The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 50 Democratic National Alliance supporters, led by party leader Branville McCartney, protested in Rawson Square yesterday as they demanded that Prime Minister Perry Christie “unseal the deal” with the Chinese over the stalled Baha Mar resort.

Donned in green DNA shirts, armed with placards and chanting “enough is enough” and “we want answers and we want it now”, protesters marched from the General Post Office building on East Hill Street to Rawson Square agitating for the prime minister to reveal the particulars of the deal he announced has been reached with Chinese officials to remobilise the Cable Beach resort.

The protestors also called for the entire Christie administration to demit office, as they rallied behind their leader in his criticism of the government over several controversial matters that have transpired under its current term, which Mr McCartney said shows how “untruthful” the government has been with Bahamians.

The protest came more than a week after Mr Christie announced that a deal had been reached between the government and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) to remobilise the stalled resort.

However, his address did not provide any clarity on a definitive buyer or sale price, or details on how unsecured creditors will be paid. Additionally, it was subsequently revealed that the court documents related to the deal have been sealed.

“Firstly, they knew that Moody’s was coming out with their report, they knew that Moody’s was going to downgrade us, and that was something to overshadow the downgrade, their third downgrade or fourth downgrade within four and a half years,” Mr McCartney said in Rawson Square. “That was a farce. Secondly the prime minister said himself that this was an agreement for an agreement, so it wasn’t any agreement. That’s what that means legally. There was no agreement. Again, the prime minister has admitted and shown that there is no buyer or operator for this property.

“What impression they wanted to leave at that conference last week regarding Baha Mar was that ‘jobs coming.’ That’s the impression, because election coming - election right round the corner. They want to say ‘jobs coming, the PLP working hard, we getting this for you.’

“Don’t be fooled by that,” Mr McCartney added. “I want to see jobs, I want to see Baha Mar succeed, but that is not going to be the reality right now, because if you don’t have an owner of that property, if you don’t have an operator of that property, as the prime minister has reluctantly acknowledged, who is going to hire you? Not the construction company, and not the bank. Period. So don’t be fooled.”

Mr McCartney also hit out at the Christie administration for its record of governance, pointing to several controversies that have occurred under the PLP that he said warrants its members demitting office. At the top of his list were the recent redundancies of over 600 employees from the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort.

Other issues Mr McCartney lamented were Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells’ signing of a $600m letter of intent (LOI) with Stellar Waste To Energy while a member of the PLP. However, Mr McCartney lambasted both the PLP and the FNM for contributing to the LOI debacle, accusing the two parties for contributing to the “Mickey Mouse” style of governance that exists today.

“At the end of the day we as Bahamians we put up with too much,” he said. “We put up with the foolishness that this government has put on us. We need to get angry man, we cannot sit back passively and allow this government to continue doing what they’re doing. We are in a mess because of this government. I blame them. I blame them for where we are as a country, who we are internationally as a country. They have been lying to the Bahamian left right and centre, and not only have they disappointed the Bahamas, they have disappointed the PLPs, the PLPs are disappointed in this government.

“Enough is enough, we are fed up. And this cannot continue and we as Bahamian people cannot allow it to continue. Are we so insecure with ourselves that we going to allow a government to just beat up on us all the time? It cannot happen. We need change and we need it now. This government must go. Any other place in the world they would have been gone a long time ago.”