By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said the Minnis administration’s $25m budget for an equity stake in the Grand Lucayan Resort proves it has no confidence it will strike a deal with the Toronto-based Wynn Group for the sale and revival of the property.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said last year, before the Wynn Group expressed serious interest in buying the hotel, that the government was considering taking a temporary equity stake in the resort to ensure its opening.

That $25m has been allocated for this was a surprise revelation from the recent budget exercise, however. It was only revealed in the Senate on Monday after Progressive Liberal Party Senator Dr Michael Darville quizzed Free National Movement senators on the 125 percent increase in the budget for “tourism contractual obligations” under the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Davis knocked the government for not addressing the issue during the budget debate in the House of Assembly.

“They said this was a transparent government but we didn’t know about this until it was raised in the Senate,” he said. “They should speak to why they would hide this allocation like this. The fact that they have to allocate this speaks to their lack of confidence in being able to strike a deal with Wynn.”

The government has been negotiating a heads of agreement with the Wynn Group for months now and a timeline for the completion of this has been elusive. Dr Minnis had previously said he wanted the resort opened in time for the 2017 winter season. The resort is considered crucial for the economy of the island.

Attorney General Carl Bethel said Monday negotiations for the reopening of the resort have gone through several changes. A comprehensive resolution involving private sector ownership of the hotel with equity participation of the Bahamian government and international branding is in the works, he said.

Mr Bethel said: “This is all still subject to negotiation. There’s a certain level of this that will involve the government taking an equity position in the hotel. Of that allocation, it is not only about tourism support, there is a significant portion of that that is in respect of government’s intended stake. Bear in mind how this started. Nobody was expressing any serious interest. “The Bahamas government, this government indicated publicly we will negotiate and purchase it ourselves. If no one else wants to do it, we are not going to allow to happen to the Lucayan strip what was allowed to happen to the heart of downtown Freeport with the Royal Oasis hotel. We came in and we said we are not going to allow that to happen. So no one was on the table and said we would buy it. We’ll buy it, we’ll fix it and we’ll get it open. We intended to do it by the end of 2017. As soon as we came forward, all of a sudden everyone who was sitting on their hands playing cute got serious and negotiations commenced.”