Comment history

Dotherightthing says...

How does Mr. Rahming define "majority"? Baha Mar expatriates have not received a penny of what they are owed including wages for time served and repatriation to the US. For months the Chairman of the Claims Committee, Mr. Smith went on record that he and his fellow Claims Committee members had convinced EXIM to pay the Baha Mar expats as it was the right thing to do and to avoid the public black eye of future foreign investment in the Bahamas.

As of December 31, 2016 all communication with the expats ended. The Claims Committee dispersed $90 million of the $101 million "gift". Where did the remaining monies go?

EXIM, Bahamas Government, Provisional Liquidators and Baha Mar thought the expats would just go away. I can assure you that is not the case. The story will hit the US press in the near future. We exhausted all appropriate and professional attempts to resolve our claims. The media is our last resort.

Dotherightthing says...

Mr Bethel told Tribune Business that he had been “very focused on the narrow task” of having the ‘Heads of Terms’ between the Government and China Export-Import Bank released, and issues such as the creditor payout had “not been a matter of concern to me”.

I find this statement to be very interesting. There is clearly additional funds available from the 101 million "gifted" to the Bahamas Government. These funds were allocated to the former Baha Mar expats. The Export - Import Bank of China has not approved for these funds to be distributed to the former expats of Baha Mar. Where will this money go?

I thought full disclosure was one of the many promises of the new administration. Creditor payout is very relevant and should be itemized for all eyes to see.

Dotherightthing

Dotherightthing says...

Oldfort2012,

I appreciate your comments as they are well written and provide transparent clarity to the situation. You are correct that the Chinese are calling the shots however the Christy administration had a seat at the table as it relates to the 101 million "gift". The Government provided concessions in exchange for this loan which was politically motivated.

The Government had the opportunity to recommended that the expats should be compensated in addition to the Bahamian employees, businesses and sub contractors needed to complete the resort but they chose not to include the expats in the discussion.

The Claims Committee was a Government appointed committee being directed by the bank. They ultimately were the facilitator of distributing the funds but if the Government would have included the expats in the initial communication with the bank everyone would have been paid.

The expats may not have a leg to stand on legally but they are going to seek legal representation in the Bahamas. What choice do they have?

The new Government needs to "do the right thing" and use their influence with the Chinese bank to utilize the remaining funds from the 101 million "gift" and pay the expats. If the bank chooses to not pay the expats where are the remaining funds going to be allocated?

No one wants to smear Baha Mar, The Bahamas or the Chinese but if the decision is to not pay the expats and do what's right why wouldn't this group who represents 500 years of hospitality and gaming experience/relationships tell their story to anyone that will listen.

This can all be avoided should the Government simply persuade the bank to pay the expats.

Dotherightthing

Dotherightthing says...

Oldfort2012,

I appreciate your posts as they are well written, informative and provide clarity to the situation.

That being said did the Bahamian Government not provide concessions in exchange for the $101 million? Did the Bahamian Government not have a say in how the $101 million was allocated and to whom? If the answer is yes to either or both questions then the Bahamian Government clearly had the opportunity to ensure all employees of Baha Mar were compensated for what they were owed.

The Claims Committee was a Government appointed agency. Communication from this committee to the former expats was that a decision would be made by a specific date. This date came and went only to be told the decision date was delayed until December 31, 2016. That date also came and went and communication then stopped. Perhaps this was an intentional diversion as the Government clearly new there is a one year statute of limitation to file a claim against the Government. We were all made redundant October 15, 2015.

The Chinese have no interest in paying the expats unless they can be convinced by the new Bahamian Government that it is in their best interest to do so. The Bahamas does not need any help in the negative PR area and more importantly it's the ethical thing to do.