The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BAHA Mar’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing demonstrates a “failure of political leadership” on behalf of the government, according to former FNM Chairman Darron Cash, who added that the country’s “financial well-being and credibility” is in danger due to Prime Minister Perry Christie being “asleep at the wheel”.

Mr Cash blasted Mr Christie for being “distracted by shiny objects of lesser importance elsewhere” to aggressively seek for a resolution to Baha Mar’s dilemma while it was in its early stages.

Mr Cash further suggested that the reason why Mr Christie and his administration was caught off guard by Baha Mar’s bankruptcy filing is because “major investors do not respect the prime minister” enough to inform him of such developments beforehand.

On Monday, Baha Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian said in a statement that the decision to file for Chapter 11 came with a view to finish construction and open the property as soon as possible. Mr Izmirlian blamed the resort’s general contractor, China Construction America (CCA), for the delays which have resulted in substantial revenue losses and the resort’s inability to open.

On Tuesday night, Mr Christie said Mr Izmirlian’s decision came “without notice” to the government on Monday. He said it happened while he his personal intervention with all parties involved led to a substantial agreement on a packaged solution for additional funding by the China Export-Import Bank. Mr Christie said the deal was going to ensure that CCA resumed construction at Baha Mar and that the mega-resort was completed.

However, Mr Cash said: “What it unfortunately now reflects very clearly, is that while the leaders of Baha Mar and China Construction America were unable to bring their leadership to bear in resolving the matter, it demonstrates very clearly the failure of political leadership. It is not only the credibility and the financial well-being of the owners of Baha Mar and their developers at Baha Mar that are at stake, it is the financial well-being and the credibility of this entire country that are at stake. And so regrettably we are at this stage in part because, as I said, Mr Christie was asleep at the wheel. He was far too removed from the details. And that is why we are there.”

Mr Cash added: “When there was an opportunity in the early stages of delays for him to demonstrate some leadership, because the national good exceeded the good of the developers of Baha Mar, Prime Minister Christie was too busy distracted by shiny objects of lesser importance elsewhere.”

On the issue of the government being caught off guard by the bankruptcy, Mr Cash said: “What this should signal to Prime Minister Christie as he contemplates whether or not it’s time to move on, is the fact that the foreign investors like Mr Izmirlian are taking their hints, the lead, from the way in which Prime Minister Christie’s own ministers have treated him with disrespect. So it’s not surprising that the leaders of Baha Mar would not bring him in the loop because they’re taking the hint from how the Cabinet ministers have treated him by excluding him and keeping him in the dark. That should give the prime minister enough of a hint that it’s time for him to move on.”