Prime Minister Perry Christie
Prime Minister Perry Christie, has dismissed as “absolute nonsense” Baha Mar’s suggestion that the Government’s initiation of winding-up proceedings amounts to a seizure of private assets.
Mr Christie said that it was disappointing that the principals of Baha Mar “would not only utter such untruths” but that they would do so in a way “transparently calculated to damage the economic interests of The Bahamas”.
The Prime Minister added that “the nationalisation of private property is not only unconstitutional, it is completely repugnant to my personal political philosophy and ethos of governance and that of my government. I therefore reject, in the strongest possible terms, any suggestion to the contrary.”
Also addressing the matter, the Attorney General, Allyson Gibson QC said that it is unfortunate that Baha Mar has “mischaracterized” the winding-up proceedings in the way that it has.
“If appointed by the court, a provisional liquidator would be wholly independent and would be subject to the control and oversight not of the government but of the Bahamas Supreme Court”, she said.
“There is no truth whatsoever in the suggestion that this is an attempt by the Government to nationalize Baha Mar’s private assets, something that is not only constitutionally unlawful but completely contrary to the policies of successive governments of The Bahamas. That is most certainly not the purpose nor the effect of any order that might be made for provisional winding-up of anything in The Bahamas.”
The Prime Minister also repudiated as “egregiously insulting and verifiably false” Baha Mar’s statement that he had misled the Bahamian people in his national address on Thursday past. In fact, he said, “my version of events, as related in my address, is supported in every material particular by China Exim Bank. In particular, China Exim Bank has expressed its disappointment to me today over Baha Mar’s lack of flexibility in this matter and their unwillingness to accept the sensible solutions offered to them in Beijing.”
• In other Baha Mar news, a spokesperson for CCA Bahamas has said:
"CCA Bahamas, Ltd. remains committed to working with the Bahamian government to arrive at a viable plan that results in the expedited opening of this landmark project."
Comments
Baha10 9 years ago
Better gas up the G-650!
asiseeit 9 years ago
“If appointed by the court, a provisional liquidator would be wholly independent and would be subject to the control and oversight not of the government but of the Bahamas Supreme Court”, she said.
The judicial is a puppet of government. What a shameful situation on all sides. Brand Bahamas looks unappealing to say the least.
Sunshine12 9 years ago
What a disgusting "PISSING CONTEST!!!" All at the cost of the Bahamian people! Wow, get it together and do what is best for the country --PLEASE!
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrades I am shocked that the PM's defense of the "Bahamaland Brand" is not the echoed sentiment of every true-blooded citizen and resident. If not the nation's PM speaking out against the potentially damaging statements being made by the likes of Izmirlian who seeks to control the international perception of his lack of talent to bring Baha Mar on-board as 'the' tourism resort destination of the Caribbean, who then will stand up against this man to defend your nation? Looks like Izmirlian is about to discover our nation's PM, is far from the indecisive, meek pushover the media have worked so hard paint him to be.
Chucky 9 years ago
Hey TalRussell I think you are missing that Baha Mar is just another business! Sure it's larger, and sure it might employ many, but it's no different then any other foreign investment in principle. Our government and our people should stop talking like it's theirs; and surely the extra wealthy Bahamians could have teamed up to raise the 900 million that Izmirlian has put in, but clearly none are interested. Also, if every one of us cared to invest, say about $2500.00 each , we could have raised the 900mil. But nope we were not interested. So leave your thoughts on someone else's assets to yourself, and if you want to invest to "save this country" go ahead.
Franklyn 9 years ago
...you sound like another victim of the Izmirlian Blue Juice ...if the project is valued at $3.5 billion, the bank give you $2.4 billion and you put an extra $900 million of your own money in to the project that did not flow through the hands your contractor ..emmm plus you have not paid your contractor in the past 7 months and owe creditor and small Bahamian businesses millions, plus you want 600 Million more to complete the project - something must be wrong with your math or you gat some real account issues to deal with my friend.
banker 9 years ago
It is the CCA that owes the small Bahamian businesses. They contracted them, and they are equity partners. Nice twisting of facts here.
newcitizen 9 years ago
Franklyn, $3.5B is not a hard number that everything must add up to. Don't be obtuse.
Craig 9 years ago
"CCA Bahamas, Ltd. remains committed to working with the Bahamian government to arrive at a viable plan that results in the expedited opening of this landmark project." The spokesperson from CCA says. What a farce!! If CCA was truly committed the project would have been completed months ago. Baha Mar would be open. CCA is either unwilling or unable to complete the project. That much crystal clear. I can't believe the PM is siding with CCA and the Chinese in this matter. Let the developer complete the project. They are the only ones who are committed. They have put their money where their mouth is!!
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrade Craig, who owns the Meliá Nassau Beach Hotel on Cable Beach?
