Prime Minister Perry Christie and Michael Halkitis, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, leaving the House of Assembly yesterday as questions about Baha Mar talks continued to swirl. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune News Editor
tmthompson@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie would not confirm or deny reports that negotiations between Baha Mar and its Chinese partners had broken down, telling The Tribune last night he wanted to wait until Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson returned from China before he commented on the matter.
He was asked for comment after a well-placed source in the Christie administration told The Tribune that despite more than three days of talks in China, the relevant parties were still unable to reach a deal yesterday.
The source also indicated that without an agreement, arguments will likely be made in court to place the resort into liquidation.
The source maintained that Baha Mar was reportedly offered $300 million in additional to financing to finish the project by the China Export-Import Bank, on the condition that the resort drop its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the United States and its lawsuits against general contractor China Construction America (CCA).
However, The Tribune was told that Baha Mar rejected this offer and has said it now needs $600 million to complete the project and operate.
“When (Mrs Maynard-Gibson) returns she will give me a full report of what happened, and I think in fairness to her I shall wait that process before I comment,” the prime minister said when asked about reports that the talks had failed.
“I am satisfied that we will have a full explanation tomorrow,” he added.
When asked if liquidation was being considered, he said: “The government will always act in the best interest of the people of this country and whenever the government is pursuing a particular end, as it is in negotiations, there is always an alternative and the country must always be in the position to have things moving forward towards a good result for the people of this country, for the staff, for the people who are owed a lot of money.
“We will give you a full report tomorrow,” Mr Christie added.
Mrs Maynard-Gibson led a government delegation to China where Baha Mar executives, China State Construction (parent company of CCA) and the China Export-Import Bank had discussions to hopefully secure an out of court deal to open the resort.
Those talks were only expected to last Monday and Tuesday, however they stretched into early Wednesday. China is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
Even though her team has left China, a source close to the talks said that Baha Mar representatives and its Chinese partners were still in discussions.
Last night, the resort released a statement saying it would not give details about the negotiations until the talks had ended.
“In response to inquiries and media reports, Baha Mar Ltd today reiterated the continuing discussions are between private parties, and the sensitivity of their content is critical to being able to try to work toward a consensual resolution,” Paul Turnquest, director of public relations, said.
“Accordingly, as it previously has made clear, Baha Mar will not comment on these discussions and may not make any comment about them when these discussions are concluded.
“Bah Mar’s priority is to try to achieve a consensual resolution with the parties in a timely manner so that the Baha Mar project can move forward to be completed and opened successfully as soon as possible,” Mr Turnquest added.
The Tribune reported last week that a $300 million agreement to resolve Baha Mar’s woes was sunk when the warring parties were unable to agree to key details.
This agreement fell apart when Baha Mar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 29.
Lawyers for Baha Mar, general contractor CCA and the government will head back to the Supreme Court next Monday, for another hearing into the resort’s application to have this jurisdiction approve US bankruptcy court orders.
Last week, Baha Mar’s legal team requested an adjournment to allow all sides to return to the negotiating table.
Comments
a2z 8 years, 10 months ago
Like it or not, believe it or not, the Chinese do not hold women leaders in high regard. As much as I or you may accept a woman leader, they do not and will not negotiate at this level with a woman. How many women Chinese leaders do you see around a negotiating table? These talks were doomed from the start, and Perry's absence meant any sliver of hope was gone before they (Maynard-Gibson and entourage) arrived.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 10 months ago
Christie and Maynard-Gibson are too full of themselves to appreciate the very significant nuances of Chinese culture; no doubt the Wicked Witch of The West was not given the time of day by the Chinese male decision-makers during her recent very expensive jaunt to China with full entourage of incompetent Bahamian officials in tow. You can bet your last dollar though that Baltron made sure he got hooked up with the right Chinese fellas who have great experience in dealing with the corrupt governments of many African countries.
GrassRoot 8 years, 10 months ago
Nassau - Bejing - Nassau. With all the miles accrued that should be a free trip to New York. Kjul.
