Melià Nassau Beach Hotel, that he would not apologise for his optimism that a successful outcome was in sight.

“I believe I am very close with this,” he said at the time.

He also told those gathered that resolution was “very close”, disclosing that former Atlantis owner Sol Kerzner had returned with a revised bid.

At the time he said: “People speak to my optimism. I don’t apologise for that. There is no circumstance under which the Bahamas government will find acceptable undue delays in recommencing construction towards completion.

“Some of the world’s leading companies have applied; some that will surprise you have applied to be involved. Sol Kerzner has come back with an equity fund, Mohegan Sun has applied to be involved, a lot of these people have put in bids, major Chinese companies have put in bids.”

Baha Mar and 14 of its affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court on June 29 last year, blaming the resort’s contractor, China Construction America (CCA), for delays that caused it to miss previous opening deadlines.

However, the bankruptcy protection for Baha Mar’s Bahamian-based companies was later thrown out.

In reaction to the bankruptcy filing, the government filed a winding-up petition against Baha Mar in the Supreme Court. The court later approved the appointment of the joint provisional liquidators, KRyS Global and UK-based Alix Partners.

In late October the Supreme Court authorised the termination of 2,026 employees at the stalled development. The joint provisional liquidators said the lay-offs were due to the project’s financial insolvency.

Deloitte & Touche was subsequently appointed as the China Export-Import Bank’s receivers for the resort.