The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Monday’s announcement that the government has reached an agreement with the China EXIM Bank to complete the construction of the Baha Mar resort was welcome news to the thousands of Bahamians directly impacted by the project’s collapse almost 18 months ago. I would go so far as to say that it was also welcome news to many more Bahamians who are seriously concerned about the dire state of the local economy.

Although met with much scepticism, given Prime Minister Perry Christie’s previous useless utterances on the state of the project, if true, the agreement does indeed represent a positive development in the resort’s long and painful journey.

I agree that, on some level, the prime minister deserves congratulations on bringing the deal to fruition, but his national address on ZNS, followed by the line-up of grateful Baha Mar stakeholders singing his praises rang hollow for me.

Isn’t it ironic (and maddening) that praise is being heaped on the prime minister for solving a problem that he and his government seemingly created? If Baha Mar was not put into liquidation in the first place, would we even be here today, having to negotiate and give up God knows what to a foreign entity just to get what is rightfully owed to these Bahamians?

In my opinion, the government still has not done a sufficient job explaining why liquidation was the best course of action, and how the move to file for bankruptcy threatened our sovereignty. It still feels wrong that the original developer was seemingly pushed out, and that the government of The Bahamas blatantly sided with the Chinese to make that happen. It still feels like this whole debacle could’ve been handled better, if not completely avoided.

I hope, for the sakes of the thousands of Bahamians still reeling from the closure of Baha Mar and the state of the economy, which has reportedly lost out on more than $300m in related taxes, that Prime Minister Christie is being honest and direct with the Bahamian people. The prime minister says that more details of the agreement will be released in the coming days. That remains to be seen.

Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson has urged the public to “trust” that the negotiations are being handled by the “capable hands” of Prime Minister Christie. But given the government’s track record on Baha Mar, it’s hard to take anything they say about the project at face value. It also doesn’t help that the press was prevented from asking questions following the national address.

Trust must be earned, and on this matter, Prime Minister Christie has fallen appallingly short.

EWC

Nassau,

August 24, 2016.