By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president is seeking multi-million dollar damages from the Government over its “politically motivated” breach of the lease for a marina and parking lot project.

Peter Maury, who launched his Supreme Court claim in a personal capacity on May 13, 2025, is alleging the Davis administration failed to honour a lease agreed with its predecessor for a Nassau Harbour development which would have been located close to the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge serving Paradise Island.

The businessman, who manages and operates Bay Street Marina, told this newspaper the project was initially designed to provide off-site parking for employees of Margaritaville restaurant, in which he is a principal, plus other Paradise Island-based businesses such as Dolphin Encounters.

This would have replaced their existing Paradise Island parking arrangement, which was about to cease, with staff ferried back-and-forth between their workplace and mainland New Providence. Mr Maury said the project would ultimately have expanded to include development of the Freetown Marina, which would provide docking and accommodation for Bahamian excursion and commercial vessels.

Rather than cater to visiting foreign boaters, the ABM president his plan was intended to address the shortage of both parking and marina dock space on Paradise Island, as well as provide a cheaper alternative where Bahamian tour, excursion and other commercial marine operators could securely dock and tie-up their boats.

Mr Maury, in his legal claim which has been obtained by Tribune Business, alleged that the Minnis administration offered him a five-year Crown Land lease for a site next to Betty Cole Park, at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier bridge, on July 1, 2021. He said the offer and its terms, including the rental rate, were accepted and some $646,176 was invested in development costs and cleaning up the site.

However, within months of the September 2021 general election, the ABM chief alleged that he was ordered by the Ministry of Works to halt work on December 1, 2021. And, after further correspondence and exchanges, Mr Maury claimed he was informed by David Davis, the then-most senior civil servant in the Prime Minister’s Office, that the Government wanted the site to remain as “public open space”.

The ABM president then alleged that, around the same time he received Mr Davis’ May 31, 2022, letter informing him of the Government’s decision to “repudiate” his agreement, he discovered it had entered into a lease deal for the same site with another Bahamian businessman involved in the marine and watercraft industry.

And Mr Maury is also alleging that this businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is “a relative” of the same David Davis, who at the time was permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.

However, David Davis, who is now permanent secretary at the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, told Tribune Business that any allegation that he is related to the entrepreneur presently operating from Mr Maury’s chosen location is “an absolute lie”.

He also vehemently rejected any suggestion that conflicts of interest, or any other form of impropriety, impacted the Government’s dealings with Mr Maury, and said he was unable to “recall a perfected lease” was ever agreed or executed between the two parties.

Mr Davis, responding to this newspaper’s inquiries, said: “I vaguely recall this matter. It would seem prudent to refer this matter to the Office of the Prime Minister [which] has access to the relevant files. I do not. I do not recall a perfected lease.

“It is an absolute lie to suggest that I am related. I do not know [him]. Mr Maury might educate me on how we are related.” Mr Davis added that he would not have been at the Prime Minister’s Office whenever a lease deal with the other Bahamian businessman was made, and was not “privy to the details”.

And the same businessman, who Mr Maury asserted leased the same site after the Davis administration refused to honour his agreement, yesterday retorted that any suggestion of a family connection to David Davis is “false”. 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he argued that he was present at the location before Mr Maury and the latter’s lease deal with the Minnis administration, and asserted that it was himself - rather than the ABM chief - who paid for and executed the area’s clean-up.

The entrepreneur added that he possesses all necessary permits and approvals, having obtained the permissions from the Port Department and other relevant government agencies, to operate in the area. Besides putting in docking facilities of his own, other amenities at the property also include a ‘floating bar’ on the waterfront complete with kitchen/eating facilities.

Recalling the events that occurred just prior to the September 2021 general election, and around the time Mr Maury obtained his lease, the Bahamian businessman asserted: “Nobody spent a dime there. He’s [Mr Maury] actually claiming something he didn’t do. I got it. I came there and spent money to clean up. I was there before him. I was there already. He didn’t do anything with it.”