Cobalt 8 years, 10 months ago
No one's surprised. Anything the PLP government puts their hands on, fails. No one in their right mind anticipated Perry and his PLP entourage's presence in this matter would help to solve anything. It was just another waste of the tax payers money. Disaster after disaster. Failure after failure. That's the PLP.
TalRussell 8 years, 10 months ago
by TalRussell
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 10 months ago
Christie aka Vomit, Maynard-Gibson aka Wicked Witch and Gomez aka Minion will now seek to rob the Izmirlian family of their entire interest in the Baha Mar property physically located in the Bahamas by any means possible, which, when all is said and done, will be tantamount to a de facto confiscation by expropriation of the Izmirlian family's equity interest in the property for the benefit of Christie's new found Chinese friends. You can be rest assured every Bahamian government department, agency and corporation will be instructed not assist the Izmirlian family or Baha Mar's representatives in any way whatsoever without the express approval of Vomit or the Wicked Witch. As for any legal actions to be heard in the Bahamian courts....well, we all know the influence that can be wielded at will over our courts by the Wicked Witch doing Vomit's bidding. Of course it will take many years for the value of the Izmirlian family's equity interest in the venture to be determined by the eventual outcome of the legal actions properly brought by Baha Mar, as a last resort, before foreign courts in Delaware and the U.K. The only honourable thing Christie could possibly do now is dissolve parliament, but he is too delusional, self-infatuated and irrational to do anything honourable!
Reality_Check 8 years, 10 months ago
If delusional Christie, hissy tissy Maynard-Gibson and minion Gomez are fool enough to do as you say here, then the Bahamian people can be rest assured that no other significant foreign investors (other than the Chinese government) will ever invest in our economy. Foreign investors already here (except the Chinese) would also accelerate the selling-off of their hard property assets in order to make a clean exit from our shores as quickly as possible. Also, the Izmirlian family, through Baha Mar, would likely be justified in asserting very substantial legal claims (in foreign courts) against the Bahamian government for the added losses that would be incurred as a result of the vindictive conduct of Christie, Maynard-Gibson and Gomez. Any claims the foreign courts might award Baha Mar (the Irzmirlian family) against the Bahamian government would amount to mega-millions of dollars and would have to somehow be paid out of the hides of honest, hardworking and already over-taxed Bahamians.
TalRussell 8 years, 10 months ago
Baha Mar, Izmirlian, nor the Chinese are the nations pressing issues. Comrades, if we first fix ourselves, there will never again be no more Baha Mar's, Izmirlian's, nor Chinese worry over.
Do we just go vote from da list of both party’s candidates come the 2017 General, and if not - how can we begin to fix it? My guess is the 2017 General will have come and gone and nothing more than whole bunch moaning, complaining and groaning will start all over again for another five years. Will voters settle for the easy way out by marking their ballots for one political party's candidate over another? You see we vote in political parties, not People's House of Assembly Representatives. So, why even complain?
If PM Christie is truly becoming unpopular with voters, think about this – Minnis is neither popular nor unpopular - he simply does not register in the thinking of voters as a potential prime minister.
The 2017 General still has time to allow voters to at least start to fix a badly broken system. But will your actions resemble the look frustrations on your faces?
asiseeit 8 years, 10 months ago
So TAl, what do you propose we do? A non-violent protest? What? because you know there will be no more big injections of foreign money after this shitshow. We are on our own but as we all know, government has made sure that Bahamians with money will not invest in their own country.
TalRussell 8 years, 10 months ago
Comrade, Fix Number One is to never underestimate the will and the determination of our own people. It will do us all some good to be on our own - again.
When you read in Tribune just days ago that two condo projects sales were sold 90 - 100% to foreigner buyers - what damn good is it doing us to enjoy today's present monied company? I'd rather be broke among my own people.
Both the PLP and FNM have denied their own people equal access to the resources they have made available to complete strangers, who have proven over and over they are often less smart or come this country far less wealthy than our own people.