Franklyn 9 years ago
...this person has attended to many "Izmirlian Blue Parties and drunk to much Blue Juice" and lack all the facts on the issue. CCA continued to pay its sub-contractor and provide service to the project with out being paid for 5 months ...talk about being committed to a project. Its hard for Bahamians who know and stand to losing 100s of thousands of dollars to have any sympathy for the Mr. Sarkis
Craig 9 years ago
Its amazing the amount of ignorance and misinformation out there about this matter. Unfortunately people such as this person who only knows half truths and exaggerations uses a forum such as this to spread misinformation. This only exasperates the situation. Please only stick to information you know is true and not hearsay!!! Bottom line this problem was created by CCA and it make little sense to try make CCA part of the solution.
Franklyn 9 years ago
Izmirlian Blue Juice most be a serious mix ...or the country most be filled with complete idiots.
banker 9 years ago
Or paid shills for the PLP, or corrupt ones on the PLP gravy train stealing and have stolen from the Bahamian people.
xtreme2x 9 years ago
Have we missed "The Snake"
asiseeit 9 years ago
We have seen this show before. It was a failure. Sold for penny's on the dollar. What kind of moron does not learn from their own mistakes. Oh, Oh, do it again!
TheMadHatter 9 years ago
Well, at least now they got him on record saying it - so when he does the opposite, then the facts will be clear.
Ya'll best start teaching your kids Mandarin. Don't be surprised if it is offered in schools for the January 2016 term.
TheMadHatter
Hi_Ho_its_off_to_work_I_go 9 years ago
Would you trust your last $ to this man?
Hi_Ho_its_off_to_work_I_go 9 years ago
One can always tell when the Hon. PC is telling lies - his lips move!
jus2cents 9 years ago
Can this kind of thing happen to Any business in the Bahamas?
PM's doing overtime today, oh bey, bet he wishes he was having the usual Friday cocktail's at Olives with Sandy & the crew.
GrassRoot 9 years ago
yes of course. if they seize baha mar they can seize anything.
banker 9 years ago
It is Christie & Co. that is destroying the brand of the Bahamas. This war of words is childish and un-statesmanlike. The Privy Council will back the Delaware court, but by that time, it will be too late, and Christie will have destroyed Baha Mar and the Bahamas.
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrade Banker to avoid walking like an Andros crab you should at least try waking your facts sideways as cautiously as da crab does, so as not attract attention how wrong you are.
newcitizen 9 years ago
Tal, the only way I can tell your and Birdie's comments apart now are due to you using comrade to start you posts.
Franklyn 9 years ago
Banker looking at this issue through politically tinted sun shades ...we the local contractors can but hope that this Government can do what is best, I can only hope, in the interest of the Bahamian people and those Bahamian providers who were played by Baha Mar, we have done the work as requested by BML and had to jump hoops and duck bullets trying to get paid for more than 6 months. Now you expect for there to be support for these people, I want my money - the hell with what party it is (PLP or FNM) these guys have the control of Government and my support goes where I see hope for getting my money ($56,000.00) ...this is the story that is not being told ...work than directly for (BML) Baha Mar Ltd ...and not as a CCA Sub.
GrassRoot 9 years ago
Franklyn, yes you get 2 tons of rubbles from Baha Mar for your work. That's what the government is doing to your financial interests right now.
Craig 9 years ago
Unfortunately you are so right Banker!! Christie and his crew are so out of their league with this issue. For the best interest of the country they must set hubris aside and let a competent court deal with this matter!!
Raptor22 9 years ago
It is already too late, the PLP have already destroyed the Bahamas...these are the darkest days ever
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrades who presently owns the Hilton British Colonial Hotel? I know back in 2010 it was Izmirlian family money owned and operated, cuz I remember him also publicly criticizing Papa's regime over hotel operating costs in Bahamaland being too high and impossible earn a profit. In fact he claimed it was only still open for business due to family's subsidizing it's operating costs.
GrassRoot 9 years ago
that statement about ownership of the Hilton is factually wrong and you know it. So stop this. Its ok to have an opinion, but stay factual please. You are damaging the Tal brand.
ThisIsOurs 9 years ago
Were the negotiations still going on or not? The PM's national televised address said the negotiations were completed and fruitless. Izmirilian says the negotiations were ongoing after the Bahamian delegation left. The PM's rebuttal doesn't dispute this point. What is going on??? They have a national address to announce a forced liquidation while negotiations were still going?? cite Alfred Gray style pointers on the law and their wishes for the legal outcome all while the Bahamian Supreme Court hasn't weighed
What must investors be thinking ??
Reality_Check 9 years ago
Two of those you mention, Tal and Birdie, certainly have that common flavour associated with intentional spreaders of misinformation and disinformation designed to distract and confuse. Tal has the added credential of being an addicted internet troller......you can always tell the type! You're probably right in saying their comments should just be ignored as they typically add little if anything to the more important conversation on any subject. They could try conceal their modus operandi by changing their usernames, but most users would quickly figure out who they are because, if it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.
Franklyn 9 years ago
"yellow team partners - the Chinese!" ...this is offensive and racist. and if you knew who I am you would immediately apologize for asserting that I am a paid misinformation agent of the PLP of all people.
