By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said he will “not be bullied” by the Compass Point owner’s threat to close the resort and put 60 Bahamians out of work, blasting: “He’s completely out of line.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that Leigh Rodney needed to become “less confrontational” and stop using his employees as bargaining chips and leverage in his dealings with the government.

He added that he did not necessarily consider Mr Rodney’s complaints over the hotel licensing process as “rationale”, and warned the US investor that as a non-Bahamian he “must remember he is a guest in this country”.

Responding to the Detroit businessman’s advertisement, published in yesterday’s Tribune, where he threatened to close Compass Point on the next general election date if the government fails to implement the ease of doing business reforms he wants, Mr D’Aguilar said he had “admonished” Mr Rodney to instead “act prudently and judiciously”.

While admitting his concern for Compass Point’s 60 staff and their families, the minister reiterated he is “not going to stand for” Mr Rodney’s conduct and said he was “sure the Bahamian people will understand why I’m taking the position I’m taking”.

Mr D’Aguilar hit back after Mr Rodney alleged that the Minnis administration was reneging on its promise to make doing business easier in The Bahamas, and that it had failed to act on his request to set up a committee - including himself - to make recommendations for improving existing laws and regulations.

Mr Rodney added that current and past prime ministers, Dr Hubert Minnis and Hubert Ingraham, as well as Mr D’Aguilar were well aware of his concerns. He warned in his ad: “If the FNM wins the next election without acting upon the promise they made when they were elected two years ago, the Compass Point owner does not want to continue to do business in this country and will therefore close his business.”

Tribune Business understands that Mr Rodney was referred to Mr Ingraham after he contacted Dr Minnis with his issues. His advertisement added that he “simply wants to make some positive changes that will benefit everyone in The Bahamas”, but warned that failure to enact these reforms would result in the iconic resort’s closure with no prospect of re-opening.

The Compass Point owner yesterday remained true to his advertisement’s pledge not to speak further publicly when contacted by this newspaper, only confirming that he stood by everything that was written and hoped it would prompt a new meeting with the Government.

Mr Rodney’s complaints centre on the hotel licensing process, which he regards as unnecessary and a duplication of effort given that Bahamian resorts also have to pay for Business Licence fees.

He is also understood to have wanted to implement specific security arrangements for Compass Point, particularly for the resort’s parking lot which lies across the road from the West Bay Street resort, and was unhappy at being told to deal exclusively with the Police Staff Association (PSA) - which he regards as a monopoly for this type of work.

Mr D’Aguilar yesterday confirmed that Mr Rodney had told him that hotel licensing procedures were “silly and stupid”, and that he should “not have to abide by them” despite the fact no other Bahamian resort had complained.

“Mr Rodney is, as he knows and I have told him, completely out of line,” Mr D’Aguilar blasted. “First of all he is a non-Bahamian, and while he can suggest or make recommendations for the Government of The Bahamas to make changes to the hotel licensing regime or whatever issues or rules we have in this country, he must remember that he is a guest here.

“He must make his tone less confrontational and less threatening. He was very, very persistent in putting forward his view. It basically boiled down to the view that if I didn’t do, in my capacity as minister of tourism, what he wanted me to do, he would shut down his hotel.

“He felt the hotel licensing process was silly, and the requirements silly and stupid, and that he shouldn’t have to abide by them. I said to him: ‘Everyone else is, and they don’t have any problems with it’.”

Mr D’Aguilar, given that discussions with Mr Rodney appeared to be “going nowhere”, said he ultimately referred the investor to the Hotel Licensing Authority and its chairman, Ethan Adderley.

“I told him that the lives and livelihoods of 60 Bahamians were in his hands, and I admonished him to act prudently, judiciously and appropriately,” the minister added of his dealings with Mr Rodney. “I wasn’t to be bullied and was not moved by his threats.

“He sent me threatening e-mails that he would put the advertisement in the paper, and I said: ‘You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do’. Mr Rodney has to remember this is not the US. If a Bahamian business goes to the US they have to abide by the rules of the US. Likewise, when they come to The Bahamas they have to abide by the rules of The Bahamas.

“This confrontational, threatening approach does not work here, just like it would not work there if you went there and opened a business. He’s been doing this for quite some time, and I’m not minded to engage myself in this discussion. After a while we became very dismissive of his rants.”

Mr D’Aguilar said there had been no direct contact between himself and Mr Rodney since late 2018 when the Compass Point owner was told to deal directly with the Hotel Licensing Board.

“I’ve seen fit not to engage with him any further as we don’t think the reasoning from his point of view is rationale, and it will not end well if he continues the discussion with me,” the minister added, revealing that he was minded to “let the chips fall where they fall” over Mr Rodney’s closure threat.

“Obviously I’m concerned about the Compass Point staff,” he told Tribune Business, “but no minister of the Government of The Bahamas is going to be threatened by a non-Bahamians, and I’m sure the Bahamian people will understand having to take the position I’m taking.

“It’s inappropriate to do what he’s doing, and I’m not going to stand for it. He’s trying to draw an irrational response from the Government, and we’re not going to do that. Tomorrow morning we’ll wake up and continue to execute and implement the laws of The Bahamas as it relates to hotel licensing.

“His [Mr Rodney’s] comments are duly noted and we move on. His threats are not going to force us to put any more focus on this. I’m not sure what his issues are. He’s had a blow and we note his blow. It’s been duly noted, but certainly not appreciated.”

Such a heated public spat between investor and government is still relatively rare in The Bahamas, but usually does little good for either party or this nation’s reputation as a safe haven for investment. It also gives the Government’s political opponents ammunition to attack its much-touted efforts to improve the ease of doing business as having little effect.

Mr Rodney acquired Compass Point in 2006 with three partners. They included Bahamian attorney Paul King, of King & Co, and Gilles Trahn and Martin ‘Skip’ Scully. The property’s purchase from Island Outpost ended its two-year post-Hurricane Frances closure, although the iconic Compass Point Recording Studios were not included in the deal.

Mr Rodney is president of Detroit Forming Inc, a Detroit-based designer and manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging, a family-owned business that was started by his father in 1962.

He told this newspaper in 2006 that he had been visiting the Bahamas for 20-30 years, having first come here in the 1970s and visited this nation once a year since then. He also owned a residential property at Love Beach, which helped him become familiar with Compass Point.

Mr Rodney is currently also attempting to sell the former Robin Hood retail store on Prince Charles Drive, which is located on the site of the former Pepsi-Cola bottling plant. The Compass Point owner holds a mortgage lien on the property as security for the monies he advanced to finance the eastern expansion of the retailer’s owner, Sandy Schaefer.