Comrade, I have given you but a teaser, what 'We The People' must and can fix for we selves.
newcitizen 8 years, 10 months ago
Why is it that you point the finger outwards to lay blame, that the government has failed to protect you from some foreign title wave that is coming to swallow up and suppress the Bahamian people? Should you not be pointing at the broken education system, the corruption of officials, the levels of entitlement that run through our society? Shutting ourselves off from the world will do nothing to solve the actual problems that are holding us back.
a2z 8 years, 10 months ago
But, what's a title wave, though?
LMAO Dum-dums posin as learned people.
newcitizen 8 years, 10 months ago
Keep pushing down those around you. I guess as long as we all sit in the mud together, then you will be happy.
TalRussell 8 years, 10 months ago
Comrade you seem take what I said and then you twist it and misstate and disagree with it. Properly done it can be effective, and I've done it quite effectively myself a number of times against several nusience bloggers. But this is not the fix we as a nation and her people's have latch onto. Time is short.
Incognegro 8 years, 10 months ago
Hey TalRussell, couldn't have said it better myself! Despite the current political situation, Its time for us to trust each other, pool our funding, and really invest in more than the chicken shack or corner bar, something that would generate high equity.
ScullyUFO 8 years, 10 months ago
What many Bahamians are forgetting is that "possession is nine-tenths of the Law". If everyone else decides to go home, Nassau will still possess an almost complete massive resort. That represents a significant opportunity.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 10 months ago
You're so right.....and can you imagine our Christie-led PLP government completing and managing that massive resort the way they have been running our country since 2012?!
ohdrap4 8 years, 10 months ago
yes, turn it into housing for mps, one floor for each mp and one building for the pm and one for gorvernor general
luvsnest 8 years, 10 months ago
You must ask yourself how could the talks continue after the Bahamas delegate has left. It is as if the foreign Investors did not want the Bahamas delegates to be apart of the negotiation.I am of the mind set that the Bahamas was sent home to wait for a decision to be made by the Foreign Investors.??????
Incognegro 8 years, 10 months ago
Regardless of all the nasty back and forth, my stick bigger than your stick talk, we all should hope someway, somehow, this gets resolved really soon for the betterment of all of us. we may not agree with or understand whatever methods our current government is taking, but it's who is at the helm right now. We need to just hope it gets resolved and the Riviera opens...but then after this article, I have my doubts!!
a2z 8 years, 10 months ago
So...what's with Perry and the pinkie ring, tho?
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 10 months ago
Maybe he got it from Freddy Boy on one of their "official" trips together. Christie loves spinning it on his pinky while waffling on and on, listening to himself wax great eloquence!
TalRussell 8 years, 10 months ago
Comrade Jason Kinsale, principal of Aristo Development, the ONE Cable Beach developer, said the trend highlighted the 'different motivations for purchasing' among the Bahamalander and foreign buyers. He said, "That Bahamalander are conceding an ever-larger share of the real estate market to foreign buyers, revealing that 100 per cent and 90 per cent of purchasers at his latest two projects were from overseas. That Bahamalander market has really been affected. It’s unfortunate. I believe the foreigners see value, and make their decisions to purchase, but Bahamalander's are waiting to see what happens with Baha Mar."
banker 8 years, 10 months ago
The demographic that buys Bahamian property is not seeking value. They are seeking tax shelter. Spending half million on a Balmoral or Cable Beach condo is better than paying 3 or 4 million in income tax. The benefit is a short flight from the US and a facile infrastructure where money talks.
TalRussell 8 years, 10 months ago
We've become a nation with a "For Sale" hanging out and in more ways than you think. It's just a matter of whether you agree to pay the going price - on tops or under da table. Cash is da instrument most preferred.
Comrade Banker, what a good number are buying is a way speed up receiving automatic "Permanent Residency" in Bahamaland, which means you buy a home and you get work legally, or if you so desire you can legally own and open a business to compete against a native - and one of the major foreigner banks, or Bank of Bahamas, will gladly loan you the money open/buy it.
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