The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government has accused Baha Mar of seeking to “usurp the jurisdiction of the Bahamian courts” via its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing, and planning to “suspend the project indefinitely” if it does not get what it wants.

Antoinette Bonamy, the director of legal affairs in the Attorney General’s Office, alleged that Baha Mar’s plans to downsize to a 50-strong ‘skeleton staff’ if talks with its Chinese partners proved unsuccessful showed its true intent.

In a July 16 affidavit intended to support the Government’s winding-up petition against Baha Mar, Ms Bonamy alleged: “In other words, the respondents [Baha Mar] have stated categorically that they intend to suspend the project indefinitely, unless the negotiations are successful (acceptable to them).

“Whether or not this was intended as pre-negotiation posturing by the respondents, the Government’s position is clear. Given the critical importance of the project to the Bahamas, it will not countenance indefinite delays of the kind proposed by the respondents.”

Ms Bonamy said the Government and Baha Mar’s Chinese partners, the China Export-Import Bank as debt financier, and China Construction America as contractor, were all on the same page. It was only the developer who was not.

“The three major stakeholders in this case, namely the Government, the bank and the contractor, all agree that then project needs to be completed as quickly as possible and the resort opened for business as a matter of urgency,” she claimed.

“On the other hand, the respondents [Baha Mar] are actively seeking to implement a new strategy whereby the project is suspended indefinitely, whilst the Baha Mar group seeks new financing.”

Ms Bonamy said the Companies Winding-Up (Amendment) Act 2011 allowed companies to stay the claims of creditors, and argued: “The Government opposes the respondents’ attempts to usurp the jurisdiction of the Bahamian courts.

“I am advised that Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US can be complex and protracted, as well as being an extremely expensive process (particularly in the present case, where the interests of creditors with claims exceeding $2.5 billion would have to be represented, and such representation funded.

“Self-evidently, a Bahamian process will not - in sharp contrast to Chapter 11 - require Bahamian claim holders to process their claims through the Delaware courts.”