Because the waterfront bulkhead is attached to Potter’s Cay, the businessman said he is treated as if he is a vendor at that destination. “It’s in my name at the registry,” he said of the site. “I don’t have any ties with the PLP or FNM. I don’t play politics.

“I didn’t know anything about his [Mr Maury’s] plans. I went there, cleaned up the area, went to the Port Department and got approval for it; laying pilings for the docks. I did what I had to do the legal way with my documents. I went to the Port Department, and they signed it and it got approved. You can only put pilings in if you have permission. I have my own small marina there.”

Mr Maury, though, pledged to Tribune Business that he is “prepared to take it to the Privy Council if I have to” and disclosed that he had been looking at the Freetown Marina project since 2016 after learning that his and other Paradise Island businesses were likely to lose their existing parking arrangements as a result of Brookfield, the Atlantis owner, selling the Hurricane Hole site to a new developer.

His legal claim also breaks down the $646,176 in expenses he is alleged to have incurred prior to the Ministry of Works ‘stop order’, including $250,000 in legal fees; $100,000 for development and consulting; and $85,000 for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and architectural fees.

The ABM chief is alleging that, as a result of the Government’s failure to honour the lease, the Margaritaville restaurant has suffered an estimated $7m worth of losses “due to inability to provide customer parking” on Paradise Island. And additional staff parking charges equal to $1,500 per month have been incurred since July 2021.

He is seeking a Supreme Court order that the Government perform, reinstate and live up to the terms of his five-year lease agreement and reimburse the initial $646,176 development costs. Or, alternatively, Mr Maury is seeking $3.125m in damages for the Government’s failure to abide by the lease’s terms plus the same development costs.

Describing the situation as “as bad as it gets”, Mr Maury told Tribune Business: “I spent $75,000 with clean-up work, and spend additional money on the business plan. I had been working on this since pretty much 2016, when I was told we were going to lose the parking.”

That parking was at the Hurricane Hole location which Brookfield sold to Sterling Global Financial for redevelopment into Paradise Landing. Mr Maury said his plan for the site across the harbour, next to Betty Cole Park, was also designed to accommodate employees from Dolphin Encounters as well as his Margaritaville staff, plus their boats.

“I spoke to David Davis, Francis Clarke got involved from the Parks and Beaches Authority, and Richard Hardy at Lands and Surveys,” the ABM chief recalled. “I met with everybody. I met with the Prime Minister. It was approved by the Minnis Cabinet, and was rejected by the Davis administration.

“I was going to put in a marina. What was happening... I’m in the marina business. I knew this was coming long before anyone else. Once Hurricane Hole sold, I knew they wanted to develop their marina, and a lot of boats that go there - Dolphin Encounters, Powerboat Adventures - they lost their docking.

“I talked to those guys and said we can put more docks in and provide private parking for your employees. I was told that I couldn’t put a restaurant in there; it was dockage and parking for the employees so they could operate those businesses.”

The Freetown Marina was to be “designed specifically for resident excursion boats”, providing year-round slips and docking for boats up to 60 feet in length, along with “full water and electricity hook-ups” at each slip and “high capacity” waste pump-out and garbage removal.

Security and on-site surveillance would be present continuously, and Mr Maury’s business plan predicted the marina would “reach full capacity within the first year” with “a positive return on investment by the end of year three, given our projections for occupancy and service utilisation rates”. The location by the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge was also in close proximity to where tour operators pick up their guests.

“It was to support Bahamian businesses and employees,” Mr Maury said of the Freetown Marina. “It would save the employees and companies a bunch of money as far as parking and dockage. It was pretty much for Bahamian excursion businesses; cheap dockage. Now, everybody is really looking for dockage because of all the boating business.

“The plan was always to expand the marina. Initially, it was about $300,000 with the dock and parking. I could have put 100 excursion boats there. It was a working marina. These are small docks for 30-60 feet boats. It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper than the marinas at Bay Street and Yacht Haven. Those are transient marinas. 