When you see my name: Franklyn always remember - Paradise Lost, Nation for Sale, Brain Ross and the Commission of Inquire ...then you would not confuse me with being an agent for the PLP ...sorry.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years ago
All of us frequently say black man, white man, light skinned man, mango skin gal, and so on. We also say red team (FNMer), yellow or blue team (PLPer), etc. Take your political correctness somewhere else and stop trying to play the race card every time someone says something you may not like. As for your "if you know who I am" remark, I really don't care.
newcitizen 9 years ago
Franklyn, that's not racist. The PLP's colour is yellow and they wear yellow shirts. You're being obtuse again.
SP 9 years ago
How Do I Sign Up To Join The Paid Misinformation agents of the PLP?
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years ago
Call Fred Mitchell's secretary to obtain an enrollment form. You will need to provide with your duly completed enrollment form copies of your Bahamian passport, National Insurance I.D. card and Haitian birth or baptismal certificate.
SP 9 years ago
Who Or What You Believe In All This, Simply Depends On What Flavor Cool Aid You Like
John 9 years ago
How can the Supreme Court be independent in this matter when the attorney general, herself, has interest in Bah Mar? As do other members of the Bahamas government, either directly or indirectly. The government should be the first to want this matter to go to a neutral jurisdiction so that it doesn't appear that Izmirilin came to the Bahamas and even lost the shirt off his back. Did the Christie government try to ascertain why the project had run months behind schedule? Did they try to confirm that there was, indeed, shoddy or defective work that has to be corrected at considerable expense? Who is really responsible for Bah Mar opening on at least two occasions? Did Bah Mar not, in good faith and anticipation, hire staff, train them and engage them expecting that the property will open? Did the Christie led government decide that it no longer wants Izmirilin as part of the Bah Mar team and, rather remaining neutral and reaching out to all sides, is now siding with China Exim bank and trying to force Izmirilin out. If Izmirilin is forced out of Bah Mar will he also eventually be forced out of the Bahamas? While the government claims its actions are a pure attempt to get Bah Mar open at its earliest possible date, doesn't the stance it has taken further complicate the matter, create more hostility and will lead to further legal wranglings that can further delay the opening of the resort? Do you feel that Izmirilin is justified in not wanting to remove the bankruptcy protection off Bah Mar in light of what is going on and until such time as he gets clarity on his future role in Bah Mar and confirmation that all other parties, including the Christie led government, are acting in good faith?
newcitizen 9 years ago
John, it seems to be that the government has no interest in answering all of the actual important questions you point out. They seem to be much more interested in acting like jilted teenage lovers who are nursing their bruised egos. They don't even seem to be acting in the interest of their Chinese benefactors anymore.
Reality_Check 9 years ago
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.
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrade Reality Check you really do think the mere mention of the word "nationalize" will help to sway your, walk like a crab arguments? Do come back with more when better armed to persuade Tribune readers, with an argument that even the reds who are not known their above average intelligence are much too smart fall that old and overplayed nationalization of foreigner assets trickery. .
John 9 years ago
How much longer is the government willing and able to pay Bah Mar staff ? Will they eventually have to be terminated?
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrade John, why should "taxpayers' pay workers who are mostly, if not all, new on the job. What happened to NIB worker benefits? We have thousands out paycheques real citizens who were in line, long before Izmirlia's "citizens."
Emac 9 years ago
So now that Tal has gotten a part of the PLP gravy train promised after the last election, she has switched her tongue to now support anything done by this government, no matter how horrific. Even the bible says the double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Tal and Orthland Bodie must be drinking the same tap water. One minute they fully support one party the next they switch like a bitch!
banker 9 years ago
The reason why Tal and her PLP cohorts are acting the way they are -- so unpatriotically against the Bahamas and for the Chinese, is that the Chinese have flipped the switch, and now control all of the PLP rats.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years ago
Right you are....Sir Baltron must have confirmed to all concerned that money either has flowed or soon will flow to all the right places! By the way, that rat's ears look like Christie's ears.....the face though, is all Maynard-Gibson!
Emac 9 years ago
HA!
asiseeit 9 years ago
When Perry them come for YOUR things, yinna better just slide to the side. This is what is happening, government is stealing the mans business. If you are good with that and do not mind it happening to you, carry on smartly.
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrades, didn’t we read in newspapers something about the Papa Hubert regime, using it's power to take "eminent domain possession of citizens’ private lands," to make way for road improvements, for the benefit Baha Mar? Wasn’t one these lands in front the residence belonging to the widow of the nation’s Father of Labour, Randol Fawkes?
I sure hope the red regime; didn't just pay out used bicycle prices, these valuable privately-owned lands and they paid the owners - promptly?
Like Carnival 2015 and that bunch, the true cost to taxpayers to fund Baha Mar may never be told. At least let's not use another dollar taxpayers monies prop up what should remain a failed, bankrupt project, equally as bankrupt as it's original idea always was. Comrades, if it's truly worthy of saving, then allow the private sector save it, not taxpayers.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
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