Wednesday, March 8, 2017
By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
The Attorney General yesterday argued that the likelihood of Baha Mar still being closed if Sarkis Izmirlian’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings had been allowed to play out was “very very high”.
Speaking outside a Cabinet meeting, Allyson Maynard Gibson again hit back at the original developer’s criticisms over the Government’s intervention in the Baha Mar dispute.
Mrs Maynard Gibson argued that the Government’s actions had been vindicated, after it successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to place Baha Mar in provisional liquidation, instead of letting the developer’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection play out in the Delaware court.
“The vast majority of Bahamians are happy to see that project opened and operational. If it was still in Delaware, the likelihood that it would be closed is very, very high,” said Mrs Maynard Gibson.
“Bahamians are happy that the Government brought the matter to the Bahamas, where our courts are quite capable of dealing with it. From the information filed in Delaware, there were no plans or money to the proposals of the then-developer of Baha Mar, Mr Izmirlian.
“Employees have been compensated, the Bahamian contractors have been compensated, contractors have been engaged on the site, employees have been re-employed and new ones employed.”
Mrs Maynard-Gibson also took on concerns over Baha Mar’s sale to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) not having closed, pointing out that the Hong Kong-based conglomerate would not be investing $200 million of its own money in pre-opening activities in something it did not plan to own.
CTFE previously confirmed that the deal to purchase Baha Mar’s resort assets from the China Export-Import Bank will not close until China Construction America (CCA), the project’s contractor, completes the development’s physical construction. That means the deal’s completion is unlikely to occur until the 2017 year-end.
Mr Izmirlian recently broke several months of silence by hitting at the “uncertainty” surrounding the multi-billion dollar resort’s opening, which was further exacerbated last week by Rosewood revealing its 200-room property will only open in Spring 2018.
Mr Izmirlian and his BMD Holdings vehicle said Rosewood’s disclosure, which came in an official company release, was “a huge walk back” from the “rose-coloured statements” made by Baha Mar’s new owner regarding the property’s opening.
“The misleading, and often illogical statements now being made about progress at Baha Mar, and its opening, have made Baha Mar into a Potemkin hotel; that is, using this still-incomplete property to deceive others into thinking the situation is better than it is,” Mr Izmirlian and BMD argued.
The Government, in a lengthy rebuttal to Mr Izmirlian’s assertions, claimed its actions had effectively saved the beleaguered resort.
Baha Mar’s casino, casino hotel, convention centre and golf course are slated to open in April, with 1,500 jobs expected to be created. This number will grow to 5,000 when the resort is fully opened.
Comments
realfreethinker says...
Mayonaisse Gibson will say anything to deflect that the hotel is not open and no prospect for opening anythime soon. Chapter 11 would gave allowed the hotel to remain open while the debt is restructured. Another red herring. This is the kind of fookery that the bitch feeds gullible Bahamians This rifgt here http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cha…
Posted 8 March 2017, 4:30 p.m. Suggest removal
hallmark says...
Boy Sarkis really working on these people nerves! They sure playing him close. He hardly could get a word out before they responding. But we the Bahamian people can't get a word from them on all of the questions we have: such as the Bah Mar deal, Vat, Crime, etc. Maybe we need to have Sarkis ask them for us. LOL!
Posted 8 March 2017, 4:35 p.m. Suggest removal
Sickened says...
This bitch is so wrong. As realfreethinker eluded to, Chapter 11 would have allowed the U.S. courts to tell CCA to fook off about any money owed to them as they DID NOT complete the work that they were hired to do. This loan forgiveness alone could have probably saved the entire project. New contracts (most likely to Bahamians) would have been given to do the finish work and the hotel would have been opened for sometime now. Chapter 11 would also have allowed Baha Mar to move forward with its lawsuit against CCA and most likely receive $$$ for the intention fooking up of the project.
Posted 8 March 2017, 4:42 p.m. Suggest removal
realfreethinker says...
She is just a fooking liar. It is clear as the link I posted shows allows the company to remain open. Examples Chrysler,GM,Kmart and many others,and none of them closed down and are still operating today. FOOK Gibson,Perry,and all of them The truth is not in them
Posted 8 March 2017, 4:49 p.m. Suggest removal
djgross says...
Not all employees have been compensated. There are 200+ expat employees, myself included, who have not yet received back pay and severance per their employment contracts. This is clearly discriminatory. The US embassy will be informed.
Posted 8 March 2017, 5:02 p.m. Suggest removal
Well_mudda_take_sic says...
This evil wretched wicked witch and her daughters have effectively stolen from the Izmirlian family (and later from the Bahamian taxpayers) after Sarkis Izmirlian so foolishly blessed the 'would be' lucrative leases of retail space they acquired in the Baha Mar development.
Posted 8 March 2017, 5:08 p.m. Suggest removal
BahamaPundit says...
The main benefit of Chapter 11 would have been transparency. All the cards would have been laid on the table for the world to see. Now only a select few know what the hell is going on and use this information to their advantage. In all honesty, I 100% believe that Chapter 11 would have been a much better way forward. Transparency is good for business.
Posted 8 March 2017, 5:56 p.m. Suggest removal
Well_mudda_take_sic says...
Sadly though, the Delaware bankruptcy court was only too willing to wash its hands of the Baha Mar matter because word came down from high above in the U.S. Federal government that successive FNM and PLP governments elected by the Bahamian people had decided that the relationship of the Bahamas with Red China is much more important than the historical ties the Bahamas has traditional enjoyed with the U.S. No doubt President Trump will hold the same disdainful view of us whenever he gets around to reviewing (with his intelligence agencies) what has been going on in our county over the last two or so decades.
Posted 9 March 2017, 10:22 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
**...................... Will Somebody Please tell this Fooking Witch To STFU! ..........................**
Posted 9 March 2017, 1:18 a.m. Suggest removal
killemwitdakno says...
Commendable that it's even along at all after the debacle. Chinese have lots of monsterous projects just wasting. Look them up. Baha Mar would have been another one on their dump.
Posted 9 March 2017, 10:12 a.m. Suggest removal
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