None other than our State Minister for Legal Affairs, Damian Gomez aka the Minion, states to the Tribune: "We're moving forward to secure a liquidator,....once that's done it's in his {Sarkis Izmirlian} interest to strike a deal as soon as possible otherwise creditors will take over and the restructuring will not be to his liking." This is tantamount to a public admission that by filing an application for the liquidation of Baha Mar, the Christie-led PLP government is seeking to force Baha Mar and the Izmirlian family to accept whatever unfair terms are put to them by both the Chinese general contractor (CCA) and the Chinese Export Import Bank. In a liquidation supervised by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, the shots are called by the largest admitted creditors which would be the two aforementioned Chinese stakeholders. In other words, notwithstanding the appointment of one or more "neutral" liquidators acceptable to the largest creditors, the Chinese stakeholders would be, for all intents and purposes, firmly in the driving seat of the entire liquidation process. This seems to be precisely what the Christie-led PLP government wants to happen notwithstanding that Baha Mar (and the Izmirlian family through Baha Mar) have already found it necessary to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware as a result of the severity of its grievances with the Chinese stakeholders, which grievances are the subject of very weighty legal claims that have already been asserted and are now before the High Court in the U.K. By all appearances, our Christie-led PLP government is wrongfully in bed with the Chinese stakeholders to unjustly wrest control and possession of the Baha Mar project away from the rightful principle developer of the project (Sarkis Izmirlian). It would be a travesty of monumental proportion for the Bahamas and the Bahamian people if the Delaware court (judge) permitted the Christie-led PLP government to effectively nationalize the Baha Mar property for the benefit of the Chinese stakeholders by abuse of due process. The Christie-led PLP government is notorious for its willingness to wrongfully "lean" on matters before our Supreme Court in an effort to affect a desired outcome.

The Bahamas also enjoys reciprocating laws with other jurisdictions like the U.S. that require it to recognize the laws of those other jurisdictions. For all of the huff, puff and fluff by the many grossly overpaid lawyers who appeared before Justice Winder yesterday, the main legal issue is really a narrow one which should not take the Judge very long to rule on. There is no good reason (in fact, only many very bad reasons) for the Delaware Court not be fully recognized by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas in this matter.

It's the Chinese (cca & ceximb) and their silent partner prior to now (i.e. the Bahamian government) who are responsible for all of these unpaid local bills. You clearly have not thoroughly read the pleadings submitted to the High Court in the U.K.

All of that excess new car inventory was purchased by dealers prior to the implementation of VAT on 1st January 2015 and without the knowledge that government would be reducing the duty rate to 65% across the board effective 1st July 2015. Most of these cars were manufactured 9+ months ago and have been left sitting on dealer lots fully exposed to our scorching summer heat. Peak daytime summer temperatures inside these new cars with closed windows often exceed the maximum recommended by the manufacturers for prolonged heat exposure, resulting in the early failure of things such as electronic door locks, electronic windows, etc. In addition, the car battery life is significantly reduced and items made of plastic or rubber (like wind shield wipers, plastic light fittings, etc.) become brittle. In other words, by the time the average car buyer purchases one of these cars it will be for all intents and purposes a "used" car as a result of the significant deterioration experienced while just sitting on the dealer's lot. Add to this the fact that these cars are not the equivalent of their counterparts sold in the U.S. or Canada as they are made by the manufacturer for export to lesser developed countries like the Bahamas where there are less regulations in terms of quality and safety. Take Honda CRVs for example. The CRV sold in the U.S. is principally assembled in the U.S. whereas the CRV sold in the Bahamas is assembled in Mexico where the labour component is considerably cheaper. The first few digits of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of any car will tell you exactly where it has been made for the most part. With all of this in mind, you would have to be a certifiable looney-tune to pay anywhere near the dealer's outrageous asking price for a new vehicle here in the Bahamas. Most dealers will quickly tell you that you are not only paying them for the new car, but also for their quality maintenance and repair services over the life time of your new car. But all of that's typically poppy cock salesman talk as most previous new car owners will already know! In any event, dealers seldom keep OEM parts in stock for cars older than 10 years which means you could wait quite a while for the part to arrive once ordered unless you do your own thing online or in Florida as increasing numbers of Bahamians are now doing because of the exorbitant parts and service costs being charged by most dealers to compensate for their fall off in profits due to declining new car sales. Bottom line, forget buying new cars in the Bahamas and buy the best value second hand car that you can find from wherever, ideally one that is popular so that you will have quite a few "bush" mechanics to choose from if any significant maintenance or repair work is required done the road beyond the annual change of oil, oil filter, air filter and other fluids (transmission, differential, wind shield wiper, etc.)

Those healthy looking Delaware mutts look ready to hump both Maynard-Gibson and that little Minion, Gomez. This ain't gonna be pretty!

No. At Franky Wilson's request, these particular assets will be made available to the new Chairman of BEC.

Our PM has already had a conversation with his Minister of Finance (himself) and the latter has confirmed to the former that the Chinese stakeholders in the Baha Mar project have undertaken to ensure the Christie-led PLP government will have the financial wherewithal necessary to pay prompt and adequate compensation of circa US$900 million less a 50% haircut, i.e. about US$450 million, to Baha Mar for the nationalization of all its property located in the Bahamas.

My earlier post to another article:
None other than our State Minister for Legal Affairs, Damian Gomez aka the Minion, states to the Tribune: "We're moving forward to secure a liquidator,....once that's done it's in his {Sarkis Izmirlian} interest to strike a deal as soon as possible otherwise creditors will take over and the restructuring will not be to his liking." This is tantamount to a public admission that by filing an application for the liquidation of Baha Mar, the Christie-led PLP government is seeking to force Baha Mar and the Izmirlian family to accept whatever unfair terms are put to them by both the Chinese general contractor (CCA) and the Chinese Export Import Bank. In a liquidation supervised by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, the shots are called by the largest admitted creditors which would be the two aforementioned Chinese stakeholders. In other words, notwithstanding the appointment of one or more "neutral" liquidators acceptable to the largest creditors, the Chinese stakeholders would be, for all intents and purposes, firmly in the driving seat of the entire liquidation process. This seems to be precisely what the Christie-led PLP government wants to happen notwithstanding that Baha Mar (and the Izmirlian family through Baha Mar) have already found it necessary to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware as a result of the severity of its grievances with the Chinese stakeholders, which grievances are the subject of very weighty legal claims that have already been asserted and are now before the High Court in the U.K. By all appearances, our Christie-led PLP government is wrongfully in bed with the Chinese stakeholders to unjustly wrest control and possession of the Baha Mar project away from the rightful principle developer of the project (Sarkis Izmirlian). It would be a travesty of monumental proportion for the Bahamas and the Bahamian people if the Delaware court (judge) permitted the Christie-led PLP government to effectively nationalize the Baha Mar property for the benefit of the Chinese stakeholders by abuse of due process. The Christie-led PLP government is notorious for its willingness to wrongfully "lean" on matters before our Supreme Court in an effort to affect a desired outcome.