“I still have excursion companies coming to me now, saying they can’t afford the higher rates. This would have been not the most attractive place by the Water & Sewerage plant, but for business operators it would have been a safe place to keep their boats and a cheaper option to hopefully make their businesses profitable. That’s the whole reason; it’s not to make money, it was to accommodate employees.”

Accusing government insiders of “stealing my plan”, Mr Maury called for the creation of a system that would record and monitor business ideas presented to the Government so as to better protect Bahamian entrepreneurs and their creativity, and prevent this from happening. 

“It’s like what happened on Athol Island with the pirate ship, what happened to Toby Smith on Paradise Island,” he said of his lease. “I’ve talked to other Bahamians who submitted business plans to the Government, and they’ve said the same thing.

“I said I’m not going to let this happen to me, and I will file a lawsuit. Why, as a Bahamian, should I accept it? It’s not fair to me or my employees. I’m not going to let this go. It’s not fair. Bahamians are currently run over in this country. You can see it in the cruise business, the taxi business. Business has just got more difficult for legitimate Bahamian operators, and it’s not fair.”

Asserting that Margaritaville restaurant has lost business because some of “the small parking area for my business” on Paradise Island has to be taken up by staff, rather than customers, Mr Maury added: “They broke a lease that was approved by the Cabinet.

“Bahamians should at least feel like they should have some comfort in our own government, but when someone is taking our ideas it becomes very alarming to tell the truth. I have filed a lawsuit and am prepared to take it to the Privy Council if I have to. I don’t think this behaviour should be accepted and I should go away.”

Mr Maury, in his legal claim seen by Tribune Business, said he applied to the Prime Minister’s Office on March 18, 2021, to use “an area of land adjacent to Betty Cole Park” for a parking facility for Margaritaville Restaurant staff and “relieve the strain” over on Paradise Island. A ‘letter of interest’ was also sent to Robert Deal, the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s general manager.

Richard Hardy, then-acting director at the Department of Lands and Surveys, replied on July 21, 2021, and offered Mr Maury a five-year Crown Land lease that was back-dated by three weeks to start on July 1 that same year. The annual rental rate was set at $1,200, and the property was to be used solely for employee parking and be occupied within three months of the lease date.

Mr Maury asserted that he complied with all necessary conditions to give effect to the lease, and began works that included the removal of derelict vessels, creation of an access road for vehicular traffic, laying down tarmac, site clearance, pothole repair and construction of a small management office.

However, after the Davis administration was elected to office in September 2021, Mr Maury alleged that he received a ‘stop order’ from Melanie Roach, then the Ministry of Works’ director of public works, dated December 1 that year. She alleged that he had constructed an “illegal right of access” and was undertaking “unauthorised construction through a public community park” in violation of the law.

Ms Roach’s letter called for “an urgent meeting” with the Ministry of Works to discuss Mr Maury’s alleged lack of approvals, but no meeting was ever held and he branded the claims by the director as “unfounded”. 

The ABM chief then received a December 2, 2021, letter from David Davis which said that although the previous administration “had agreed to lease the property” to Mr Maury “the present administration had decided to revisit that decision” and he was to cease all works and improvements immediately.

Mr Maury said he wrote seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Philip Davis KC on May 28, 2022, so he could “discuss the proposed commercial marina” for Bahamian vessels and also seek the necessary seabed lease. The two met later that year, but the Government’s position did not alter.

David Davis then informed Mr Maury in a May 31, 2022, letter that his request that the Government reconsider its position “had not received favourable consideration” and it was “resolute in its determination that this area remain ‘public open space’ and be retained for the recreational use and enjoyment of the general public”.

Mr Maury was also asked to provide evidence of his spending to-date so that he could be reimbursed by the Government, which the ABM chief is arguing represents “an admission of liability by the Government”.

Asserting that there had been “repudiatory breaches” of his lease, he added that this appeared to be “politically motivated”. All lease payments were returned and he was told he needed another permit to build the marina. The response and defence from the Government, which has taken the position of not responding to legal claims, is now awaited.